A waste ethanol-rich stream at 90% v/v concentration cannot be used in a process. The volume to be recovered for reuse is 10,000 liter per day. Can the waste stream be dehydrated to about 99% v/v for effective reuse in the process? Would this be possible by a liquid phase batch adsorption process rather than a redistillation to the azeotropic concentration?
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Re: Waste ethanol-rich stream concentration
8 November 2006 at 1:29pmThe first issue is the reason that the 90% v/v stream cannot be used in a process. Is it solely due to ethanol concentration or is it due to impurities or other component? If it cannot be used in a process due solely to ethanol concentration at 90%, and 95% concentration is acceptable for reuse into the process, the most direct recovery method would azeotropic distillation.If it cannot be used in a process due solely to ethanol concentration at 90%, and >99% is required for reuse into the process, dehydration can be obtained via distillation with cyclohexane or benzene, or via absorption with molecular sieve absorption.
If a distillation processing system is already in place, the economics at 10,000 lpd may favor concentrating to 95% via distillation and then followed by either approach to 99% ethanol.
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