Pilot plant design and technology performance analysis of pervaporation membrane bioreactor with mechanical vapor compression for bioethanol production

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2025.02.026

Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering ›› 2025, Vol. 82 ›› Issue (6): 57-66.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2025.02.026

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Pilot plant design and technology performance analysis of pervaporation membrane bioreactor with mechanical vapor compression for bioethanol production

Jingyun Liu, Yin Zhang, Wenda Liu, Haoji Jiang, Lu Han, Zeyi Xiao, Senqing Fan

School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China

Received:2024-12-27 Revised:2025-02-18 Accepted:2025-02-24 Online:2025-03-27 Published:2025-08-19
Contact: Senqing Fan,E-mail:fansenqing86@scu.edu.cn
Supported by:
The present work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2101204), the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province (2025ZNSFSC0926) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2023SCU12080 and 20822041B4013).

Pilot plant design and technology performance analysis of pervaporation membrane bioreactor with mechanical vapor compression for bioethanol production

Jingyun Liu, Yin Zhang, Wenda Liu, Haoji Jiang, Lu Han, Zeyi Xiao, Senqing Fan

School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China

通讯作者: Senqing Fan,E-mail:fansenqing86@scu.edu.cn
基金资助:
The present work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2101204), the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province (2025ZNSFSC0926) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2023SCU12080 and 20822041B4013).

Abstract

Abstract: A pilot plant integrating pervaporation membrane bioreactor and mechanical vapor compression for bioethanol production was designed and constructed in the study, with a bioethanol production of 300 t·a^-1. Key equipment in the process were designed based on bench test data. A pilot-scale fermenter with 20 m³ in volume, 4 m in height and 2.5 m in diameter was designed based on geometric similarity criterion and power equality criterion. An integrated plate-frame membrane module with 105 plates was newly developed. Compared with conventional batch fermentation, the improvement of equipment utilization efficiency and the cell utilization efficiency can be expected as 1.5-2.0 times and 2-10 times, respectively, with waste water reduced by 70% to 85%. The high-exergy energy requirement for pilot plant was 57.5 kW, of which the broth preheater occupied 85.7%, following by the compressor 1.1%, pump 1.9% and fermenter agitator 0.3%. The total energy requirement including distillation for producing 1 kg ethanol (95%(mass)) achieved an energy surplus of 15.6 MJ.

Key words: Membrane bioreactor, Bioethanol production, Technology performances, Pilot plant, Energy requirement

摘要： A pilot plant integrating pervaporation membrane bioreactor and mechanical vapor compression for bioethanol production was designed and constructed in the study, with a bioethanol production of 300 t·a^-1. Key equipment in the process were designed based on bench test data. A pilot-scale fermenter with 20 m³ in volume, 4 m in height and 2.5 m in diameter was designed based on geometric similarity criterion and power equality criterion. An integrated plate-frame membrane module with 105 plates was newly developed. Compared with conventional batch fermentation, the improvement of equipment utilization efficiency and the cell utilization efficiency can be expected as 1.5-2.0 times and 2-10 times, respectively, with waste water reduced by 70% to 85%. The high-exergy energy requirement for pilot plant was 57.5 kW, of which the broth preheater occupied 85.7%, following by the compressor 1.1%, pump 1.9% and fermenter agitator 0.3%. The total energy requirement including distillation for producing 1 kg ethanol (95%(mass)) achieved an energy surplus of 15.6 MJ.

关键词: Membrane bioreactor, Bioethanol production, Technology performances, Pilot plant, Energy requirement

Jingyun Liu, Yin Zhang, Wenda Liu, Haoji Jiang, Lu Han, Zeyi Xiao, Senqing Fan. Pilot plant design and technology performance analysis of pervaporation membrane bioreactor with mechanical vapor compression for bioethanol production[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2025, 82(6): 57-66.

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Pilot plant design and technology performance analysis of pervaporation membrane bioreactor with mechanical vapor compression for bioethanol production

Pilot plant design and technology performance analysis of pervaporation membrane bioreactor with mechanical vapor compression for bioethanol production

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