Energy-efficient ethanol recovery process using 2-methyl pentanol extraction

Bioethanol is commonly recovered via distillation due to the availability of abundant biowaste as an energy source. Although extraction is a well-known energy-efficient process that can replace distillation, appropriate solvents have not been developed for ethanol recovery. Herein, a branched long-chain alcohol, 2-methyl pentanol, has been proposed as an extraction solvent. Thermodynamic models of vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) and liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) systems have been constructed using molecular simulations and experimental results for the development of the extraction process and ethanol concentration using ethylene-glycol extractive distillation. The optimized process design demonstrates that the heat duty can be reduced by nearly a third compared to that obtained using the previous recovery processes.

Automated summary

A new method using 2-methyl pentanol as an extraction solvent is proposed in this study. Thermodynamic models are constructed using molecular simulations and experimental results for process optimization, resulting in a reduction in heat consumption.