A review of membrane technology for bioethanol production

Bio-ethanol as a clean and renewable fuel has gained more attention; however greater energy inputs make a slow progress in industry. Membrane technology has potential in the bioethanol production process as a highly selective and energy-saving separation process. This review presented membrane technologies applied in three aspects: (i) microalgae harvesting, (ii) sugar concentration and detoxification, (iii) bioethanol recovery. The performance of different membrane processes was summarized and compared. The advantages and limitations of membrane technologies for these applications are discussed, and it was thought that the hybrid process has great potential in improving membrane efficiency. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.