Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC; Tokyo; www.m-kagaku.co.jp) and Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC) announced plans to jointly market a dehydration system using the MCC-developed Zebrex zeolite membranes for bioethanol production processes in the U.S.
MCC provides the zeolite membranes and modules and its group company, Mitsubishi Chemical Engineering Corporation, manufactures the dehydration system. TNSC will support marketing and business development activities via its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. (MTG).
Zebrex is a chabazite zeolite, the world’s first to succeed in making zeolite into a membrane, in which all pores are a uniform 3.8Å in size, increasing separation capacity. This allows higher production efficiency (Fig.1). It also has higher water resistance compared to conventional zeolite membranes, which allows it to separate ethanol and isopropanol from water in high-water-content environments that deteriorate conventional zeolite membranes.
A dehydration system using Zebrex membrane in the bioethanol production process has the potential to reduce energy consumption by 5% to 10% and boost production by 10% compared to distillation and use of conventional zeolite membranes now in use at many plants, according to MCC.