Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026

Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass with Low-cost Ionic Liquids
Published on: August 10, 2016
Pervaporation of ethanol from lignocellulosic fermentation broth
Sushil S Gaykawad1, Ying Zha, Peter J Punt
1Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan 67, 2628 BC, Delft, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Pervaporation can be applied in ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Hydrophobic pervaporation, using a commercial PDMS membrane, was employed to concentrate the ethanol produced by fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysate. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing this. Pervaporation carried out with three different lignocellulosic fermentation broths reduced the membrane performance by 17-20% as compared to a base case containing only 3 wt.% ethanol in water. The membrane fouling caused by these fermentation broths was irreversible. Solutions containing model lignocellulosic components were tested during pervaporation at the same conditions. A total flux decrease of 12-15%, as compared to the base case, was observed for each component except for furfural. Catechol was found to be most fouling component whereas furfural permeated through the membrane and increased the total flux. The membrane selectivity increased in the presence of fermentation broth but remained unchanged for all selected components.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Bioreactor Controls-III
Microbes in Beverage Production
Ethers from Alcohols: Alcohol Dehydration and Williamson Ether Synthesis
Ethers can be prepared from organic compounds by various methods. Some of them are discussed below,
Preparation of Ethers by Alcohol Dehydration
In this method, in the presence of protic acids, alcohol dehydrates to produce alkenes and ethers under different conditions. For example, in the presence of sulphuric acid, dehydration of ethanol at 413 K yields ethoxyethane, whereas it yields ethene at 443 K.
Microbial Fermentation
Distillation: Vapor–Liquid Equilibria
Production of Organic Acids

