Biobutanol offers promise as a biofuel and platform chemical. Renewable butanol can be synthesized from bioethanol via the Guerbet reaction, in which higher alcohols are produced from short-chain alcohols. This research addresses the design and implementation of the separation system for the complex azeotropic mixture arising from ethanol-based biobutanol production. Using established conceptual design methods, an engineering-oriented approach was followed to deal with the numerous compounds present in the mixture and its complex phase behavior. To demonstrate the resulting design, a pilot plant composed of five distillation columns and two molecular sieves was constructed and operated. This plant constitutes the first experimental investigation of a separation system for this process. The recovery of unconverted ethanol was effectively demonstrated, and the production of high-purity butanol (∼99 wt %) was also achieved. From the experience of the construction and operation of the pilot plant, recommendations are given for industrial implementation of the separation system.

中文翻译：

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生物乙醇催化转化为生物丁醇分离装置的工程导向设计


生物丁醇有望成为生物燃料和平台化学品。可再生丁醇可以通过 Guerbet 反应从生物乙醇合成，其中短链醇产生高级醇。本研究涉及乙醇基生物丁醇生产产生的复杂共沸混合物的分离系统的设计和实施。使用已建立的概念设计方法，遵循面向工程的方法来处理混合物中存在的众多化合物及其复杂的相行为。为了演示最终的设计，建造并运行了一个由五个蒸馏塔和两个分子筛组成的中试工厂。该工厂构成了对该过程的分离系统的首次实验研究。未转化乙醇的回收率得到了有效证明，并且还实现了高纯度丁醇 （∼99 wt %） 的生产。根据中试工厂的建设和运营经验，为分离系统的工业实施提出了建议。