Membrane processes for the bioethanol industry: New applications and challenges

„White biotechnology“- the third and latest wave of biotechnology - is aiming to replace the well-established C2/C3 chemistry based on oil and gas by biological processes. The backbone of biotechnology is the conversion by fermentation which is widely established in the production of antibiotics, enzymes, bioethanol and organic acids. One of the key concepts related to “white biotechnology” are so-called bio-refineries. In analogy to petroleum refineries bio-refineries are aiming for the full utilization of biomass for the simultaneous production of biofuels, biochemicals, heat and power. Cross-flow membrane processes have established themselves as low-energy and high selective separation processes in the downstream processing of fermentation products for recovery and purification since the beginning of the 1970ies and it can be expected that this role will extend into the new concept of bio-refineries