Process Simulation of Butanol Separation from Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE) Aqueous Solution Using Mesitylene and Dibutyl Phthalate by a Hybrid Extraction-Distillation Process

Biobutanol has a good potential to be used as renewable and sustainable energy that can replace fossil fuels, and solve long-standing problems caused by the utilization of fossil fuels. Biobutanol can be produced by Acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation from biomass. Nevertheless, the butanol is toxic to the culture, leading to a low concentration of butanol in the broth. Consequently, butanol separation from the broth is highly energy-intensive. In this work, the process simulation of butanol separation from ABE aqueous solution by a hybrid extraction-distillation process was studied. Mesitylene and dibutyl phthalate were used as the extractants. The processes were simulated by Aspen Plus V8.8 software. The number of stages for the extraction column affected the composition of the extract stream and the flow rate of extractants. The flow rates of mesitylene and dibutyl phthalate used to extract all of the butanol from dilute fermentation broth were 120.63 tones/h and 215.54 tones/h respectively. The production rates of pure butanol from the mesitylene and dibutyl phthalate were 5.28 tones/h and 3.36 tones/h respectively. The hybrid process using mesitylene as an extractant was better when the butanol production rate, % recovery, and the duty of reboilers and condensers for the distillation column were considered.