Research progress in development of adsorbents in the producing biomass-based fuel ethanol
Due to energy shortage and environmental deterioration , the biomass-based fuel ethanol(BFE),which has advantages in recyclability and non-pollution,has drawn increasing attention in the past few decades. However,the dehydration process in the preparation of fuel ethanol consumes huge energy,thus has always been a research highlight. In this paper,a review of both domestic and foreign researches in main adsorbents for separating ethanol-water mixtures is made briefly,the advantage of biomass adsorbents over other alternatives in the preparation of fuel ethanol is pointed out,and researching efforts in biomass adsorbents along with the studies in its modification are intensively analyzed. The analysis shows that the adsorbents after modification not only have good absorption efficiency,but also can be used as the feedstock for fuel ethanol after adsorption,which can make full use of the resource. Finally,the prospect of the development trend of biomass adsorbents in the preparation of fuel ethanol is presented. Specifically,obtaining better dehydration effect and recycled process than before is proposed.