Membrane processes and applications for biorefineries

The chapter provides an overview of membrane applications in conventional and lignocellulosic biorefineries. Driven by the trend towards “white biotechnology” the market and applications for membrane processes in biorefineries are growing rapidly since membrane processes have been identified as energy-efficient and highly selective separation processes in the different stages of biorefining. The applications of membrane processes in biorefineries cover the pre-treatment of the raw materials, the product recovery after reaction and the downstream processing plus in-take water preparation and wastewater treatment. The first part of the chapter will focus on conventional biorefineries using starch and sugars as well as vegetable oils as raw materials to produce bioethanol, biodiesel and biochemicals. In the second part of the chapter the focus is on lignocellulosic biorefineries using e.g. wood and agricultural raw materials. Overall, the chapter demonstrates that membrane processes have a great potential in current conventional biorefineries but also in the increasingly important concepts of lignocellulosic biorefineries