Ethanol recovery from fermentation broth by pervaporation using a composite polydimethylsiloxane membrane

The pervaporation behavior of fermentation broth was investigated experimentally and compared with those started with ethanol mixtures. Ethanol was produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae utilizing technical grade glucose and recovered by pervaporation using a composite polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane prepared in our laboratory. Ethanol concentration in fermentation broth decreased to a relatively low level when pervaporation was coupled with fermentation. The more active cells appeared in the fermentation broth, the better the membrane performance was.