Renewable resources – green biorefinery: separation of valuable substances from fluid–fractions by means of membrane technology

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study is to emphasize the potential of membrane technologies and the specific performance‐limiting borders of pressure‐driven (microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse ssmosis) as well as electro‐membrane (electrodialysis, electrodialysis using bipolar membranes) techniques for the separation of valuable substances from silage press‐juice obtained in green biorefineries. Depending on the product, nanofiltration can be considered a partially fractionating technique with great future potential. Electrodialysis turns out to be a suitable separation technique for removing huge amounts of salt and isolating individual valuable substances. However, residual impurities must be taken into account for subsequent separation steps. In any case, further separation processes (e.g. chromatography) must be integrated in future green biorefinery production plants. © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd