Patents
US 8172987 B2: Low-energy extractive distillation process for dehydration of aqueous ethanol
- Granted
- 2012-05-08
- Filed
- 2011-07-17 application 13184540
- Type
- Utility · 24 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
An energy-efficient extractive distillation process for producing anhydrous ethanol from aqueous/ethanol feeds containing any range of ethanol employs an extractive distillation column (EDC) that operates under no or greatly reduced liquid reflux conditions. The EDC can be incorporated into an integrated process for producing anhydrous ethanol used for gasoline blending from fermentation broth. By using a high-boiling extractive distillation solvent, no solvent, is entrained by the vapor phase to the EDC overhead stream, even under no liquid reflux conditions. The energy requirement and severity of the EDC can be further improved by limiting ethanol recovery in the EDC. In this partial ethanol recovery design, ethanol which remains in the aqueous stream from the EDC is recovered in a post-distillation column or the aqueous stream is recycled to a front-end pre-distillation column where the ethanol is readily recovered since the VLE curve for ethanol/water is extremely favorable for distillation.
Source: PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 (ipg120508.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMT International Inc. 26 patents | US company or organization | Plano, TX | AMT INTERNATIONAL, INC. State business registration EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| CPC CORPORATION, TAIWAN 57 patents | Foreign company or organization | Taipei, TW | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fu-Ming Lee | Katy, TX | 19 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Tzong-Bin Lin | Chiayi, TW | 23 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Jyh-Haur Hwang | Dali, TW | 10 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Hung-Chung Shen | Chiayi, TW | 16 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Kuang-Yeu Wu | Plano, TX | 22 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Lindsey Vuong | Allen, TX | 4 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Fong-Cheng Su | Chiayi, TW | 2 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Po-Sung Cheng | Not reported | 2 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Tai-Ping Chang | Guoxing Township, TW | 2 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| C07C | Acyclic or carbocyclic compounds | C07C29/84 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| B01D | Separation | B01D3/002 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| Y02P | Climate change mitigation technologies in the production or processing of goods | Y02P20/10 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| Y10S | Technical subjects covered by former uspc cross-reference art collections [xracs] and digests | Y10S203/14 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
| Recorded | What | From | To | Reel/frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-07-17 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | LEE, FU-MING signed 2007-07-12 VUONG, LINDSEY signed 2007-07-12 WU, KUANG-YEU signed 2007-07-12 HWANG, JYH-HAUR signed 2007-08-16 CHANG, TAI-PING signed 2007-08-17 CHENG, PO-SUNG signed 2007-08-17 LIN, TZONG-BIN signed 2007-08-17 SHEN, HUNG-CHUNG signed 2007-08-17 SU, FONG-CHENG signed 2007-08-17 | CPC CORPORATION, TAIWAN TAIPEI AMT INTERNATIONAL INC. PLANO, TX | 26603/1 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
Documents recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch that list this patent. A security interest is a lender’s claim on the patent as collateral; a release ends it.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.