| abstract |
Ethanol is produced by an indirect route involving fermentation of carbohydrate under homoacidogenic conditions to form acetic acid; esterifying the acid with primary alcohol containing at least 4 carbons and hydrogenating the ester to form ethanol and to recover primary alcohol for recycle. The processes of this invention enable water separations without formation of water azeotropes and further enable water separations by phase separations thereby resulting in energy efficiencies. |