SYLOBEAD® Molecular Sieves for Dehydration SYLOBEAD® Molecular Sieves for Ethanol Dehydration

Grace for Ethanol Dehydration Molecular Sieve Technology When manufacturing ethanol, specifications require very low Ethanol dehydration typically occurs in a PSA unit. Water is amounts of water in the ethanol to avoid the potential for adsorbed into the molecular sieve from the ethanol-water formation of unwanted products in automotive combustion feed. During the regeneration phase, the adsorbed water engines. Thorough separation of ethanol and water is must be removed to make the sieve available for reuse. By achieved with the use of extremely porous composite lowering the in the vessel, water is released and materials consisting of and binder. These composite the sieve is regenerated. To achieve optimal regeneration, materials, known as molecular sieves, are the most sometimes a purge with dry ethanol may be required. economical means of drying ethanol. Molecular sieve beds can have a significant impact on Grace has been manufacturing molecular sieves for over capital and operating costs for ethanol producers. Molecular 60 years, and first produced sieves specifically for ethanol sieves used to dehydrate ethanol should have the following dehydration in the 1970’s. Today Grace’s customers depend characteristics: on SYLOBEAD® molecular sieves to dry ethanol that is produced from edible feedstock, cellulosic feedstocks, and • Mechanical integrity to withstand demands of pressure synthetically produced ethanol. SYLOBEAD® molecular swings with minimal breakage or dust generation sieves enable ethanol producers to maximize profitability via: • efficiency and selectivity to allow for rapid removal of water with minimal ethanol co-adsorption • Very good adsorption kinetics • Low co-adsorption of ethanol Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Unit

• High attrition resistance of the beads Ethanol & Water Mixture Water & Ethanol • Lowest level of by-products formation

Zeolite Adsorption

The zeolite is the active component of a molecular sieve. ) Manipulation of the zeolite during manufacturing is the key to

optimized performance in ethanol plants. & punge

Porosity plays a critical role in adsorption and desorption essu re Adsorption rates. The ethanol-water mixture must pass through the pores

of the molecular sieve, into the zeolite crystal and ultimately at low pr Desorption (Regeneration into the zeolite cage, where the separation occurs.

The zeolite component of the molecular sieve is a crystalline material that is engineered by Grace to specifically adsorb water molecules with minimal pickup of competing molecules. This is accomplished by optimizing the size and number of Regeneration Gas (Dry Ethanol) the zeolite crystals, the zeolite content within the molecular Ethanol sieve, and the aperture of the zeolite crystal.

Ethanol

Ethanol

H2O

Ethanol Molecular Sieve

Zeolite Crystal Zeolite Cage grace.com | 2 SYLOBEAD® Molecular Sieves for Ethanol Dehydration

Low Co-adsorption: Selective Dehydration High Attrition Resistance: Reduces Operating Costs The Key to Longer Bed Life

Selective adsorption is the process of capturing only the Attrition is a measure of dust generated from bead on targeted compounds, and it is a key design parameter for bead contact, which is the source of dust in ethanol units. ® SYLOBEAD molecular sieves. Commercial applications Part of this dust will block the voids between the beads, support a higher water adsorption rate and lower ethanol increasing the pressure drop. Part of this dust leaves the ® co-adsorption for SYLOBEAD molecular sieves compared bed, reducing the capacity of the bed and potentially blocking to competitor materials. downstream filters. Lower dust generation leads to longer Higher co-adsorption of ethanol results in imperfect life of the molecular sieve bed. When individual beads are regeneration, reduced drying performance, reduced throughput, tested for crush strength, they fracture into larger particles and higher energy consumption. The drying performance and at that are atypical for standard PSA operations. throughput can be improved by applying a lower vacuum and/ Attrition resistance is therefore a better indicator of operational or a higher purge gas flow. However, this will then result in an performance than crush strength. even higher energy consumption to maintain the lower vacuum plus vaporize the increased flow to the rectifier column, as well Lower Attrition = Cost Savings as further reduction of the ethanol production capacity. 100 Savings Opportunity SYLOBEAD® molecular sieves have been designed to minimize ethanol co-adsorption which increases ethanol production 80 capacity and reduces energy costs. 60 Lower Ethanol Co-adsorption = Cost Savings Cost

100 40 Savings Opportunity 80 20 Attrition Creates Dust

Attrition Bead on 60 0 Bead Contact Competitor SYLOBEAD®

Cost Molecular Sieve

40 Up to 15% cost savings

20 Less Fines Lower Higher Bed Life Generated Pressure Drop Capacity Maximized

0 Figure 2: SYLOBEAD® molecular sieves have been tailored to maximize Competitor SYLOBEAD® attrition resistance. Molecular Sieve

Up to 30% cost savings Crush Strength for PSA

SYLOBEAD® Molecular Sieves Whole Bead

Crush Strength Individual Bead Resistance to External Force Crush Strength Molecular Siev e ® Competitor Fractured Bead SYLOBEAD Fractured beads still perform and create Crush strength required minimal to no dust. Ethanol for PSA operation

Figure 3: SYLOBEAD® molecular sieves have ample crush strength and exceed typical PSA Operation requirements SYLOBEAD® molecular sieves have lower co-adsorption of ethanol than competitor products. grace.com | 3 SYLOBEAD® Molecular Sieves for Ethanol Dehydration

Strong Technical Service and Support About W. R. Grace & Co. Global technical support for adsorption applications is fortified Built on talent, technology, and trust, Grace is a leading global by an experienced team of professional technicians, scientists supplier of catalysts and materials technologies that help and engineers. Direct experience with a range of adsorption improve the products and processes of our customers in more applications allows Grace to support customers with a than 85 countries around the world with global headquarters portfolio of services including: in Columbia, MD USA.

• Custom design solutions for individual adsorption unit loadings and operational consulting and problem solving • Supervision of material loading • Analytical support • Performance evaluation and reporting • Customer seminars

A comprehensive understanding of industry-specific processes and issues enables Grace to work with customers to ensure the maximum value from our products.

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Grace® and SYLOBEAD® are trademarks, registered in the United States and/or other countries, of W. R. Grace & Co.-Conn. TALENT | TECHNOLOGY | TRUST™ is a trademark of W. R. Grace & Co.-Conn. This trademark list has been compiled using available published information as of the publication date of this brochure and may not accurately reflect trademark ownership. © 2016 W. R. Grace & Co.-Conn. All rights reserved. The information presented herein is derived from our testing and experience. It is offered, free of charge, for your consideration, investigation and verification. Since operating conditions vary significantly, and since they are not under our control, we disclaim any and all warranties on the results which might be obtained from the use of our products. You should make no assumption that all safety or environmental protection measures are indicated or that other measures may not be required. ADBR1 12/2016