When manufacturing ethanol, specifications require very low amounts of water in the ethanol to avoid the potential for the formation of unwanted products in automotive combustion engines. Thorough separation of ethanol and water is achieved with the use of extremely porous composite materials consisting of zeolite and binder. These composite materials, known as molecular sieves, are the most economical means of drying ethanol.
Grace has been manufacturing molecular sieves for over 60 years, and first produced sieves specifically for ethanol dehydration in the 1970s. Today Grace’s customers depend on SYLOBEAD® molecular sieves to dry ethanol that is produced from edible feedstock, cellulosic feedstocks, and synthetically produced ethanol.