December 3, 2015
Mitsubishi Chemical, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Team up to MarketZeolite Membranes for Bioethanol Production in the U.S.
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group companies Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC; Head office:Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Hiroaki Ishizuka) and Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC; Head office:Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President: Yujiro Ichihara) today announced plans to jointly market a dehydration
system using the MCC-developed ZEBREXTM zeolite membranes for bioethanol production processes in theU.S.
MCC provides the zeolite membranes and modules and its group company, Mitsubishi Chemical Engineering
Corporation, manufactures the dehydration system. TNSC will support marketing and businessdevelopment activities via its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. (MTG).
Bioethanol is made mostly from biomass such as sugar cane and corn. It has been become widespread as afuel all over the world, particularly in the U.S. and Brazil, in step with efforts to reduce CO2 emissions andpromote the carbon neutral movement. The U.S. now has 215 bioethanol plants in operation, with a combined
annual capacity of 50 million kl, backed by increasing demand as a gasoline additive due to the enactment of
the 1990 revised Clean Air Act and 2005 Energy Policy, and more plants are slated for construction.
The bioethanol production process includes preliminary treatment such as pulverization of the raw materials,conversion to sugar, fermentation, refining (distillation), and water removal. The raw materials have high watercontent, so the distillation process in particular requires a large facility and considerable energy. Producers in
California and other West Coast states face high energy costs, making energy-saving processes a criticalelement.
ZEBREXTM is a chabazite zeolite, the world’s first to succeed in making zeolite into a membrane, in which all
pores are a uniform 3.8Å in size, increasing separation capacity. This allows higher production efficiency(Fig.1). It also has higher water resistance compared to conventional zeolite membranes, which allows it toseparate ethanol and isopropanol from water in high-water-content environments that deteriorate conventional
zeolite membranes.
A dehydration system using ZEBREXTM membrane in the bioethanol production process has the potential toreduce energy consumption by 5% to 10% and boost production by 10% compared to distillation and use of
conventional zeolite membranes now in use at many plants.
TNSC consolidated its U.S. subsidiaries Matheson Gas Products, Inc. and Tri-Gas, Inc. into MTG in 1999.
Through mergers and acquisitions, as well as construction of air separation units, it established a businessnetwork that covers the major industrial gas markets. MCC and TNSC will draw upon that network to develop
the dehydration system for bioethanol production processes.

Fig. 1: Separation of ethanol and water using a zeolite membrane

For further information, please contact:
Public Relations and Investor Relations Office
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation
Tel: [+81] (0)3-6748-7140
Corporate Communications
Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation
Tel: [+81] (0)3-5788-8015