A plant that turns steel-mill off-gas into ethanol still depends on a deceptively ordinary unit operation: drying. INNOV-ADS recently completed a molecular sieve evaluation program with the ArcelorMittal Steelanol plant in Ghent, Belgium, focused on exactly that step.
The Steelanol plant
Steelanol is a pioneering carbon capture and utilization (CCU) project that converts carbon-rich industrial gases from steel production into ethanol using LanzaTech's carbon recycling technology. The facility can produce approximately 80 million litres of ethanol per year while contributing to significant reductions in carbon emissions — a process in which the dehydration section is critical to product quality.
What we tested
We evaluated the performance and stability of the molecular sieves used in the dehydration section of the process. Testing was carried out on our VPSA (Vacuum Pressure Swing Adsorption) pilot plant using actual Steelanol feedstock, so the adsorbent was assessed against the real stream it has to handle rather than a synthetic surrogate.
The program was designed to reproduce the operating conditions of the industrial unit, including the adsorption, desorption, and regeneration cycles. Running the adsorbent through realistic cycling — not a single saturation pass — is what reveals how dehydration performance and mechanical stability hold up over the long term.
What it tells the operator
"We are pleased to collaborate with INNOV-ADS on optimizing the ethanol dehydration process at our Steelanol plant. Their expertise in adsorbent technologies has been invaluable in validating the stability of our Vacuum Pressure Swing Adsorption (VPSA) system."
— Kristof Verbeek, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, ArcelorMittal
Validating an adsorbent on real feed, under real cycling, before it has to perform in the unit is what turns a supplier specification into performance an operator can count on. That objective, reproducible picture is the value of testing it independently — data the plant owns and can act on.