Fermentation vs Hydration of Ethene
Chemistry: Edexcel IGCSE, topic 15.3.7
Fermentation vs Hydration of Ethene
You need to be able to compare the processes of fermentation and the hydration of ethene for producing ethanol.
Fermentation
- Advantages:
- Not much energy is used (generally) as the process happens at 37°C.
- Produces bioethanol and is therefore a sustainable production method (renewable resource).
- Disadvantages:
- The process is in batch.
- The process is slow.
- If pure ethanol is needed, the separation of the low quantities of ethanol produced from the water by distillation is expensive and takes time.
Hydration of ethene
- Advantages:
- Continuous process.
- Few workers needed.
- Fast process.
- The ethanol produced is pure.
- Disadvantages:
- Uses ethene, which is a non-renewable resource.
- A lot of energy is used as the temperature used is 300°C. This makes the process expensive.
Test yourself on Fermentation vs Hydration of Ethene
Which of these applies to using fermentation to produce ethanol?