Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), a global leader in engineering and technology, and ICM, Inc. (ICM), a prominent U.S. provider of bioethanol process technologies, have entered into a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating innovation in ethanol dehydration.
The collaboration will combine MHI’s Mitsubishi Membrane Dehydration System (MMDS™) with ICM’s bioethanol process design to improve production efficiency. The joint effort seeks to reduce energy consumption, enhance operational reliability, and support the bioethanol industry’s transition toward lower carbon intensity.
At its Nagasaki Carbon Neutral Park, located within MHI’s Nagasaki District Research & Innovation Center, MHI recently achieved over 99.5 vol.% ethanol purity using the MMDS™ in pilot testing. Early results demonstrated a substantial reduction in energy use compared to conventional dehydration methods. Building on these promising outcomes, the partners plan further testing and validation to prepare for the next stage of development and commercial rollout.
To ensure robust, long-term performance, MHI and ICM will conduct two key validation programs—a fouling test and a demonstration test. The fouling test will examine the membrane’s resistance to impurities and its durability over time, while the demonstration test will confirm the technology’s full-scale efficiency, reliability, and integration within ICM’s process design in an operational environment.
Ethanol dehydration is traditionally one of the most energy-intensive phases of bioethanol production. By replacing the conventional Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) process with a molecular sieve separation method, MMDS™ delivers high-efficiency production while significantly reducing energy consumption and operational costs. Because the system operates in the liquid phase, it allows for a more compact design, minimizing equipment footprint and simplifying installation.
“Through this collaboration with MHI, we’re pursuing new methods for ethanol dehydration that can further enhance efficiency and reliability in production,” said Shaun Hubler, Director of Technology Commercialization at ICM, Inc. “The pilot outcomes are very encouraging, and we’re excited to advance toward full commercial deployment.”
“This partnership marks a significant milestone in MHI’s pursuit of carbon-neutral industrial technologies,” said Fumitaka Miyashige, Business Manager of the MMDS™ project at MHI. “Working with ICM enables us to bring this advanced separation technology to the global renewable fuels market.”
Additional testing is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2026, representing a key step toward the first commercial installation of the technology. Both MHI and ICM view this alliance as a long-term collaboration to drive greater efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness in the global bioethanol sector.
