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Highlights • Biphasic acetone-butanol-ethanol after in situ gas stripping was purified by distillation. • Four distillation sequences were investigated and optimized. • Techno-economic analysis was carried out to choose favorable sequences. • Energy requirement of distillation was decreased by 25.8%. • Total annual cost of distillation was decreased by 17.4%. Abstract Distillation processes for separation of biphasic ABE solution from in situ gas stripping were developed. The distillation sequences were investigated and optimized. Results proved the energy requirement of distillation was effectively reduced when feeding the biphasic ABE mixture. After techno-economic analysis, a superior scenario that started with a decanter followed with side-by-side sequences for separation acetone and ethanol was selected. Compared with the conventional processes that detractively concentrate the biphasic ABE mixture, energy requirement and total annual cost (TAC) of the novel distillation process were decreased by 25.8% and 17.4%, respectively. $ 4102.98 K per year of TAC was estimated in a case with a capacity of 30 K tons of butanol per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Principles and the current advances of the bio-butanol separation technologies were summarized. • An energy-saving and cost-effective ABE separation process was the common objective. • The multi-stages separation integration process has emerged as an important field for ABE production. • In situ upgrading of the post-separation ABE streams have been grained great interests. n-Butanol is an advanced next-generation drop-in biofuel, which can be produced by anaerobic acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation using biomass derived carbohydrates as substate by Clostridia sp. Nevertheless, even though there are plenty of breakthroughs for continuous improving the competitiveness of biological n-butanol production towards the petrol-chemical ones, a series technical barrier still limited the commercialization of ABE industry. As one of the major bottlenecks, the complex constitution of solvent product with extremely low concentrations always resulted in the energy-intensive downstream separation of the ABE production from fermentation broth, which further challenged the economic viability of the whole n-butanol process. To overcome the obstacle, in recent years, great effort has been taken to seek for an energy-saving and cost-effective technique for ABE separation from fermentation broth. This review aims to highlight the mechanisms of the arisen alternative n-butanol separation techniques and covered along with the limitations and advantages of these techniques. A comprehensive discussion of the current emerged trends in multi-stages separation integration processes are also made for the prospective separation techniques involved in n-butanol production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]