EXERGY ANALYSIS OF SUGAR PRODUCTION PROCESS

Abstract

In the present paper, the study of sugar production process by means of exergy analysis was carried out, with the purpose of identifying and quantifying the stages with higher thermodynamic inefficiency. The sugar process of Panchito Gómez Toro during the 2013 sugarcane harvest period was taken as reference case. The sugar production process is integrated by the following stages: reception and mills, heating, clarification, heating of clarified juice, evaporation, crystallization and centrifugation and cogeneration. The destruction by irreversibility for each stage involve in the process were calculated. Furthermore total exergy efficiency and irreversibility of sugar process was determined. On the other hand, the influence of technologic improvements (improvements case) on exergetic indicators (exergy efficiency and irreversibility) was evaluated and the comparison with base case was done. The total exergy efficiency and irreversibility of sugar production process take values of 23.94% and 306 MW, respectively. The cogeneration and reception and mills stages showed the higher destruction by irreversibility, which represents 35 and 34% of total losses, respectively. The improvements system proposed has a positive influence on exergy analysis. The exergy efficiency is incremented in 1.77% and the irreversibility is reduced in 1432 kW.