Clean technology strategy for superfine alcohol plant

Abstract

In the investigation that is presented they are explored alternative that contribute to the decrease of the environmental impact of a plant of production of ethanol, keeping in mind the use of intermediate currents, as the alcoholic phlegms and the fusel oil, and the recirculation of the vinasse. Taking like base a plant that 900 Hl of pure alcohol obtains, they are generated as by-product in the stage of distillation 352,8 t/year of alcoholic phlegms that you/they represent 235,7 t/year energetically of raw, for that that the amount of raw saved with its employment as fuel in a general way is of $32 558,60. In a similar way the alternative was analyzed of burning the 294 t/year of oil of obtained fusel, starting from which 178,45 t is saved of raw annual that it represents $96 577. On the other hand the esters obtaining was valued starting from the fusel oil, being studied of laboratory scale until the design of a plant with a capacity of production of 160 kg/h. as for the vinasse recirculation it was determined through an experimental design the composition of the mixture water- vinasse -
flemazas that guarantees a good yield in fermentation and the non affectation of the variables of operation of the process, turning out to be of 80% dilutes, 12% vinasse and 8% flemazas. With this study a substitution of 20% of the water is possible to dilute and a reduction of 10 m3/h of that current that constitutes the residual one more aggressive of the process.