Bioethanol Distillation Research Articles

Systematic study of energy-saving bioethanol distillation process with sidestreams: Design and control

Systematic study of energy-saving bioethanol distillation process with sidestreams: Design and control

Making Bioethanol from Cassava as an Environmentally Friendly Fuel Mixing Material

Bioethanol derived from cassava has the potential as an alternative energy material because cassava plants contain starch, sugar or cellulose which can be used in the process of making alternative and environmentally friendly fuels. This study aims to make bioethanol from cassava starch. This research method starts from material preparation to the process stage consisting of the fermentation process, distillation process, and the final stage, namely testing ethanol content and adding fuel. 5 kg of cassava is used to produce 98 ml of bioethanol distillation with 16% rendition. The combustion test was carried out to obtain a comparison of the calorific value between the fuel mixture - Bioethanol and fuel -Alcohol, Mixing partalalite - Bioethanol 1: 19 (95% partalaite: 5% Bioethanol) and fuel - Alcohol 1: 19 (95% partalite: 5 % alcohol). The results of the research obtained the calorific value of combustion of the partalalite - alcohol mixture: 11,649.48 kcal/kg, while for the partalalite - bioethanol mixture: 11,486.15 kcal/kg. So that the higher the concentration of ethanol mixed in partalite, the higher the calorific value.

Perancangan Alat Destilasi Limbah Ampas Tahu Menjadi Bahan Bakar Bioethanol Melalui Metode Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

Fuel oil is experiencing an increase in demand in various sectors of life impacting the distribution process and meeting market needs. Bioethanol is a new and renewable energy with great potential to replace fuel oil. One alternative material for producing bioethanol is tofu dregs. Tofu dregs raw material processing can be done by distillation process. This study uses conventional distillation with the addition of components which are expected to produce bioethanol with good quality. The design of the distillation apparatus uses the QFD (Quality Function Development) approach. So the purpose of this study was to determine the technical characteristics of the bioethanol distillation system based on customer needs. The design of a bioethanol distillation apparatus made from Tofu Dregs using the QFD method resulted in several criteria for the device expected by the customer, including fast distillation time, amount of ethanol production, fermentation time, ergonomics, hydrolysis time, octane content and solution composition. The importance level of fast distillation time was 4.06, total ethanol production was 3.8, fermentation time was 3.67, ergonomic design was 3.63, hydrolysis time was 3.26, octane level was 3.21 and solution composition was 3.15. The resulting tool is capable of processing tofu dregs into bioethanol. The dimensions of the tool are 1264 mm in length, 1226 mm in width, and a total tool height of 1275 mm. The distillation apparatus is equipped with a set of vessels, condensers, coolers and heaters.

Key prospects and major development of hydrogen and bioethanol production

Cheap Production of bioethanol from renewable lignocellulosic waste has the imperative potential to economically cut burgeoning world dependency on fossils while reducing net emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), a principal greenhouse gas (GHGs). This paper highlights key benefits and status of bioethanol production technologies, aiming mainly on recent developments and its key potentials in Pakistan. Most sector of Pakistan economy heavily rely on the energy and power that is being produced using traditional approaches like from oil and hydel. However, the sedimentation in dams cut-down the energy generation and overwhelmed severe energy crisis that are witnessed since last decade. Thus, Pakistan must go to avail alternative sources of energy like hydro, biomass and solar so that energy security can be ensured to recover the tremendous loss of economy. Renewable biomass is abundantly available in Pakistan which can be used to produce bioethanol and electricity. Currently, 22 distilleries are producing the ethanol from sugar cane bagasse and out of these only 8 distillation units are producing motor fuel grade ethanol. The current bioethanol production of country is about 403,500 tons/year along with 2423 tons of biodegradable waste available in major cities. In addition, Pakistan produces 6.57, 0.5, 0.66, and 2.66 million tons of sugarcane, corn, rice, and wheat straw per annum, respectively. This biomass can produce 1.6 million liters of bioethanol which can produce approximately 38% of Pakistan's electricity annually. Despite having large potential, Pakistan is still producing a few volumes of ethanol from sugarcane bagasse. The production of bioethanol can be boosted using (I) pretreatment of agricultural biomass by alkali (II) enzymatic and bacteria-based hydrolysis of the biomass (III) post-hydrolysis using pressurized steam above 100 °C (IV) Fermentation of the biomass@ 7–10 h and (V) and (VI) distillation of bioethanol. This study recommends (1) increase R&D capacities mainly in the west and central regions of Pakistan, (2) initiate mega-projects to promote integrated bio-ethanol production at agriculture farms by providing 1/3 subsides, (3) purchase of bioethanol directly from the major agricultural farms, (4) produce bioethanol related manpower from the key research institutes as specified in this study.

Rancang Bangun Alat Destilasi Bioetanol Berbahan Dasar Nira Aren

The palm tree is a type of palm plant that has financial potential and can be used for various purposes. In some areas of Gorontalo, most of the palm sap is used for the manufacture of brown sugar and/or palm sugar. In addition, palm sap can also be used as a basic material for making bioethanol. Bioethanol from palm sap can be used as an alternative fuel to replace fuel oil. Bioethanol obtained from palm sap is generally made through a distillation process or what is known as distillation. The purpose of the research is to design a small-scale bioethanol distillation device so that it is easy to use by sugar palm farmers. The research method applied is divided into two stages, namely design and testing. Bioethanol distillation equipment is made by making components and fabricating. The testing of tools in the process of making bioethanol from palm sap is carried out through several stages, namely pasteurization, fermentation and distillation. 
 The bioethanol distillation apparatus has tubes that are used in the pasteurization, fermentation, and distillation processes. This tube is made of stainless steel with a thickness of 1.5 mm. The pipe and condenser are made of stainless steel with a diameter of 4 inches. The distillation apparatus is equipped with an activated thermometer to measure the temperature that occurs during the heating process of palm sap. Palm sap fermentation was carried out for 3 days at room temperature. The distillation process is carried out at temperatures ranging from 78-80oC. Based on the test results obtained bioethanol with an alcohol content of 55% as much as 200 mL of 5000 mL of basic ingredients. These results indicate that the distillation process is not perfect. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze and improve aspects that can optimize the bioethanol distillation process from palm sap.

Kinetic study of thermophilic anaerobic digestion of sugarcane vinasse in a single-stage continuous stirred tank reactor

Vinasse, the liquid waste from the bottom of a bioethanol distillation column, is a potential feedstock for biogas production due to its high organic content. Vinasse is discharged at a high temperature, i.e., 60–80 °C. Therefore, thermophilic anaerobic digestion is more efficient to directly treat the vinasse at a high organic loading rate (OLR). This study investigated the performance of thermophilic anaerobic digestion on sugarcane vinasse inoculated with acclimated digested cow manure (DCM). The experiment was run at varied OLRs (1,2; 1.8 and 2.4 gCOD.L−1.day−1). The process was carried out in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with controlled pH (7 ± 0.5) and oxidation-reduction potential/ORP (−500 ± 10 mV). During the 111 days of the experiment, we monitored the volatile fatty acids (VFA), total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD), and soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD), as well as methane and biogas production rates, to evaluate the reactor performance. The experimental data were fitted on the Anaerobic Digestion Model 1 (ADM 1) using the AQUASIM® software. The data were categorized in three process stages observed in this study: stabilization, enrichment, and steady-state. The kinetic parameters, i.e., the coefficient of affinity (KS,ac, KS,pro) and the specific growth rate (km,ac and km, pro), were obtained from the data fitting. The good fit of ADM 1 to the data highlighted the flexibility of ADM 1 to represent a dynamic system of a thermophilic anaerobic digestion system with simultaneous changes in both process variables and microbial composition. The data fitting gave consistently low Ks values in the lower OLR of 0.2 gCOD. L−1.day−1 up to the higher OLR of 2.4 gCOD. L−1.day−1. The Ks values, which were less than 1/1000 of the specific growth rate constants (km), indicated that the combined effects of the thermophilic condition and vinasse composition increased the microbial-substrate affinity (showed by KS) more essentially than the microbial growth rate (addressed by km). In addition, inhibitory effects were not observed with all OLR values tested in this study.

Second-Generation Lignocellulosic Supportive Material Improves Atomic Ratios of C:O and H:O and Thermomechanical Behavior of Hybrid Non-Woody Pellets.

Pellets refer to solid biofuels for heating and power. The pellet’s integrity is of great relevant to ensure safe and effective transportation and storage, and comfort to stakeholders. Several materials that are supportive, whether organic and inorganic, to pellets exist. However, no work in the literature is linking making hybrid non-wood pellets with addition of residual biomass from distillation of cellulosic bioethanol, and this requires further investigations. Figuring out how effective this challenging agro-industrial residue could be for reinforcing non-wood pellets is accordingly the scientific point of this study focusing on management of waste and valorization of biomass. The pilot-scale manufacturing of hybrid pellets consisted of systematically pressing sugarcane bagasse with the lignocellulosic reinforcement at the mass ratios of 3:1, 1:1, and 1:3 on an automatic pelletizer machine at 200 MPa and 125 °C. Elemental contents of C and H, durability, and energy density all increased significantly from 50.05 to 53.50%, 5.95 to 7.80%, 95.90 to 99.55%, and 28.20 to 31.20 MJ kg−1, respectively, with blending the starting material with the reinforcement at 1:3. Preliminary evidence of residual biomass from distillation of second-generation bioethanol capable of highly improving molecular flammable/combustible properties, mechanical stability, and fuel power of composite non-wood pellets exist.

Closed-loop dynamic real-time optimization (CL-DRTO) of a bioethanol distillation process using an advanced multilayer control architecture

The ethanol production has become an important part of the worldwide economy driven by its use as renewable energy and environmentally clean fuel. To obtain a high-level quality product, a large quantity of energy is used in the distillation stage. This work proposes to optimize the bioethanol production process applying a closed-loop dynamic real-time optimization (CL-DRTO) framework associated with advanced control strategies in the ethanol distillation facilities to improve production and minimize energy losses. A high-fidelity computational platform is developed using a software-in-the-loop (SIL) technique to demonstrate the feasible application in real cases. OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) Automation integrates Matlab and Aspen Hysys software to simulate practical scenarios currently applied in the industry. The optimization and control algorithms are developed in Matlab and the ethanol distillation process is modeled in the Aspen Hysys. Different advanced control strategies, such as IHMPC (Infinite Horizon Model Predictive Control), MIMO FSP (Filtered Smith-Predictor) and DTCGPC (Dead-Time Compensator Generalized Predictive Controller), are used to overcome the process dynamic issues, for instance, strong nonlinearity, dead-times, long time constants and coupled loops, on ethanol distillation process. A CL-DRTO layer is developed in the proposed control structure to consider economic and production aspects, guiding the process to optimal operating points. Performance indices and computational effort are used to evaluate the control behavior for disturbance rejection and reference tracking scenarios. Furthermore, economic performance is analyzed to ensure the advantages of the proposal. Results show that the proposed computational platform is able to reproduce industrial scenarios with high-fidelity. In addition, preliminary results demonstrate that advanced control structure can improve the production and profitability of the bioethanol distillery and present a powerful alternative to replace classical controllers currently used in this type of industry.

Second Law analysis of large-scale sugarcane-ethanol biorefineries with alternative distillation schemes: Bioenergy carbon capture scenario

Distillation is one of the most used separation techniques, despite its high heat demand and low thermodynamic efficiency. Although new distillation schemes have been developed for ethanol-water separation, most of them prescribe expensive sub-atmospheric columns. On the other hand, heat-integrated distillation columns allow significant steam savings since thermally integrated condenser/reboiler of different columns share the same heat duty. In this work, three innovative distillation schemes for large-scale sugarcane-ethanol biorefineries are analyzed aiming at less energy-intense processes, higher thermodynamic efficiencies and steam savings. Ethanol production, power production through bagasse-fired cogeneration, thermodynamic efficiency, heat demand, water usage, steam demand, carbon dioxide intake, and potential of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage are assessed for technical and thermodynamic comparisons of distillations schemes. Results of carbon emissions go beyond the biorefinery boundaries and include sugarcane supply-chain emissions. It is shown that heat-integrated distillation schemes promote huge steam savings compared to conventional ethanol distillation. Distillation Scheme No.2 – with five heat-integrated columns – showed highest steam savings of 63% relative to conventional distillation, while distillation Scheme No.3, prescribing an innovative Petlyuk column for bioethanol distillation, attained the highest thermodynamic efficiency (11.1%) outperforming distillation Schemes No.1 and No.2 (7.65% and 7.03%, respectively). Sankey diagrams express results of carbon dioxide equivalent flows, lost bioenergy with carbon capture and storage potential, water flow and equivalent power flows via the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Anti-Thermal Shock Binding of Liquid-State Food Waste to Non-Wood Pellets

The development and implementation of strategies to assist safe and effective transport and storage of pellets in containers and indoor facilities without heating systems are challenging. This study primarily aimed to reshape the organic fraction of municipal solid waste into a liquid-state binder in order to develop freezing–defrosting-proof non-wood pellets. The introduction of the standard solution of food waste into the process of pelleting consisted of stirring it together with the residual biomass from distillation of cellulosic bioethanol or alternatively spraying very fine droplets on the layer of the starting material before it entered the pilot-scale automatic machine at 200 MPa and 125 °C. The addition by spraying of carbohydrate-rich supplement boiled for five minutes caused the pellets to show increases in apparent density (1250.8500 kg·m−3), durability (99.7665%), and hydrophobicity (93.9785%), and consistently prevented them from suffering severe mechanical fracture by thermal shock. The fractal dimension of breakpoints, cracks, and delamination on the finished surface for these products was the smallest at 1.7500–1.7505. Sprayed pellets would fall into the strictest grid of products for residential heat-and-power units, even after freezing and defrosting. The conclusion is therefore that spraying can spectacularly ensure the reliability of liquid-state food waste as an anti-thermal shock binder for non-wood pellets.

A new unified model to simulate columns with multiple phase divisions and their impact on energy savings

This paper presents a new unified model that allows the simulation of distillation columns with any integer number of phase divisions. Such columns have the potential for substantial savings in energy and capital costs. However, conventional simulators do not cover columns with phase divisions and previous simulations required a tailored algorithm for each type of column. The proposed model uses a unique set of MESH-equations for parastillation, metastillation, and conventional distillation. With small modifications in the stage indexing, the model allows the simulation of conventional, top and bottom-DWCs. This generalization was possible by introducing two new variables: the number of liquid (θ) and vapor (β) phase divisions. The positive impact of increasing the number of phase divisions was demonstrated in the bioethanol distillation, by analyzing parastillation and metastillation columns. These columns reduce the operational and total annual costs in 19% and 15%, when compared to conventional columns.

The addition of zeolite adsorbents and calcium oxide on purification of bioethanol from sugar palm (arenga pinnata merr)

Bioethanol (C2H5OH) is a biochemical liquid produced by microorganisms through fermentation process on sugar molecules from carbohydrates. Bioethanol is a fuel of vegetable oil that has similar properties to premium. With its main product of palm juice, Sugar palm (Arenga pinnata) is a potential source of sugar and carbohydrate for bioethanol production. Production of palm juice can reach up to 12-14 liters/tree/day with total sugar content in palm juice ranges from 12-15%. The purpose of this research was to produce highly-concentrated bioethanol from palm juice through fermentation proccess to subtitude fossil fuel. This study was conducted with three stages of treatment, namely: the fermentation of palm juice, distillation of bioethanol, and purification of bioethanol with the addition of adsorbent zeolite and calcium oxide.

Nitrous oxide emissions from sugarcane fields in the Brazilian Cerrado

Abstract Brazil meets about 16% of its energy needs with bioethanol and other sugarcane products and leads the world in biofuel energy production. However, there are concerns over the environmental credentials of the sugarcane given the high emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) − a potent greenhouse gas − associated with its production. We quantify N2O fluxes from a sugarcane experiment in the Brazilian Cerrado over an entire year, comparing the magnitude of response to different fertilizer treatments: mineral nitrogen (N), a liquid residue from bioethanol distillation known as vinasse (V) and a combination of both (NV), on irrigated and nonirrigated plots. We find that soil N2O fluxes in plots subjected to the NV treatment are, on average, at least three times higher than those in the other treatments, resulting in four times the emissions intensity per yield than when mineral N or vinasse were applied alone. We also find that irrigation has a positive effect on N2O emissions in the first two weeks after treatment addition and on annual sugarcane yield. Emission factors, defined as net N emissions as N2O as a percentage of the total mineral N added, vary from 0.05 to 4.6% according to treatment. Sugarcane production in the Cerrado is a significant source of N2O, due to the synergistic effect of mineral N fertilizer and vinasse. Using vinasse as the main fertilizer, or applying N and vinasse at widely spaced intervals are effective strategies for climate change mitigation, plant nutrition, waste management and cost-efficient production.

Pollutant emission of gaseous and liquid aqueous bioethanol combustion in swirl burners

Hydrous ethanol is produced to the largest extent among all renewable liquid fuels. The utilization of aqueous ethanol, however, seems to be a more economical solution due to considerable savings on the production costs while the combustion performance is affected slightly. In the present paper, the energy balance of aqueous bioethanol distillation was analyzed using a 12% ethanol-water solution by volume as feed. The results showed that the distillation energy-to-lower heating value ratio of 92–52% solutions are only 0.394 of that of hydrous ethanol. Combustion tests were performed at 15kW combustion power and an air-to-fuel equivalence ratio of 1.17, utilizing 96–50% ethanol-water solutions by volume injected in both gaseous and liquid form. From a pollutant emissions perspective, all the tested alcohols are in line with the present Hungarian standard. Considering the upcoming regulations of 2018, 90–50% liquid alcohols and 80–50% evaporated alcohols already fulfill the stricter limitations.

Ethanol concentration of fermented broth by ohmic-assisted hydrodistillation

Abstract Ohmic-assisted hydrodistillation (OAHD) as an innovative extraction method was employed to concentrate ethanol from corn beer. OAHD reduces the time and energy required for distillation of bioethanol production compared to traditional method. OAHD process was compared to traditional hydrodistillation (HD) for 3 l of 13% (v/v) beer at a constant wattage of 168 W. Test results indicate that the required energy for separation of ethanol in OAHD is 77% less than HD. Moreover, OAHD completed the distillation process in 70.6 ± 1.8 min while HD required 116.1 ± 7.8 min. The concentrations of ethanol in the final distilled product from both methods were similar (56.5% ± 1.3 for OAHD vs. 52.3% ± 4.0 for HD). Interestingly, the process control in OAHD is faster and distillation can be stopped quickly, and consequently, it will contain less unwanted distillate in comparison with HD. The findings of this study introduce OAHD as a potentially economical and environmentally friendly method for bioethanol distillation process. Industrial relevance In this research, ohmic-assisted hydrodistillation (OAHD) was used as an advanced hydrodistillation (HD) technique and compared with traditional HD in concentration of ethanol from industrial fermented corn beer. OAHD method was quicker, more economical, more sustainable and with a better ability of process control than HD method. Such advantages can make OAHD as an alternative technique for the production of larger quantities and higher concentrations of ethanol by scaling up the equipments and process in biofuel factories, instead of the conventional HD process.

Energy Saving Bioethanol Distillation Process with Self-heat Recuperation Technology

Bioethanol is a renewable liquid fuel that has become established as a viable alternative to gasoline. Bioethanol is produced mainly in the US and Brazil from corn and sugarcane as feedstock, and world-wide production has been expanding. However, a distillation process is essential for refining bioethanol, which requires a large amount of heat, and thus offsets the carbon-neutral value. The energy efficiency of the distillation process with "Self-heat recuperation" technology was studied, which recovers sensible and latent heats by compressing the vapor from the top of the distillation column. In this study, the effect of energy saving in the distillation of bioethanol with self-heat recuperation technology was analyzed in comparison to the conventional counterpart using a temperature-heat diagram, as well as demonstrated on a pilot scale. Further demonstration tests were conducted for enzyme-recovering distillation that is used in the cellulosic ethanol production process from cellulosic biomass as feedstock to study the effect of energy saving using distillation with self-heat recuperation.

SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS OF AN INDUSTRIAL COLUMN SYSTEM OF BIOETHANOL DISTILLATION HEATED BY VAPOR DIRECT INJECTION

Most commercial process simulators have its origin at the petrochemical industry and their use in other sectors depends on testing. In this context a model of an industrial column system of bioethanol distillation heated by direct injection of vapor was developed and implemented using the simulator Aspen HYSYS, which was compared with experimental data obtained in the industrial plant. The system basically consists of four columns heated by direct vapor injection and the model of the system was developed using this approach together with the simulation blocks for columns heated by reboilers available on Aspen HYSYS. For such a task it was admitted a null termal load for the reboiler and a direct vapor stream was added in the side of the column. Overall deviations between simulated values and those measured in the distillery were 2.3 % for temperatures, 12.95 % for concentrations, and 1.07 % for bioethanol production in the industrial distillation system (IDS). The low values of the deviations obtained when comparing the data of the real process with simulated data indicate that IDS is well sized and the model implemented as well as the process simulator adopted can be used in the sugar-ethanol industry with distillation columns heated by direct injection of vapor.

Performance and cost evaluation of a new double-effect integration of multicomponent bioethanol distillation

Bioethanol derived from sugarcane is the most advanced alternative to fossil fuels and part of the solution in the efforts to achieve a low-carbon emissions world. Since distillation accounts for a large part of total energy consumption by industry, the need to reduce energy requirements serves as motivation for the study of this process. Many energy efficient schemes have been developed with this aim. However, most of them focus on columns working under pressure. Due to the organic nature of sugarcane and also to the liming process to which its juice is submitted, significant fouling can result from the insolubility of calcium salts, which is intensified at higher temperatures. In this work, Aspen Plus® was used to investigate the energy requirement of a configuration of double-effect forward-integrated columns, considering an extra stripping section to reduce the risk of fouling. The wine was considered a multicomponent mixture. Response surface methodology was applied to optimize the process and analyze some operating parameters. The configurations studied were adequate, but involved higher investments. The total annual costs were observed to be lower than those of a conventional process. Finally, congeners tended to have a negative effect on the specific steam consumption of the process.

Computational simulation applied to improve fuel bioethanol distillation

Experimental validation of the process simulation a typical industrial bioethanol unit was conducted, comparing the obtained results with the information collected in an industrial plant. A standard solution containing water, ethanol and 17 congeners was chosen to represent the fermented must, whose composition was selected according to analyses of samples of industrial wines. A careful study of the vapour-liquid equilibrium of the wine components was performed. An attempt to optimise the industrial plant was conducted considering two optimising approaches: the central composite design (CCD) and the Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP). The process was investigated in terms of bioethanol alcoholic graduation, ethanol recovery, energy consumption and ethanol loss. The results showed that the simulation approach was capable of correctly reproducing a real plant of bioethanol distillation and that the optimal conditions are slightly different from those used at the industrial plant investigated. Substantial fluctuations in wine composition were easily controlled for the two loop controls preventing an off-specification product. The optimised conditions indicate a distillation process able to produce bioethanol according to the legislation requirements and with appropriate steam consumption and loss of ethanol. However, for the production of alcohols with superior qualities, substantial changes in the production system may be required.

Life cycle assessment of biofuel production from brown seaweed in Nordic conditions

The use of algae for biofuel production is expected to play an important role in securing energy supply in the next decades. A consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) and an energy analysis of seaweed-based biofuel production were carried out in Nordic conditions to document and improve the sustainability of the process. Two scenarios were analyzed for the brown seaweed (Laminaria digitata), namely, biogas production (scenario 1) and bioethanol+biogas production (scenario 2). Potential environmental impact categories under investigation were Global Warming, Acidification and Terrestrial Eutrophication. The production of seaweed was identified to be the most energy intensive step. Scenario 1 showed better performance compared to scenario 2 for all impact categories, partly because of the energy intensive bioethanol separation process and the consequently lower overall efficiency of the system. For improved environmental performance, focus should be on optimization of seaweed production, bioethanol distillation, and management of digestate on land.