Thermal Integration Of Different Plant Configurations Of Sugar And Ethanol Production From Sugarcane

The sugarcane industry represents one of the most important economic activities in Brazil producing sugar and ethanol for the internal and external markets. Most of the sugarcane plants in Brazil have been projected to produce both sugar and ethanol, prioritizing one over the other according to market prices. There are also plants dedicated only to ethanol production. Nevertheless, this change in the production pattern affects parameters in their production such as water consumption, steam demands, bagasse surplus and electricity production. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the production parameters for different configurations of sugarcane plant: (a) all sugarcane juice is destined to produce ethanol without sugar production and (b) distribution of 50 %/50 % of total recoverable sugars in sugar and ethanol production. Simulations in ASPEN PLUS® software were performed in order to evaluate the mass and energy balances and thermal integration using the Pinch Method was applied in order to minimize the utilities consumption.39Special Issue11471152(2009) Fuel Bioethanol: An Opportunity to Brazil, , CGEE (Centre for Strategic Studies and Management in Science, Technology and Innovation) , Brasilia DF, Brazil, (In Portuguese)Dias, M.O.S., Modesto, M., Ensinas, A.V., Nebra, S.A., Filho, R.M., Rossell, C.E.V., Improving bioethanol production from sugarcane: Evaluation of distillation, thermal integration and cogeneration systems (2011) Energy, 36, pp. 3691-3703Ensinas, A.V., Nebra, S.A., Lozano, M.A., Serra, L.M., Design of evaporation systems and heaters networks in sugar cane factories using a thermoeconomic optimization procedure (2007) International Journal of Thermodynamics, 10 (3), pp. 97-105Ensinas, A.V., Nebra, S.A., Exergy analysis as a tool for sugar and ethanol process (2009) Handbook of Exergy, Hydrogen Energy and Hydropower Research, pp. 125-160. , G. Pélissier, A. Calveted (Eds.) Nova Science Publishers Inc., NewYork, USA(2014) Dados Preliminares Do Balanço Energético Nacional 2013, , www.epe.gov.br, EPE (Empresa de Pesquisa Energética) accessed 24.02.2014Martinez-Hernandez, E., Sadhukhan, J., Campbell, G.M., Integration of bioethanol as an in-process material in biorefineries using mass pinch analysis (2013) Applied Energy, 104, pp. 517-526Linnhoff, B., Manson, D.R., Wardle, I., Understanding heat exchangers networks (1979) Computer and Chemical Engineering, 3, pp. 295-302Higa, M., Freitas, A.J., Bannwart, A.C., Zemp, R.J., Thermal integration of multiple effect evaporator in sugar plant (2009) Applied Thermal Engineering, 29, pp. 515-522Palacios-Bereche, R., Ensinas, A.V., Nebra, S.A., Energy consumption in ethanol production by enzymatic hydrolisis - The integration with the conventional process using Pinch Analysis (2011) Chemical Engineering Transactions, 24, pp. 1189-1194Palacios-Bereche, R., Mosqueira-Salazar, K.J., Modesto, M., Ensinas, A.V., Nebra, S.A., Serra, L.M., Lozano, M.A., Exergetic analysis of the integrated first- and second-generation ethanol production from sugarcane (2013) Energy, 62, pp. 46-61(2014) RFA (Renewable Fuel Association), , www.ethanolrfa.org/pages/statistics, Statistics Data accessed 24.02.2014Urbaniec, K., Zalewski, P., Zhu, X.X., A decomposition approach for retrofit design of energy systems in the sugar industry (2000) Applied Thermal Engineering, 20, pp. 1431-144