Simulation of ethanol production processes from sugar and sugarcane bagasse, aiming process integration and maximization of energy and bagasse surplus

Author(s)

Marina Oliveira de Souza Dias

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Faculdade de Engenharia Química
• Defense date: 2008-08-29

Examining board members

Rubens Maciel Filho; Silvia Azucena Nebra; Daniel Ibraim Pires Atala; Antonio Maria Francisco Luiz José Bonomi

• Advisor: Rubens Maciel Filho; Carlos Eduardo Vaz Rossell

Abstract

The main objective of this dissertation is to present the description and simulation of bioethanol production processes from sugarcane juice and bagasse, considering the evaluation of energy consumption. Some improvements were considered for the conventional bioethanol production process from sugarcane juice, such as efficient juice treatment, sterilization and concentration, lower fermentation temperatures (28°C) than the ones used nowadays in the industry, study of a double effect distillation sys tem and optimization of dehydration processes for anhydrous bioethanol production. The process considered for bioethanol production from sugarcane bagasse is based on an Organosolv process with dilute acid hydrolysis, carried on three non-simultaneous steps: prehydrolysis of hemicellulose, Organosolv delignification and cellulose hydrolysis. The use of 70 % of sugarcane bagasse generated on the mills as raw material for the hydrolysis process allows an increase in bioethanol production of 17 %, considering exclusively the fermentation of the hexose obtained from the cellulose fraction of sugarcane bagasse. An increase on energy consumption is observed when bagasse is used as raw material in the hydrolysis process, but it may become feasible considering the optimization of conventional bioetlJ.anol production process, the use of sugarcane trash and lignin as fuel in boilers and the thermal integration of the integrated process, which uses sugarcane juice and bagasse as raw materiaIs for bioethanol production. Evaluation of the energy consumption of the integrated production of ethanol from sugarcane and sugarcane bagasse constitutes an obstacle for the technical and economical feasibility of the hydrolysis processo This work aims to present contributions to help surpass this obstacle, considering the production of ethanol from sugarcane bagasse using an Organosolv process with dilute acid hydrolysis (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 06/02368-1 - Simulation of the production process of ethanol from sugar and from bagasse, aiming for the integration of the process and the maximization of the production of energy and excedents from the bagasse
• Grantee: Marina Oliveira de Souza Dias
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master