Optimum energy analysis of separation and purification units for bioethanol production by the use of lignocellulose feedstock

Abstract

Global concerns over environmental issues raised several efforts to find an applicable alternative solution. One of the vital solutions is to promote liquid bio-refinery products as a transportation fuel. Bioethanol, considered the most common in this category, has several advantages that can help to protect the environment. However, nowadays, the production of this fuel, due to its high level of energy requirement, is not cost-effective in many countries. The current research aims to conduct Energy analysis to be used throughout finding optimum points for bioethanol production energy usage in separate sectors while production is under process. Results show 70% of the total required energy for the procedure is used in distillation columns for the production of 99.54 wt.% bioethanol. The distillation unit includes beer and rectification columns. In the current study, it was found that for the beer distillation column, the best combination for energy consumption reduction is a column with 32 trays in which the feed is inserted on tray 5, and the side stream is received from tray 9. It should be noted that the counting of trays is from top to bottom. Furthermore, for the rectification column, the arrangement of 45 trays should be maintained and the feed should be inserted on a tray between 15 and 30 from top to bottom so that the best results could be garnered with minimal energy consumption.

Conversion of Lignocellulose for Bioethanol Production, Applied in Bio-Polyethylene Terephthalate

“…However, they are still the preferred approach for large-scale bioethanol fuel generation despite this main disadvantage. Hajinezhad et al reported that the distillation unit consumed about 70% of the total energy requirements for the procedure to produce 99.5 wt.% bioethanol [153].…”