Multi-objective optimization of an industrial ethanol distillation system for vinasse reduction - A case study

JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION

卷:183

Article

Silva, Rodrigo O.¹  Torres, Carmen M.²  Bonfim-Rocha, Lucas¹  Lima, Oswaldo C. M.¹  Coutu, Arnaud²  Jimenez, Laureano²  Jorge, Luiz Mario M.¹ 

[1] Univ Estadual Maringa, Dept Chem Engn, 5790 Colombo Ave, BR-87020900 Maringa, Parana, Brazil

[2] Univ Rovira & Virgili, Dept Engn Quim, Ave Paisos Catalans 26, E-43007 Tarragona, Spain

关键词: Simulation;    Ethanol distillery;    Waste reduction;    Economic evaluation;    Environmental assessment;    Sugarcane vinasse;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.179

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The fluctuation in the price of oil and the positive consequences of fuels from renewable sources (compared to fossil fuels) propel the expansion of biofuel global production. In this work, the current distillation operation of an ethanol distillery is simulated and compared to the use of indirect heating, evaluating the environmental and economic impacts associated with vinasse fertirrigation by using an external automated tool. Results show that the replacement proposed decreases approximately 15% of the amount of vinasse. Moreover, as the modifications do not change the outlet flowrates, such revamping might be done without additional operational changes that could affect the productivity. The environmental evaluation presents positive results, showing that the new configuration may decrease all environmental impacts categories assessed. From an economic perspective, the plant could also have higher profits, presenting a payback period of 3.57 years. Finally, the new improved system is treated as a multi-objective optimization problem and it is solved by using the weighted sum method to obtain the Pareto frontier, providing the optimal solutions that trade-off economic and environmental objectives. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free