Azeotrope distillation with

cyclohexane

Azeotropic distillation uses a solvent with an intermediate

boiling point to introduce new azeotropes to the mixture and
at the same time to generate two liquid phases that allow, in
a combined way, separating ethanol from water.
poor stability and high energy consumption.
The first heterogeneous azeotropic distillation column is
designed to obtain high-purity ethanol product at the column
bottom while obtaining minimum boiling ethanol-watercyclohexane azeotrope at the top of the column
The organic phase containing mainly cyclohexane is refluxed
back to the heterogeneous azeotropic distillation column. The
aqueous phase is drawn out from the decanter to be sent to
the entrainer recovery column where at the bottoms stream
is obtained water essentially pure and at the top is removed
cyclohexane to be recycled to the first column

Extractive distillation with

ethyleneglycol

Extractive distillation is a partial vaporization process in the

presence of a non-volatile and high boiling point entrainer
which does not form any azeotropes with the original
components of the azeotropic mixture.
The process has two columns: the extractive distillation
column and the entrainer recovery column. The entrainer is
continuously fed in one of the top stages of the extractive
column while the azeotropic feed is entered in a middle
stage lower down the column.
At the top of the extractive distillation column is obtained
anhydrous ethanol and at the bottoms stream is removed a
mixture of waterethyleneglycol which is send to the second
entrainer recovery column. In the recovery column at the
top water is withdrawn with some traces of ethanol and at
the bottom high-purity ethyleneglycol is recycled back to
the extractive distillation column

The makeup entrainer is much lower than azeotropic case

the quantity of entrainer is lower which affect the diameter
of the columns.
It can be observed that the column diameters are smaller
in the extractive distillation systems and also the energy
consumption in the columns.
the most important variables used to achieve the desired
ethanol concentration are the entrainer to feed molar ratio
and the reflux ratio. The former has a little effect over the
energy consumption compared with the reflux ratio impact
on the reboiler duty, for this reason the reflux ratio in
extractive distillation column is fixed at the best low value.

Adsorption with molecular

sieves

one bed is in a dehydrating cycle the other one is being

regenerated
The net flowrate of the anhydrous ethanol produced is
lower than the obtained in the distillation based operations.
This is due to the high ethanol recycle required to
regenerate the second bed.
This affects in an important way the efficiency of the
process and increases the total energy consumption
required to produce one kilogram of ethanol.
Also, it is important to take into account the energy
involved in the vacuum pump used in the regeneration
cycle and the energy used to redistillate the dilute ethanol
solution obtained in the regeneration step

COST ANALYSIS

the best technological alternative is the utilities consumption, as

well as investment costs incurred during initial deployment of
technology. Then, taking into account these last two factors, extractive
distillation with ethyleneglycol represents the most interesting alternative
because the energy consumptions and capital investment costs are
competitive and represent important savings in final cost of ethanol
produced.

Production process of Fuel Ethanol

from Sugar Cane Juice.
FERMENTATION
-For the fermentation process used four reactors type stirred tank (CSTR) in
series , with recirculation of yeast.
-This fermentative process is under anaerobic conditions at a temperature
of 32 to 35C and a pH of 4.2 to 4.5
ETHANOL RECOVERY
-the fermentation product, is pumped into a preheated exchanger plates at
a temperature of 80 C.
- then switched to a degassing column, which removes compounds with
lower temperature of boiling that ethanol.
- the mixture is sent to a Stripping column, to separate alcohol , in the
bottoms of the column leaves a byproduct called stillage.
- In the ethanol rectification stage, vapors with 40-50% ethanol
concentration from the top of the stripping column are sent to a rectifier
column. The byproducts from column bottoms are called flemazas.

 ETHANOL DEHYDRATION
Dehydration alcohol by extractive
distillation consist in to add a solvent to
the ethanolwater mixture (this mixture is
impossible to separate by ordinary
distillation) altering the relative volatility
of the components and allows separation.
But the solvent should be have low
volatility, not even be a way evaporate in
the column.

 ALOCHOL DISTILLATION
-The stripping column is simulated with
a distillation column with steam
saturated injected directly to a
pressure of 45 psig; The Bottoms
Stream, where leaves stillage, is used
to preheat the feed stream to the
stripping column