2014 AIChE Annual Meeting
(604m) Life Cycle Analysis on the Combined Separation and Dehydration Steps of Bio-Ethanol Production
Authors
Fernando Daniel Mele - Presenter, Universidad Nacional de Tucuman
Michel Kahwaji Janho, Cleveland State University
Jorge E. Gatica, Cleveland State University
Mauricio Colombo, Universidad Nacional de Tucuman
María Rosa Hernández, Universidad Nacional de Tucuman
Bio-ethanol production is a rapidly growing market due to the possible uses of the anhydrous product in energy generation. This production however, is weighed down by energetic demands and environmental effects.
In this paper, a life cycle analysis is performed on the distillation and dehydration steps of a bio-ethanol production plant complementing a sugar mill. The two parts of the process are first studied and optimized independently, heat integration is performed on both steps, the two are then combined and a life cycle analysis is performed on the resulting process.