A new distillation plant for neutral alcohol production

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)This work aims to investigate industrial plants for neutral alcohol production, a special kind of alcohol used in the fine chemical, pharmaceutical and beverage industries, having a high potential as feedstock for renewable chemicals production. Operational and constructive changes in typical hydrated bioethanol plants were investigated by computational simulation, aiming to develop a new plant for neutral alcohol production. The wine was represented by a standard solution containing water, ethanol and 17 congeners. The results were compared with a typical Brazilian plant and a literature reported plant. The new suggested installation was more efficient than the traditional plants, since the steam consumption was, at most, 45.0% lower, ethanol recovery as neutral alcohol was, at most, 5.0% higher and the number of trays required for purifying bioethanol was also much lower. Furthermore, byproducts generated from the neutral alcohol distillation were used for producing fuel bioethanol. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.118784793Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)FAPESP [2008/56258-8, 2009/54137-1, 2012/08792-0]CNPq [304495/2010-7, 483340/2012-0

Computational simulation applied to the investigation of industrial plants for bioethanol distillation

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)This work aimed to investigate a typical bioethanol distillation process considering an alcoholic wine with 19 components and to validate the simulation results against experimental data collected from a Brazilian sugar mill. The process was investigated in terms of bioethanol alcoholic graduation, ethanol recovery, energy consumption and ethanol loss. Two optimizing approaches were tested: the central composite design (CCD) and the sequential quadratic programming (SQP). Both approaches allowed the optimization of the equipment configuration used nowadays and provided similar optimal conditions. The results showed that the simulation approach was capable of correctly reproducing a real plant of bioethanol distillation and that the optimal conditions guaranteed the bioethanol production according to legislation, with low consumption of steam and high recovery of ethanol. On the other hand, substantial fluctuations in wine composition may require adjustments of operational conditions or the use of specific control loops to prevent an off-specification product. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.46116Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)FAPESP [2008/56258-8, 2009/54137-1]CNPq [304495/2010-7

Liquid-liquid equilibria for ternary systems containing ethylic palm oil biodiesel plus ethanol plus glycerol/water: Experimental data at 298.15 and 323.15 K and thermodynamic modeling

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Several plant species have been proposed as source of oil for the transesterification reaction that generates the mixture of esters known as biodiesel; this biofuel has been considered as an energetic solution to the political, economic and environmental problems related to the use of petroleum-based fuels. The biodiesel process produces, stoichiometrically, 10% by volume of glycerol. Therefore, purification of the products after the reaction is mandatory. One of the most commonly used methods for biodiesel purification is washing with water. Nevertheless, the limited knowledge of the liquid-liquid equilibria of systems containing biodiesel + alcohol + different solvents have limited the understanding of phase separation and operating conditions of the biodiesel production and purification units, specially by the ethylic route. This work aims at the experimental determination and thermodynamic modeling of liquid-liquid equilibrium data in ternary systems containing ethylic palm oil biodiesel, ethanol and (glycerol or water) at temperatures of 298.15 and 323.15 K and atmospheric pressure. Densimetry and refractive index were the analytical techniques used for the determination of the phase compositions. The results confirmed the efficiency of washing as a method for recovering ethanol from the ester-rich phase generated at the end of the transesterification reaction. The thermodynamic modeling with the NRTL model showed good correlation with the experimental equilibrium data, especially at low and medium concentrations of ethanol. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.128356365FAPEAM RH - Institutional ProgramFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)FAPESP [2012/09646-8

Supercritical CO2 extraction of omega-3 rich oil from Sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) seeds

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) was employed to extractomega-3 rich oil from Sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L) seeds and partially defatted cake. For ground seeds, the supercritical extraction was carried out at temperatures of 40, 50 and 60 degrees C and pressures of 300 and 400 bar, and for the cold pressed partially defatted cake, the extraction was carried out with 300 bar at 40 degrees C and with 400 bar at 60 degrees C. The global extraction yields (X-0), oil solubility, fatty acid composition of the oil and tocopherol content were determined. The seed samples used in this work contained 54.3% oil, of which 50.5% was linoleinc acid (omega-3). The maximum extraction recovery for the seeds as 92% at 400 bar and 60 degrees C, but on one occasion a recovery of 99.1% oil was obtained when cold pressed extraction was employed, followed by supercritical extraction at 400 bar and 60 degrees C. A high tocopherol content of about 2-3 g/kg of oil was obtained. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.493323329Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Liquid-liquid equilibria for ethyl esters plus ethanol plus water systems: Experimental measurements and CPA EoS modeling

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)The knowledge and the capacity to describe the liquid-liquid equilibria of systems composed of fatty acid ethyl esters, ethanol and water are crucial for an adequate design of the biodiesel washing units found in the ethylic biodiesel production processes. Since limited data is available for systems of this kind, in this work measurements were carried out for fatty acid ethyl esters + ethanol + water systems containing some of the fatty acid ethyl esters most commonly found in biodiesels: ethyl linoleate + ethanol + water at 313.15 K, technical grade ethyl oleate + ethanol + water at 298.15 K and ethyl palmitate + ethanol + water at 298.15, 308.15 and 333.15 K. The experimental data were predicted with the Cubic-Plus-Association equation of state (CPA EoS). Using temperature independent interaction parameters, obtained from binary data, this equation of state was able to provide a very good prediction of the phase diagrams of the studied systems, with average global deviations of only 3.09%. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.961327334Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)FAPESP [08/56258-8]CNPq [304495/2010-7, 480992/2009-6

Liquid-liquid equilibria for ternary systems containing ethyl esters, ethanol and glycerol at 323.15 and 353.15 K

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)The knowledge and the capacity to describe the phase equilibria of systems composed by transesterification products are very important for an adequate design and operation of biodiesel production and purification facilities. Despite their importance for the production of ethylic biodiesel, fatty acid ethyl ester + ethanol + glycerol systems have been, up to now, object of less attention than the corresponding systems formed during biodiesel production using methanol. In this work, new experimental measurements were performed for the liquid-liquid equilibria of the systems ethyl linoleate/ethyl oleate/ethyl palmitate/ethyl laurate + ethanol + glycerol at 323.15 and 333.15 K. It is shown that the Cubic-Plus-Association Equation of State (CPA EoS) can successfully predict the new experimental data with global average deviations inferior to 6%. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.941386394Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)FAPESP [08/56258-8]CNPq [304495/2010-7, 480992/2009-6

Mutual Solubility of Pseudobinary Systems Containing Vegetable Oils and Anhydrous Ethanol from (298.15 to 333.15) K

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)The two-phase base-catalyzed transesterification of vegetable oils with short chain alcohols is common in the production of biodiesel. The reactants (vegetable oil and ethanol) are partially soluble, and this phase behavior can significantly impact the reaction process. To better understand this phase behavior, the liquid-liquid equilibrium data for pseudobinary systems containing vegetable oils (soybean oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil, cottonseed oil, palm olein, and palm oil) + anhydrous ethanol in the range from (298.15 to 333.15) K were determined experimentally. The mutual solubility increased as the temperature rose in all the systems examined. The equilibrium data were correlated with the NRTL model using temperature-dependent parameters which represented satisfactorily the experimental results.55827502756Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)FAPESP [08/56258-8]CNPq [306250/2007-1, 480992/2009-6

Obtaining sugars from coconut husk, defatted grape seed, and pressed palm fiber by hydrolysis with subcritical water

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)In this work, three residues from the food industry (coconut husk, defatted grape seed and pressed palm fiber) were subjected to subcritical water hydrolysis with the aim of producing fermentable sugars. Hydrolysis kinetics were determined using a semi-batch unit equipped with a 50 mL reactor. The process was conducted at 208 degrees C and 257 degrees C for 30 mm, with water flow rate of 33 mL/min and under 20 MPa. The liquefaction degree of the raw materials increased with temperature. The total reducing sugars recovered also increased with temperature. Maximum total reducing sugars recovered for coconut husk, defatted grape seed and pressed palm fiber using SWH were 11.7%, 6.4% and 11.9% from total raw material, respectively. Coconut husk presented the highest amount of monosaccharides (3.4%), followed by pressed palm fiber (2.4%) and defatted grape seeds (0.7%). On the other hand, the degradation products that are also fermentation inhibitors increased with temperature as well. Each raw material presented a different monosaccharides and inhibitors profile, which indicates that SWH should be evaluated and optimized individually for each case. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.898998Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)FAPESP [2010/08684-8, 2011/19817-1, 2012/10692-4, 2013/10037-9]CNPq [160469/2011-2, 301301-2010-7

Mutual Solubility for Systems Composed of Vegetable Oil plus Ethanol plus Water at Different Temperatures

This study presents liquid-liquid equilibrium data for systems of interest ill biodiesel production and the refining of edible oils by liquid-liquid extraction. These systems are composed of vegetable oils + anhydrous ethanol + water, at temperatures ranging from (298.15 to 333.15) K. The following vegetable oils were investigated: refined canola oil, refined corn oil, semiprocessed Jatropha curcas oil, and semiprocessed macauba (Acrocomia aculeata) Pulp Oil. According to the results, the enhancement of temperature within the Study ranges increased oil-solvent miscibility ill both phases. The liquid-liquid equilibrium experimental data were correlated using the non-random two liquid (NRTL) model. For all of these systems, the global deviations between calculated and experimental data were lower than 0.7 %, showing the good descriptive quality and applicability of the NRTL model ill liquid-liquid analysis and Computational simulation processes.55144044

Liquid-Liquid Equilibrium for Ternary Systems Containing Ethyl Esters, Anhydrous Ethanol and Water at 298.15, 313.15, and 333.15 K

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)The most common method used for purifying biodiesel is washing with water During the biodiesel washing process, two phases are formed, a water-rich phase and an ester-rich one For this reason, knowledge of the corresponding phase equilibrium is an important step in optimizing the final purification of biodiesel The objective of this work was to Investigate the liquid-liquid equilibrium related to some esters of Interest in the production of ethylic biodiesel, in particular the equilibrium data for systems containing ethyl laurate/ethyl myristate + ethanol + water at 298 15, 313 15, and 333 15 K The data obtained were correlated with the cubic-plus-association equation of state (CPA EoS) It was shown that this model was able to provide a very good description of the phase diagrams of the systems studied49241261312619Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia [SFRH/BD/29062/2006]Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)FAPESP [08/56258-8]CNPq [306250/2007-1, 480992/2009-6]Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia [SFRH/BD/29062/2006