화학공학소재연구정보센터
Energy & Fuels, Vol.23, 3277-3284, 2009
Analysis of Fuel Ethanol Plant Liquor with the Composition Explicit Distillation Curve Method
Although the use of ethanol and ethanol blends as motor fuels dates back to the earliest vehicles, ethanol has recently received extraordinary attention as a renewable liquid fuel. In the United States, the application of this fluid is mainly as an additive used to lower emissions (carbon monoxide and ozone), enhance antiknock index, and to extend gasoline stock. Elsewhere, such as in Brazil, mandated use raises ethanol to the level of a primary motor fuel. A major barrier to increased application of ethanol is the cost relative to gasoline, something that can be addressed to some extent by processing improvements, especially the distillation steps. Such improvements are not possible without the infrastructure of sound thermophysical property measurements, especially the distillation curves of the major plant streams. In this paper, we present the results of measurements made with the advanced distillation curve technique applied to five different process streams of a Brazilian ethanol plant. The advanced distillation curve method was recently introduced, and features: (1) a composition explicit data channel for each distillate fraction (for both qualitative and quantitative analysis); (2) temperature measurements that are true thermodynamic state points that can be modeled with an equation of state; (3) temperature, volume, and pressure measurements of low uncertainty suitable for equation of state development; (4) consistency with a century of historical data; (5) an assessment of the energy content of each distillate fraction; (6) trace chemical analysis of each distillate fraction; and (7) corrosivity assessment of each distillate fraction. We note that the head product from the stripping column is nearly identical to the residual flow from the molecular sieve columns, as is optimal since both streams are routed to the rectifier column. The head product from the rectifier column is a constant boiling azeotrope of ethanol and water, and the tail product from the rectifier column is nearly pure water.