Abstract Submission May 23, 2014
PanAm RCN Bioenergy Sustainability Conference, July 22-25, 2014
Authors: Sophia Rouzinou1, Vesa Pylkkanen2, Paulo Brito3
1American Process Inc, Athens, Greece
2American Process Inc, Atlanta, USA
3GranBio, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Process Integration Case Study for the Second Generation Ethanol Production
Co-location and integration of sugar mills and first generation ethanol mills with flexible bio-refineries can enhance biofuel and biochemical's production sustainability. Integrating second generation biorefineries to existing sugarcane mills represents a promising opportunity to reduce both capital and product cost.
The decisions of converting an existing plant to a second generation biorefinery or the optimum configuration of a green field integrated biorefinery should be a strategic decision. Biorefinery options include synergistic parallel facility, byproduct utilization and holistic production process realignment. Because of site consideration, a different approach may be necessary in each plant. Energy consumption implications are critical. Furthermore, integration of the new process with the existing equipment plays a key role for a successful implementation.
Application of Process Integration techniques and Pinch technology are therefore essential for early evaluation and design of novel biorefinery process concepts. Process Integration and Pinch technology combined with simulation modeling are powerful tools for reliable and quick feasibility analysis and techno-economic evaluation of different options. The optimum integration schemes are identified and the process energy consumption is optimized, while concurrently considering the capital cost.
The main principles and methodology of Process Integration and Pinch technology will be presented. An example of feasibility analysis and identification of the best options for a second generation biorefinery integration, with the use of Process Integration and simulation modeling, will be presented.
