A Strategy for Controlling Acetaldehyde Content in an Industrial Plant of Bioethanol

Fabio R. M. Batista and Antonio J. A. Meirelles
University of Campinas - UNICAMP


Abstract

This work presents a strategy for controlling acetaldehyde content in Brazilian bioethanol, based in simulation results of a typical industrial distillation plant. The major problem of acetaldehyde in bioethanol is that, during the storage period, it can oxidize to acetic acid, increasing fuel acidity above the legislation limit. This work tested, by dynamic simulation, simple loops to control acetaldehyde in bioethanol. The dynamic simulation generated a disturbance in the wine to be distilled by increasing acetaldehyde content, and verified how those loops were able to control the acetaldehyde level in bioethanol. Two different column system configurations were investigated. The first one includes a degassing system and a second one that produces pasteurized alcohol without or with a degassing system. Suggestions for the best control system of acetaldehyde contamination in bioethanol were formulated according to the acetaldehyde level in the wine.