Diseño de un proceso industrial para la obtención de etanol a partir de caña de azúcar (Saccharum officinarum) para Gelfresh Lab

Abstract

The aim of this work was to design an industrial process to obtain ethanol from sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum) for GelFresh Lab Company, which produces and commercializes disinfectant products; for which they require 96% ethanol. The process consists of washing, cutting and grinding the sugar cane, after that, the filtration, clarification, fermentation, distillation, rectification and dehydration of cane juice until obtaining an ethanol of 96%. The project, until the fermentation process, was carried out in Echeandía County, Bolivar Province, and the next step of the process at ESPOCH. The characterization of the composition of raw material was carried out by means of research laboratory techniques, having characteristics such as 5.2438g/100ml of total solids; 0.0609% of total ash; 0.6014gH2SO4/L acidity; 0.901g/ml density; pH 4.5; refractive index 1.46381 and 19.98 degrees Bx. The product obtained had an alcoholic strength of 96%, measured in the laboratory with the alcoholometer, highlighting that with a gas chromatograph it was 94.7%. In addition, in equipment sizing, the quantities to be processed were estimated with a global yield of 6.29%, however, it is expected that at an industrial level with the proposed process it will be exceeded at least 1.21%. It was concluded, through the cost-benefit analysis, that the project is viable with a recovery time that will take two years and 10 months, with a production cost of 1.17 dollars per liter of ethanol, reducing expenses by 0.13 dollars per liter. It is recommended the study be extended so that the process be part of a circular economy and in this way the waste be used to generate an economic benefit and an environmental commitment.