Modeling and optimization of distillation to produce bioethanol

Distillation is the most widely used separation operation in chemical industries; the great consumption of energy is the major disadvantage of this process that is unable to reach a high level of purity of bioethanol. The objective of this study is to model and to optimize the distillation column, by testing the effect of impurities. A parametric study of sensitivity of the feeding tray position of the column and the reflux ratio was carried out to optimize the operating conditions and improve the production of bioethanol. The results of this study show that acetaldehyde has more effect on the separation of binary water/ethanol in comparison with acetic acid and glycerol. In addition, working with optimal operating conditions values increase the ethanol production to about 2.88 %.