Simulação de modelos para produção de etanol anidro via destilação extrativa.

Abstract

The present work aims, through simulation, to determine the parameters of a model for the production of anhydrous ethanol via extractive distillation. The following variables were studied; reflux ratio, number of stages, solvent rate and others. The results obtained were compared with the data presented in the literature, in order to study the level of competitiveness with other distillation methods: azeotropic and reduced pressure. The simulations showed results of great consistency when compared to data found in the literature, mainly regarding the UNIFAC method, used to calculate the liquid-vapor balance. Regarding the process, the distillation extraction using ethylene glycol as extraction agent, stands out as an efficient method for obtaining anhydrous ethanol with low energy consumption, especially when and thermal integration between process streams is used, and present a simple form of operation.