Environmentally conscious consumers demand greener products. This has driven increased interests in a wide variety of sustainable alternatives to products we use every day. Green vehicles – such as hybrids or alternative fuel vehicles – represent some of the most visible alternatives this trend has produced to date. The rise of green vehicles has by association made ethanol fuel increasingly popular.
The increased demand for sustainable fuels has intensified the focus on ethanol fuel production and how the process can be made more energy efficient. Like any fuel refining process, the production of ethanol is quite complex. An alcoholic fermentation broth – typically created in the United States using grain or corn – is repeatedly distilled until it reaches 95 percent of the weight of ethanol. A mixture physically incapable of further distillation is known as an azeotrope, and this azeotrope continues on through processing to extract the ethanol.
Engineered Components for a Complex Process
Careful thought must be given when designing facilities to support the complex process of ethanol production. Several specialized components comprise a fuel ethanol plant as follows:
- Beer/Rectification Columns – First and second stages of water removal
- Molecular Sieve Units – Final stage of water separation
- Evaporation System – Concentrates the thin stillage
Thermal Kinetics is dedicated to providing high quality engineering support to the ethanol production industry. This has only been a broad overview of a selection of the complex components that comprise a Fuel Ethanol Plant. To learn more about these various components, please explore our Interactive Fuel Ethanol Plant today.