OPTIMAL DESIGN OF PRE-FERMENTATION AND FERMENTATION BATCH STAGES IN ETHANOL PRODUCTION APPLYING THE NON LINEAR PROGRAMMING

ALBERNAS CARVAJAL, YAILET; CORSANO, GABRIELA; VARELST, HARRY ; GONZALEZ SUAREZ, ERENIO

Cayo Santamaría

Conferencia; 10 Years of cooperation between the UCLV and Flemish Universities; 2014

In the present work, the optimal design of pre-fermentation and fermentation operations for ethanol production is obtained developing a superstructure mathematical model. Different configurations of both operations are simultaneously considered in an overall model which also includes detailed kinetics equations. The zero wait is the best transfer policy for these stages, due to the need to ensure the quality of these operations, given its nature and the characteristics of microbiological sugary substrates. From the overall proposed model, the optimal configuration of the stages, the number of duplicated units in each one, the size of each process unit, the process variables as concentrations and flows, and the total investment and production cost are obtained. This model is formulated as a non-linear programming problem, which is solved by the Professional Software, General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) with the application of CONOPT solver. The optimal design and operation of pre-fermentation and fermentation stages was obtained with a minimum production cost and these results were compared with the structures in conventional distillery