Heat Integration and Batch Scheduling of Optimal Bioethanol Production

This paper examines bioethanol production from oil palm empty fruit bunches, 47,208 kgs of which could potentially produce 13,950 liters of ethanol per day, using the Aspen Plus Suite commercial software. Continuous ethanol production with efficiency, optimum plant design, process dynamics, and control were studied in a continuous process to minimize the loss of plant utility and prevent possible ethanol production failure, which can sometimes occur in real life. A Gantt chart was used for continuous production to obtain ethanol every 24.5 hours. The Gantt chart also increases equipment efficiency by up to 73.90%. Pinch analysis was conducted for minimal energy consumption at the plant. The proposed production without/with the heat exchanger network shows that the total costs per year are 1,343,861$/year and 886,253$/year, respectively. The implementation of a heat exchanger network can reduce costs by around 34.05% per year. The purification process is guaranteed by the controller of the column system due to its dynamic failure sensitivity. Details of the controller and the results in the dynamic mode are presented.