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Modeling of Production and Quality of Bioethanol Obtained from Sugarcane Fermentation Using Direct Dissolved Sugars Measurements

Abstract:

Bioethanol production from sugarcane represents an opportunity for urban-agriculturaldevelopment in small communities of Ecuador. Despite the fact that the industry for bioethanolproduction from sugarcane in Brazil is fully developed, it is still considered expensive as a small ruralbusiness. In order to be able to reduce the costs of monitoring the production process, and avoid theapplication of expensive sensors, the aim of this research was modeling the kinetics of productionof bioethanol based on direct measurements of Brix grades, instead of the concentration of alcohol,during the process of cane juice bio-fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This avoids theapplication of expensive sensors that increase the investment costs. Fermentation experiments withthree concentrations of yeast and two temperatures were carried out in a laboratory reactor. In eachcase Brix grades, amount of ethanol and alcoholic degree were measured. A mathematical modelto pbkp_redict the quality and production of bioethanol was developed from Brix grade measurements,obtaining an adjusted coefficient of determination of 0.97. The model was validated in a pilot plant.