Economic evaluation of the obtaining process of fuel ethanol from sugar cane and corn

Abstract

This work deals with the economic evaluation of two processes for fuel ethanol production, one from corn and another from sugar cane. It was found that for Colombian conditions the process with greater feasibility is the one involving sugar cane. It was confi rmed that the greater contribution to production costs is due to the raw material, and that the mayor energy consumption in the process occurs in the separation and ethanol dehydration stage. In order to carry out the economic analysis, the simulation of the two selected schemes was made in Aspen Plus for obtaining the minimum data needed for equipment sizing and determination of utility requirements. The capital costs, the operational costs, and the feasibility indicators of both processes were obtained using the package Aspen Icarus Process Evaluator, under the specific conditions of Colombia.