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Transcript

OPTIMIZATION

Goal: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles

MOTIVATION

  • A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

  • Vehicles also emit polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and particulate matter

Emission Health/

Environment Risks

  • particulate matter
  • carcinogenic
  • neurodegenerative disorders

RISKS

  • PAHs
  • probable human carcinogens
  • they are toxic to fish and other aquatic life

Solution

  • PAHs were reduced by 67–96% with E10 and 82–96% with E85

SOLUTION

  • Both E10 and E85 reduced particulate matter by more than 95% when compared with E0

Regulations

REGULATIONS

Renewable fuel standard (RFS) program made E10 a standard

  • Energy Policy Act of 2005
  • Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007

BACKGROUND/ PRE-DISTILLATION

Goal:

Corn to Ethanol

OVERALL PROCESS

  • Use corn to produce highest-possible purity of ethanol

  • Blend ethanol with gasoline to make enough E10 for Albuquerque

WHY ETHANOL?

Petroleum's Role in US Energy

  • In 2017:
  • 29% of the total energy the US consumed was from petroleum sources

  • 92% of the energy used for all transportation was from petroleum

  • 4% of the energy used for all transportation was from ethanol (mainly blended fuels)

Why Ethanol?

  • Reduces the amount of volatile compounds and greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere

  • Can be used in all 4-stroke engines that use gasoline (E10)

  • Reduces the need/dependance on oil, especially sourced overseas

  • Production adds jobs and wealth to the economy (farming, production plants)
  • In 2018, 71,300 jobs and $46 billion added to the US GDP was attributed to ethanol production

Feed Process Overview

Mash

Separation

  • Ethanol/water "beer" is separated from silage via sieve
  • Water is added to ground corn

  • Enzymes are added to convert starch to sugars

Fermentation

Distillation

Corn Prep

  • Dry corn kernels (whole)

  • Grind (mill) kernels
  • Mash is cooked and cooled

  • Yeast is added, ethanol is produced
  • "Beer" is further separated into ethanol and water

  • Ethanol is dehydrated and rendered undrinkable

PROBLEM STATEMENT

PROBLEM STATEMENT

We need to produce at minimum 54.61 gal Ethanol/min to supply the city of Albuquerque with fuel per year.

DEMOGRAPHICS

DRIVING ADULTS

ASSUMED TO BE

428,631

CALCULATIONS

NEEDS: 54.61 gal Ethanol/min

PROCESS DECISIONS

Design

ChemCAD

  • Has component properties
  • VLE data is available
  • Sensitivity analysis

Shortcut Column

  • Rough Estimate
  • Quick data for basis

Separation

  • Heat

VLE Thermodynamic Model

NRTL

PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM

OVERALL FLOW DIAGRAM

HAND DRAWN

CHEM CAD FLOW DIAGRAM

Distillation Column 2

Product Wanted

Distillation Column 1

Intermediate Feed

Feed Stream

Bottom Product 2

Bottom Product 1

Distillation column 1

Distillation column 2

DESIGN STEPS

SHORTCUT

SHORTCUT SIMULATION

Get an Idea of the Operation Parameters for the Process

Sensitivity Studies For Optimization

Sensitivity Studies First Column

Stages vs Reflux

Number of Stages vs Reflux

  • Massive drop of stage number at a reflux ratio of 5
  • Starts to tapers off at 6
  • A reflux ratio between 5 and 6 looks ideal

Sensitivity Studies First Column

Stages vs Pressure

Number of Stages vs Pressure

  • Lower pressure generally yields reduction stage number number
  • One atm is appropriate
  • Inexpensive initial cost and operating cost
  • The column does not have to be a pressure vessel

Column pressure

RIGOROUS

Rigorous Column

SCDS column - More accurate than Shortcut column

Rigorous Column

Column Parameters

First Column

Second Column

Results

Successfully able to separate Ethanol from corn (in ChemCAD at least)

CONCLUSIONS

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Concluding Remarks

Through research we were able to:

  • Fully specify our problem
  • Feed and Product compositions
  • Learn the importance of Ethanol in fuel production
  • Positive environmental and economical impact

Through a combination of hand calculations ChemCAD sensitivity studies and team work we were able to successfully simulate ethanol separation from fermented Corn mash.

Thank You

THANKS TO...

  • Dr. Chowdhury for being a great professor.
  • Thank you fellow classmates for your support .
  • Thank you chemCAD for finally working.

REFERENCES

And That's The Corn on the Cob

  • https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ethanol_benefits.html
  • https://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/ethanol-facts1.htm
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_gallon_equivalent
  • https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/?page=us_energy_transportation
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npJ1N-1K84E&t=162s
  • https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle
  • https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/ethanol-reduces-a-variety-of-harmful-emissions-new-study-finds
  • https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/ethanol-reduces-a-variety-of-harmful-emissions-new-study-finds
  • https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43325.pdf
  • https://pubs.acs.org/doi/ipdf/10.1021/acs.est.6b02606
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