Heat integration for the production process of 2G bioethanol from wheat straw

This work studies the effect of the heat integration on the production process of 2G bioethanol by using simulation tools, focusing mainly on the economic analysis viability of the process to reduce the use of energy resources. The study considers wheat straw as raw material, and two different pretreatment processes (dilute acid and steam explosion) arc analysed. Pinch analysis is employed to identify heat sources and sinks in bioethanol production process, to supply the process with heating and cooling using heat exchangers, reducing the external energy input use. The results of this analysis are compared for both pretreatments, together with economic evaluations. The results provided screening options during the early process design stage. In the future, they will be used to optimize the heat exchange network and incorporate life-cycle assessment to calculate rigorously the profitability and sustainability of the production process.