REDIMENSIONING THE FERMENTATION COOLING SYSTEM FOR EFFECT OF ETHANOL PRODUCTION CAPACITY

Brazil is one of the largest producers of sugarcane in the world, producing through it more than 37 million tons of sugar and 27 billion liters of ethanol. Currently there is an increase in the demand for fuel ethanol consumption, especially due to the variation of the price of petroeum in the international market and the renewable character of this energy source. The aim of this work is to increase the ethanol production from the re-sizing of the fermentation cooling system of an industrial plant. In order, it was necessary to perform an energy balance of the fermentation cooling system, in its old configuration, and to redistribute the plates to meet the need for heat absorption of the first and second stages. Another important point was the expansion of the second stage, increasing the residence time of the fermented wort. The implemented modifications generated an increase in plant productivity measured by the amount of sugarcane destined for ethanol production, which doubled in relation to the previous harvest, the quantity of wine produced that was 36% higher, the increase of 0.9% in quantity of total reducing sugars (ART) present in the food, which increased by 6% the alcoholic content of the wine, giving a 52% higher production in the studied period, maintaining the fermentation temperature in the optimum range of yeast. These results evidenced the increase in the productivity of the system and also provided a reduction in the cost of maintenance by reducing the number of heat exchangers and pumps in operation in the plant.