Simulation of a steam generation plant useful in the Tequila production process employing different fuels as a novel strategy for environmental impact assessment

Tequila industry is in a continuous process to achieve a long-term economic, environmental, and social sustainability in the Agave-Tequila chain. To meet this challenge, several strategies have been proposed to improve the production process and reduce the environmental impact. In the present research work, the simulation of a steam generation plant with different fuels (heavy fuel oil, natural gas, and biogas) will be performed from a Tequila producer located in Valles region, Jalisco. The innovation of the research work focuses on the presentation of a new alternative for evaluating the environmental impact of the food industry focused on the process and its interaction with the environment. To calculate the environmental impacts associated with each of the proposed alternatives, a simulation of the industrial process (Production 50,000 L/day of Tequila) was carried out using CHEMCAD® simulation software and ALOHA® software. The simulation consisted in 6 steam generation boilers, which were represented by a Gibbs reactor in an adiabatic operation with an outlet temperature of 2032 °C, being fed with air and fuel. The outlet of the reactor was connected to a heat exchanger in which the combustion gases were in contact with a stream of water. The calculations were based on the generation of 12,000 kg/h of steam which are distributed to the extraction (17.07°%), hydrolysis (22.14°%) and distillation (60.79°%) stages for Tequila production process. From combustion, gases were quantified at the exit of the chimney. It is concluded that the use of natural gas is the most environmentally friendly option with gasses emission of 284.87 Ton/year of NO, 0.26 Ton/year of NO2, 358.98 Ton/year of CO, 11337.71 Ton/year of CO2, and 1.73 Ton/year of SO2. Finally, using as an environmental indicator the emissions of kg/L of CO2 coming from Tequila produced (heavy fuel oil 0.82, natural gas 0.62, and biogas 0.73), it is concluded that the change of fuel to natural gas represents a 24°% decrease in greenhouse effect emissions, presenting itself as an effective sustainability strategy to be applied in the Agave-Tequila production chain. [Display omitted] •The use of CHEMCAD as an environmental impact assessment tool is proposed.•A steam generation plant in the tequila industry was analyzed as a case study.•The environmental indicator obtained was the emissions of kg of CO2/L Tequila.•Use of fuel oil, natural gas, and biogas as fuel in steam generation was evaluated.