SIMULATION OF THE FERMENTATION PROCESS TO OBTAIN BIOETHANOL FROM RICE RESIDUES

In this paper presents a simulation model of the fermentation/separation process of bioethanol from hydrolyzed pretreated rice husk, using Aspen HYSYS simulator. Sensitivity studies performed on the developed model indicated levels for selected variables: biomass/water ratio of 1:2,89 ; biomass flow of 50 t/h and inlet temperature separator of 30°C, leading to maximize the yield of bioethanol. From these variables, a bioethanol production of 8,81 t/h with a purity of 65,51% w/w is obtained, corresponding to a flow of hydrolyzed treated biomass of 50 t/h. This work represents an advance in the development of the simulation model of the complete process to obtain second generation of bioethanol from rice husks.