Ethanol from Raw Materials Containing Sugar

Raw materials containing sugar, thin juice from sugar production or even molasses are the starting point for obtaining ethanol. In turn, ethanol is indispensable for the production of alcohol for drinking, technical-grade alcohol or one of the fuels of the future, bioethanol.

GEA Westfalia Separator supports production with the aid of separators and decanters to increase economy significantly.

 

Although molasses is a waste product from sugar factories, it still contains a high proportion of sugar which can be fermented. The considerable contamination of molasses means that isolation of this sugar is associated with an appropriate treatment process.

 

The raw molasses is heated and diluted with water. Its pH-value is then reduced by the addition of acid. This causes substances which do not contain sugar and which would inhibit the fermentation process to become deposited as sediment.

The solids can now be removed from the molasses with the aid of separators and decanters from GEA Westfalia Separator. Once clarified in this way, the molasses is sterilized, cooled for storage and then routed to the fermentation process, in which microorganisms convert the fermentable sugar into alcohol.

After the fermentation process, the fermentation broth is clarified by nozzle separators and the microorganisms are removed before distillation. The yeast concentrate which has now been separated can be recycled or further processed into animal feed, for example.

 

To obtain alcohol, the supernatant of the separator is distilled. The alcohol is subsequently concentrated by so-called rectification or molecular screens.

Once the pH-value has been adjusted beforehand, crystals are separated out of the vinasse by a decanter and are highly sought-after as a fertilizer. In turn, the clarified vinasse in the supernatant of the decanter is used as a feed additive and likewise contributes to increased value.