Energetic and economic analysis of use of hydrated ethanol

Abstract

Interest in biofuels is growing, and ethanol has been the most used biofuel as an additive and as a gasoline substitute and, it is considered a potential alternative to traditional fuels. Ethanol represents 17% of energy consumption in transportation in Brazil, the transport sector's share in the energy matrix is 32.4%, which is the second most energy-consuming sector. The production of first and second-generation ethanol in the same industrial plant presents better financial results compared to the isolated processes. Also, ethanol obtained from the sugarcane has renewability, biodegradability and provides CO2 emissions mitigation. The objective of the work is to perform an analysis of the ethanol with several levels of hydration in terms of energetic, economic, environmental and safety. The results showed that each 10% of water in ethanol dilution the temperature in the flame surround decreases by 4%. Besides, the ethanol with 20% of water dilution emits 20% less radiation compared to 10% of water dilution. Indeed, the energy consumed in the distillation to produce ethanol with 10% of water is double. On the other hand, this energy difference in the production of ethanol diluted with 30% of water is not enough to compensate for the losses in the energy use process. Also, large amounts of water in ethanol dilution might be unfeasible the use due to the total cost of transportation. Therefore, ethanol with 20% of water represents the more efficient, cleaner and safe fuel in free flame applications.