HYDROGEN PRODUCTION INTEGRATED IN THE ETHANOL PRODUCTION PROCESS

Abstract

Because of the increase in gas emissions that intensify the greenhouse effect and the need for diversification of the world energy matrix that arises from this context, debates and research on energy sources that reduce environmental impacts and replace fossil fuels. Among them, two alternatives to the use and dependence on these fuels, which have gained visibility, are biofuels and hydrogen. The Brazilian sugar and alcohol industry is responsible for producing first and second generation ethanol, in addition to enabling the production of other biofuels and electricity from the use of residues from the ethanol production process itself, such as sugarcane bagasse and straw. For instance, fast pyrolysis of straw can produce bio-oil, which after an appropriate treatment can be used as a fuel for transport sector. Thus in this study, the integration of hydrogen production into the ethanol and sugar production process is proposed to use in the hydrotreatment of bio-oil produced through fast pyrolysis of sugarcane straw. Therefore, this study aims to perform energy and exergy assessments of different alternatives of hydrogen production and their integration into the ethanol and sugar production process from sugarcane. The different routes studied were: electrolysis, steam reforming of biogas and steam reforming of the ethanol. In addition, the impacts on the cogeneration system of the production process are also analyzed.