Journal of the Japan Petroleum Institute, 58, (3), 135-140 (2015) 135

[Review Paper]

Energy Saving Bioethanol Distillation Process with

Self-heat Recuperation Technology

Takafumi KIUCHI†1)＊, Masayoshi YOSHIDA†2), and Yasuhiko KATO†2)

†1)
Engineering R&D Institute #2, Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering Co., Ltd.,
10-12 Koyocho, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu 808-0002, JAPAN
†2)
Environment Solution Div., Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering Co., Ltd., 46-59 Nakabaru, Tobata-ku, Kitakyushu 804-8505, JAPAN

(Received December 9, 2014)

Bioethanol is a renewable liquid fuel that has become established as a viable alternative to gasoline.
Bioethanol is produced mainly in the US and Brazil from corn and sugarcane as feedstock, and world-wide pro-
duction has been expanding. However, a distillation process is essential for refining bioethanol, which requires a
large amount of heat, and thus offsets the carbon-neutral value. The energy efficiency of the distillation process
with “Self-heat recuperation” technology was studied, which recovers sensible and latent heats by compressing
the vapor from the top of the distillation column. In this study, the effect of energy saving in the distillation of
bioethanol with self-heat recuperation technology was analyzed in comparison to the conventional counterpart
using a temperature-heat diagram, as well as demonstrated on a pilot scale. Further demonstration tests were
conducted for enzyme-recovering distillation that is used in the cellulosic ethanol production process from cellu-
losic biomass as feedstock to study the effect of energy saving using distillation with self-heat recuperation.

Keywords
Bioethanol, Cellulosic biomass, Distillation, Vapor compression, Self-heat recuperation

1. Introduction at ordinary pressure is 79 ℃ and that of water is

100 ℃. In the ethanol distillation process, the fer-
Bioethanol is a promising alternative to gasoline, so mented water mixture containing only a few percent of
production is rapidly expanding in response to agri- ethanol is heated and then concentrated until the etha-
cultural policies, global warming countermeasures, sus- nol concentration is 90 % using the difference in the
tainable society needs and energy security. In fact, boiling points of the liquids. The thermodynamic
total production worldwide in 2012 amounted to as requirements for the distillation process are supply of the
much as 85 million kL, which is higher than the domestic latent heat of evaporation to the reboiler at the bottom
annual gasoline consumption of 60 million kL in Japan. of the column to vaporize the liquid mixture, and removal
The main feedstocks for bioethanol production are cur- of the latent heat of condensation from the vapor by the
rently corn and sugarcane containing starch and sugar, condenser at the top of the column to condense the
which raises the problem of competition with food sup- vapor into liquid1). Therefore, the distillation process
ply requirements. However, bioethanol production of bioethanol production consumes a large amount of
may also use cellulosic feedstocks allowing greater heat energy despite the advantage of easy and stable
expansion in the near future. separation of the ethanol from the fermentation mixture
An example of a bioethanol production process from compared to other ethanol separation methods such as
cellulosic feedstock is shown in Fig. 1. The distilla- membrane filtration or extraction. For example, the
tion process to separate and refine ethanol derived from energy required for distillation from 10 wt% ethanol to
the fermentation process is one of the most important
unit operations. The distillation process first evapo-
rates and then condenses the liquid mixture, resulting in
separation and concentration of the components with
different boiling points. The boiling point of ethanol

DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1627/jpi.58.135
＊
To whom correspondence should be addressed.
＊
E-mail: [email protected] Fig. 1 Production of Bioethanol

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90 wt%, assuming heat is recovered from the bottom

products (liquid discharged from the bottom of the col-
umn), is 4.6 MJ/L-ethanol, which accounts for 20 % of
the heat energy equivalent of the produced bioethanol,
so that the energy conversion efficiency of bioethanol
production is reduced by the same amount of energy.
Especially in the United States, the heat required for
ethanol distillation is obtained from natural gas, result-
ing in reduction in the carbon neutral value of bio-
ethanol.
Consequently, significant improvements in the energy
efficiency of the distillation process of bioethanol pro-
duction are required in terms of cost reduction as well
as greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction, and many
studies are currently investigating energy efficiency
technologies1).
The present study describes energy saving in the dis-
tillation of bioethanol production using the bioethanol
distillation process with self-heat recuperation technol-
ogy and gives an overview of demonstration tests.

2. Effect of Self-heat Recuperation on Energy Fig. 2 T-Q Diagram of Conventional Distillation

Saving in Bioethanol Distillation

Self-heat recuperation is a technology to utilize the ered, because the temperature of the ethanol vapor 6 at
internal release of heat as the heat source for both the the column top is lower than that of the effluent 4 at the
reboiler and the raw material preheating zones at the column bottom by more than 21 ℃, so that the latent
bottom of the distillation column, and to recover the and sensible heat is not suitable anymore for this distil-
heat released by condensation of the vapor at the top of lation process. Therefore, the conventional distillation
the distillation column, as proposed by Dr. Atstushi process requires a minimum of 4.6 MJ/L-ethanol sup-
Tsutsumi, Project Professor, Institute of Industrial plied from external sources even with recovery of the
Science, The University of Tokyo, with other researchers sensible heat of the bottom products (4＞5).
in the Collaborative Research Center for Energy The T-Q diagram of the ethanol distillation with self-
Engineering2). Maximum recovery of latent heat and heat recuperation process is shown in Fig. 3. A heat
sensible heat can be achieved by pairing the reboiler exchanger is installed to recover the sensible heat con-
and the condenser for each distillation column, thus tained in the bottom products discharged from the bottom
establishing an integrated heat circulation with only the of the distillation column (6＞7) as in the conventional
compressor requiring external power, resulting in drastic distillation process. The concentrated ethanol vapor
reduction of energy consumption to one sixth compared discharged from the top of the column is adiabatically
to conventional distillation columns. compressed by the compressor (8＞9, 11) to raise the
In the present study, T-Q diagrams (temperature-heat temperature of the vapor. Heat is exchanged between
diagrams) demonstrated the effect of energy saving the vapor in the recirculation zone 9 and the circulation
achieved by this innovative self-heat recuperation tech- liquid of the bottom of the distillation column as well as
nology with significant potential for energy saving in between the vapor in the distillation zone 11 and the
the ethanol distillation process. Figure 2 shows the raw material solution 1 supplied to the distillation col-
T-Q diagram of conventional ethanol distillation as a umn at the pre-heating zone, thus achieving recovery of
comparison. In the process of conventional ethanol the latent heat and sensible heat of the compressed eth-
distillation, heat is recovered (1＞2) by heat exchange anol vapor. In particular, the latent heat that is com-
between the sensible heat contained in the bottom prod- pressed to a high temperature (11＞12) is exchanged
ucts discharged from the bottom of the distillation col- immediately at the pre-heating zone before the solution
umn (4＞5) and the raw material solution (fermented 3 is supplied to the distillation column, and the sensible
liquid), resulting in reduction of the required energy for heat of the ethanol condensed from the concentrated
distillation by more than 20 %. However, the latent ethanol (13＞14) is exchanged at the heat exchanger
heat and sensible heat contained in the distillate (con- located in parallel with the heat exchanger for the bottom
centrated ethanol) at the top of the distillation column is products, so that heat exchange between the latent and
only removed by the condenser (6＞7) and not recov- sensible heats can be maximized, thus optimizing the

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Table 1 Distillation Conditions

Conventional Self-heat
process recuperation process
Feed 10 wt% ethanol 10 wt% ethanol
Feed flow 400 kg/h 400 kg/h
Product 90 wt% ethanol 90 wt% ethanol
Distillation column Packed column Packed column
Sieve tray Sieve tray
Heat source External steam Ethanol vapor
Compressor - 15 kW

such as whether ethanol vapor can be compressed by a

compressor without mechanical malfunction caused by
condensation or other factors, and whether balance con-
trol between pressure and heat is possible during start-
up and steady operation. Therefore, demonstration
tests were undertaken at the pilot plant in Kitakyushu,
Fukuoka in 2011, following design of the pilot plant,
and erection and installation of the vapor compressor in
2010.
Table 1 shows the equipment specification of the
pilot plant used for the demonstration tests of bio-
ethanol distillation with self-heat recuperation. The
Fig. 3 T-Q Diagram of Self-heat Recuperation Distillation
pilot plant consisted of a normal type of distillation
facility that had been used for a NEDO commissioned
energy saving. project called “Experimental Project on the System of
The self-heat recuperation technology is expected to Recycling Food Waste by Converting into Ethanol”
achieve a considerable saving of energy by accomplish- with the addition of a compressor and a heat exchanger,
ing the maximum recovery of the latent and sensible so that the specification of the distillation facility was
heats, and has potential uses in various applications unchanged. The ethanol concentration of raw material
including other types of distillation processes and con- was set to 10 wt%, according to the target rate of
centration/drying processes. Ethanol distillation is “Development of Innovative and Comprehe nsive
considered particularly suitable for application of this Production System for Cellulosic Ethanol,” and the eth-
technology due to the following factors: anol concentration of the top of the distillation column
(a) Bioethanol production plants are generally located was set to 90 wt%, which is the designed condition for
independently in the middle of farmland, so application ethanol distillation before the membrane separation
of heat cascades is not common. process.
(b) Distillation is relatively a simple operation in which Boiler steam from the gasification melting furnace
the separation is basically between only two main com- (incinerator) had been used as the heat source for con-
ponents, i.e. ethanol and water. ventional distillations, whereas the compressed ethanol
(c) Operating temperature is 150 ℃ or lower. vapor was the heat source for this distillation process
(d) Ethanol will not prevent adequate increase of tem- with self-heat recuperation, and a heat exchanger for
perature by adiabatic compression (Saturated vapor ethanol vapor was additionally installed. A compressor
cannot be condensed by compression.). with tolerance for ethanol vapor usage was employed,
The present demonstration tests were conducted to and the normal rated power of the electric motor was
evaluate the expected effect of energy saving of the set to 15 kW.
self-heat recuperation technology applied to the bio- Figure 4 shows the pilot plant for the demonstration
ethanol production process. tests. The compressor was installed on the projecting
balcony of the fourth floor to immediately compress the
3. Experimental ethanol vapor from the top of the distillation column.
The rest of the heat exchange equipment was installed
3. 1. Overview of Demonstration Tests at the Pilot adjacent to the existing distillation column on the first
Plant floor.
Bioethanol distillation with self-heat recuperation is 3. 2. Results of Demonstration Tests at the Pilot
a distillation process with the potential for significant Plant
energy saving, but technical engineering issues remain, The demonstration tests were conducted in two stages,

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March through to April, and September through to adiabatic compression efficiency rate was 58 %, which
October in 2011. In the first stage, tests confirmed that was higher than the target rate of 50 %.
the compressor could compress ethanol vapor without Table 2 summarizes the effect of energy saving
mechanical malfunctions. However, some problems achieved in actual operation of the ethanol distillation
were identified such as adjustment of the balance of with self-heat recuperation pilot plant. Normalizing
heat exchange and optimization of ethanol vapor pro- the steam consumption of 56,200 kcal/h in conventional
cessing. Therefore, necessary changes to resolve these distillation to 1 as an evaluation reference value, the
problems were made before moving on to the second electric motor power in the distillation with self-heat
stage. The results of the second stage of demonstra- recuperation was 9.3 kW, which can be converted into
tion tests are shown in Fig. 5. The operation method 8000 kcal/h of energy consumption or 1/7 of the stem
to compress the ethanol vapor discharged from the top consumption. The electricity cost and steam cost are
of the distillation column with a set pressure was estab- related as follows:
lished, and increase of the temperature of the ethanol (Electricity cost)＝(Steam cost)×3
vapor by adiabatic compression was confirmed, and the Therefore, the energy cost was 1/2, which demon-
actual increased temperature was even higher than the strated that the energy cost for the ethanol distillation
expected calculated temperature. The actual measured with self-heat recuperation could be significantly de-
creased to 50 % of that for the conventional method.
However, this energy cost evaluation was simplified, so
the relationship between the local electricity cost and
steam cost must be reflected in any study of a commer-
cial plant.
The equipment cost requires a more detailed study,
but the compressor, heat exchanger, control equipment,
etc. may raise the equipment cost to 1.5 times that for
the conventional distillation system. However, the de-
preciation life of equipment is believed to be within 3
to 5 years because of the energy cost reduction.
3. 3. Enzyme-recovering Distillation with Self-heat
Recuperation
Bioethanol distillation with self-heat recuperation is
expected to be applied to the first generation bioethanol
production process of converting corn and sugarcane as
Fig. 4 Pilot Plant in Japan feedstock into fermented liquid containing 10 % etha-
nol before distillation. Investigations of the second
generation bioethanol production process using cellu-
losic feedstock has increased in recent years, and may
suggest a process of recycling the enzymes used for
saccharification and fermentation by recovery from the
bottom of the distillation column (solution discharged
from the bottom of the column)3). This process is
intended to concentrate, recover and recycle the enzymes
in the bottom products from the ethanol production pro-
cess to convert cellulose-based biomass as feedstock
because a large amount of enzymes is required to con-
vert cellulose into glucose in the saccharification pro-
cess. However, water must be evaporated together
with ethanol at the distillation column to separate the
Fig. 5 Material Balance in the Pilot Plant Test water introduced into the system together with the
Table 2 Effect of Self-heat Recuperation Process

External steam Compressor Energy Energy cost

consumption power consumption value
56,200 kcal/h
Conventional process - 1 1
(4.6 MJ/L-EtOH)
Self-heat recuperation 9.3 kW (8000 kcal/h)
- 1/7 1/2
process (0.7MJ/L-EtOH)

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cellulose-based material. The latent heat of evapora- L-ethanol in total of the additional vapor previously
tion of water is three times that of ethanol. Therefore, supplied from outside into both columns (8.0 MJ/
an enormous amount of energy is required for the process L-ethanol for concentration and 2.2 MJ/L-ethanol for
of recovering enzymes from the concentrated bottom rectification) was reduced to 2.9 MJ/L-ethanol in total
products, compared to conventional ethanol production by the compressor power. The actual adiabatic com-
from corn or sugarcane as feedstock. pression ratios at each of these compressors were low at
To solve such problems, a demonstration test was approx. 30 % due to the small scale equipment, whereas
conducted at the “Cellulosic Ethanol Plant” in Kure,
Hiroshima in 2013 with two distillation columns fitted
with the self-heat recuperation technology4). Figure 7
shows a photo of the self-heat recuperation equipment
incorporated into the integrated cellulosic ethanol pro-
duction system. The equipment is indicated by the
dotted line, and the concentration column and the recti-
fication column are located behind. Both of the two
columns are equipped with a compressor. The perfor-
mance test with this equipment demonstrated the feasi-
bility of stable operation, except during startup, with a
model solution containing 6 % ethanol achieving the
designated distillation performance without additional
vapor formation outside. Table 3 displays the heating
values consumed by each column of distillation and
rectification, and other values calculated from the result
of actual operations. The heating value of 10.2 MJ/ Fig. 7 Cellulosic Ethanol Plant

Fig. 6 Process Flow of Enzyme Recovery Distillation with Self-heat Recuperation

Table 3 Energy Saving for Ethanol Distillation with Enzyme Recovery and Self-heat Recuperation

Conventional Self-heat recuperation̶ Self-heat recuperation̶

distillation actual data of demo plant estimation of a commercial
(Kure) plant
Concentration Heating value of extra steam 8.0 MJ/L - -
column Energy for compressor
- 2.2 MJ/L 1.0 MJ/L
(heating value)
Compression ratio - 2.5 2.5
Adiabatic compression ratio - 29 % 65 %
Rectification Heating value of extra steam 2.2 MJ/L - -
column Energy for compressor
- 0.7 MJ/L 0.3 MJ/L
(heating value)
Compression ratio - 3 3
Adiabatic compression ratio - 31 % 65 %
Total Energy charge ratio 10.2 MJ/L 2.9 MJ/L 1.3 MJ/L

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commercial scale equipment could supposedly achieve study scaling-up and continue efforts for commercial-
as high as 65 %, thus reducing the consumption of ization.
energy from outside to 1.3 MJ/L-ethanol.
Therefore, our new innovative technology of ethanol Acknowledgment
distillation with enzyme recovery could secure our This research was supported by the project called
achievement of the target value of 2.5 MJ/L-ethanol in “Development of an Innovative and Comprehensive
the “Biofuel Technology Innovation Plan for Conversion Production System for Cellulosic Bioethanol” (2009-
of Cellulosic Biomass to Ethanol” proposed by the 2013) of the New Energy and Industrial Technology
Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, Ministry of Development Organization (NEDO).
Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in 2008.
References
4. Conclusion
1) Noda, H., Kataoka, K., “Cellulosic Bioethanol Production
Technology,” NTS Inc., Tokyo (2010), pp. 303-315.
Latent heat recovery technology is believed to have 2) Kansha, Y., Tsuru, N., Fushimi, C., Shimogawara, K.,
great potential in the quest to develop eagerly anticipated Tsutsumi, A., Chemical Engineering Science, 65, 330 (2010).
energy saving technologies driven by globally growing 3) Saga, K., Yanagida, T., Fujimoto, S., Minowa, T., Kiuchi, T.,
demand for energy or viable sustainability. The self- Ishibashi, Y., Mori, Y., Furujo, A., Chao, Y., Sugiura, J.,
heat recuperation technology has demonstrated high Abstract Book of the Japan Institute of Energy Symposium
(19), (2010), pp. 134-135.
potential for the maximum recovery of both latent and 4) Maekawa, N., Kiuchi, T., Kato, Y., Ishibashi, Y., Yoshida, M.,
sensible heats. After the successful application of the Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering Co., Ltd. Technical
self-heat recuperation technology to bioethanol distilla- Review, 5, 21 (2014).
tion in demonstration tests at the pilot plant, we plan to

要   旨

自己熱再生技術によるバイオエタノール蒸留の省エネルギー化

木内 崇文†1)，吉田 昌義†2)，加藤 也寸彦†2)
†1)
新日鉄住金エンジニアリング（株）技術開発第二研究所，808-0002 北九州市若松区向洋町10-12
†2)
新日鉄住金エンジニアリング（株）環境ソリューション事業部，804-8505 北九州市戸畑区中原46-59

バイオエタノールはガソリン代替として利用できる液体燃料 する「自己熱再生技術」を用いた蒸留プロセスの省エネル
であり，主にアメリカやブラジルなどでトウモロコシやサトウ ギー化の検討を行った。今回の検討では，温度-熱量線図から
キビを原料として生産されており，世界での生産量は拡大を続 従来のエタノール蒸留に対する省エネルギー効果の検討を行っ
けている。しかし，バイオエタノールの精製には蒸留プロセス た。また，パイロットプラント規模で実証試験を行い，エタ
が必要となり，このプロセスに多大な熱量が必要となるため， ノール蒸留の省エネルギー効果の実証を行った。その他，セル
バイオエタノールはカーボンニュートラルとしての価値を損ね ロース系バイオマスからのエタノール製造プロセスを対象とし
ている。そこで本研究では，蒸留塔の塔頂の蒸気を圧縮するこ た酵素回収蒸留においても実証試験を行い，自己熱再生技術に
とによりエクセルギーを再生させ，潜熱と顕熱を最大限に利用 よる省エネルギー効果の検証を行った。

J. Jpn. Petrol. Inst., Vol. 58, No. 3, 2015