Resumen de Effects of press-mud pre-treatment on the feasibility of biogas production
Maylin López González, Ileana Pereda Reyes, Julio Pedraza Gárciga, Ernesto Barrera, Osvaldo Romero Romero
- español
En este estudio se evalúa la factibilidad energética, económica y ambiental de la digestión anaerobia de la cachaza pre-tratada por agua caliente presurizada y por pre-tratamiento termo-alcalino. Una empresa azucarera típica en Cuba, con 4,600 t/d de caña molida y 130 días de operación, se seleccionó como caso de estudio. El biogás producido será usado para alimentar un motor de combustión interna para producir electricidad y calor. Se asumió que la electricidad será vendida a la red nacional y el calor que se recupera de los gases de escape del motor será usado como fuente energética para los pre-tratamientos. Los requerimientos térmicos para los pre-tratamientos permitieron cubrir el consumo de energía requerido. También una mejora ambiental y económica se obtuvo para las alternativas con pre-tratamiento. En general los mejores indicadores ambientales, económicos y energéticos se obtuvieron para la digestión anaerobia de la cachaza pre-tratada por agua caliente presurizada.
- English
In this study, an energetic, economic and environmental feasibility for the anaerobic digestion (AD) of press mud previously pre-treated with liquid hot water (LHW) or thermo-alkaline (TA) methods were assessed. A typical Cuban sugar mill was selected as Case Study. The sugar mill has a potential capacity to process 4,600 t d-1 of sugar cane and operates 130 days per year. The biogas produced can be used to feed an internal combustion engine to produce electricity and heat. It was assumed that the electricity will be sold to the national electric grid and the heat recovered from the exhaust gases will be used as energy source to supply the thermal demand for press mud pre-treatments. The thermal requirements for pre-treatments (9.4 and 12.1 MWh d-1) were energy sufficient by recovering the heat from the engine exhaust. For the alternatives considered, an improvement of the environmental profile with respect to the reference scenario was obtained. The profitability of methane production also increased for alternatives considering pre-treatment. In general, the economical, energetic and environmental assessment showed the best indicators for the AD of press mud using LHW pre-treatment.
