INNOVATIVE METHODS OF JOINT PROCESSING OF HEAD AND FUSEL FRACTION IN RECTIFIED ALCOHOL END BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION

With rising energy prices, the development and implementation of innovative energy-saving technologies is a priority in the production of rectified alcohol and bioethanol.  By-products of distillation are the head fraction of ethyl alcohol, fusel oil, and fusel alcohol. Existing methods of joint processing of the head and fusel fractions in one column do not provide effective removal together head and intermediate impurities, which adversely affects the quality of commercial alcohol. The aim of the work was to develop methods of joint processing of the head and fusel fractions in the column for the concentration of impurities of cyclic action, to determine the optimal technological parameters of the column, and to test the efficiency of innovative methods in production conditions: to determine the degree of extraction, the concentration of volatile impurities Three schemes of processing of the head and fusel fractions are given. The method I allowed to free the bottom products from the head and intermediate impurities of alcohol and use such a liquid for hydroselection in the epuration column. Method II allowed significantly improving the physicochemical parameters of the bottom water-alcohol products, improving the quality of rectified ethyl alcohol by more complete removal of volatile organic impurities from the zones of their maximum accumulation and reducing their content in the reflux entering the irrigation column. Method III allowed ensuring maximum removal of volatile head and intermediate impurities and reducing the loss of ethyl alcohol with the concentrate of impurities. The use of innovative methods allows for joint processing of the main and fusel fractions in the production of rectified alcohol and bioethanol, to increase the yield of marketable alcohol by 3.8%.