Estudo da variabilidade na operação de destilação de uma usina de álcool

Abstract

Alcohol plants are set up in strategic locations in order to regulate the flow between supply and demand. In the case of the production of ethyl alcohol, the maintenance of its correct technical specification is essential to avoid losses with the reprocessing of the product. The concentration of alcohol produced, when not properly controlled, can lead to significant economic losses, mainly due to the cost associated with the unit operation of distillation. In this sense, this work studied the behavior of the main process variables associated with the operation of a distillation column typically used in alcohol plant distilleries. The concepts studied in the area of Statistical Process Control were used, aiming to identify the behavior of the variables over 11 days of typical operation. It was concluded that the behavior of the process variables was consistent with expectations and showed a tendency towards centralization with regard to the use of control charts. In addition, the purity of the ethyl alcohol produced was kept practically constant.