Análise energética e exergética em usinas sucroalcooleiras

Abstract

Electric energy revolutionized the world, and more sustainable ways to produce energy are increasingly being discussed. Energy cogeneration in sugar and alcohol power plants is an alternative that meets the sustainability requirements, using sugarcane bagasse as fuel and reducing the energy waste in the fuel burning process to complement the Brazilian energy matrix. However, there is an underutilization of the electric power generation potential in these Brazilian power plants. The objective of this study is to reflect on this underutilization by presenting an energy and exergy analysis of case studies involving fictitious energy cogeneration power plants. These case studies demonstrate how this underutilization may occur and what the expected benefits are compared to a traditional thermoelectric power plant. Thus, the objective of this work is to make a theoretical comparison of energy and exergy performance indices (energy efficiency, utilization factor, and exergy efficiency) for three configurations of electricity generation, combining sugarcane mills fueled by bagasse and coal-fired power plants to demonstrate the impact of the underutilization of the energy potential of sugarcane mills on the Brazilian energy matrix. The first case represents a more traditional configuration of a sugarcane mill, while the second and third cases present more modern alternatives.