Distillieries - Environmental Clearance

DistilleriesFigure 3-5: Preliminary Process Flow Sheet Depicting Fermentation of MolassesB. Distillation processEthanol produced by fermentation ranges in concentration from a few percent up to about14 percent; the rest being water and other components. The boiling point of ethanol(78.4°C) is significantly lower than the boiling point of water (100°C). These materialscannot be separated completely by distillation. Instead, an azeotropic mixture (i.e. amixture of 96% ethanol and 4% water) is obtained. Azeotropic mixture of alcohol cannotbe further concentrated by distillation. Distillation is used to produce Rectified Spirit(RS).Figure 3-6: Process Flow Sheet Depicting Distillation of EthanolC. Dehydration of alcoholPure alcohol can't be obtained from distillation since it forms azeotrope with water at 96%(v/v). Fuel ethanol or absolute alcohol is produced by dehydration of RS. Commerciallyavailable technologies for dehydration of RS are:Azeotropic DistillationMolecular Seive TechnologyTGM for Distillery Industry 3-19 August 2010