Improvements in the glucose production process supported by simulation with SuperPro Designer v10.0

Abstract

A study is carried out to improve the current process of glucose production by acid inversion from refined sugar that isdeveloped in the Argentine UEB located in Camagüey, usingSuperPro Designer v10.0 simulator. The plant has a simple technology, transfer from Czechoslovakia and an annual production plan of 250 t of glucose. For each 6 t of refined sugar, 1 t of glucose is currently obtained, caused by the low conversion in hydrolysis reaction. Two alternatives are presented to increase the yield of glucose production, both based on enzymatic hydrolysis and two different processes for glucose separation: Enzymatic hydrolysis + crystallization-centrifugation, Enzymatic hydrolysis + chromatographic separation. With the first alternative, glucose production increases 1,48 times due to the higher degree of conversion that can be obtained. For the second alternative, which involves the purchase of equipment, an economic evaluation was carried out using Hand's method, resulting in an investment cost of 5 640 000 CUP. The following economic indicators were calculated: the net present value that was positive, the period of recovery of the capital of 2,4 years, a period of recovery of the discounted capital of 3,4 years, an internal rate of return of 30 % and a return on investment of 41,1 %. These favorable indicators for alternative 2 and the increase achieved in glucose production with alternative 1 show that both are feasible.