Biomethane and Biohydrogen from Vinasse: Simulation and Technical-Environmental Analysis
摘要
Vinasse in one of the industrial effluents with the highest pollutant load, and its revalorization into biofuels is one of the pillars of sustainability in the sugarcane byproducts industry. In the present work, the simulation of the production processes of biomethane and biohydrogen from distillery vinasse is carried out. The Aspen Hysys v10.0 simulator was used to develop the simulation models. The NRTL property package was selected for the liquid phase and Peng-Robinson for the vapor phase in the biomethane simulation model, while in the biohydrogen simulation model, NRTL-Ideal was used for the anaerobic digestion stage and Peng-Robinson for the hydrogen production stage. The obtained simulation models were validated with data reported in the literature, achieving an error of less than 5% in both cases. A simplified life cycle assessment was conducted, yielding emission factors of 0.027 kg CO2eq/MJ for biomethane and −0.102 kg CO2eq/MJ for biohydrogen. These values were compared with those of fossil fuels, confirming the climate advantage of both biofuels in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.