The Ethanol Production Process in Caña Brava

The Caña Brava agribusiness project is developed in an area of 7,000 hectares located between the provinces and Sullana, Piura and Paita, with an investment of $ 360 million. With its commissioning, Caña Brava intends to generate their own power through a power plant of 12 megawatts and create jobs for workers at work 2.148 planting, harvesting and factory operation.

A total of 350,000 liters of ethanol are produced in Caña Brava since August of this year, making the first city in Piura that will export pollution-free fuel to Europe.

Ethanol comes from sugar cane, a traditional crop in northern Peru but has rarely been done with the technology used now. Except for urea, do not use chemicals, but to avoid the pest Diatraea Saccharalis (sugarcane) crops, 10,000 thousand flies are released and 250,000 wasps.

In addition, irrigation tech Caña Brava used to irrigate the land and has its own power source.

Besides export, the company expects to sell part of its production in the local market, taking into account that since 2010 will be mandatory in Peru mix and sell gasoline blended with ethanol.

The Ethanol Production Process:

1. Firstly, the canes have to burn to lose the leaves and in that way can be harvested.
2. Secondly, is the stage of washed and shredded in a mill.
3. Then, the clean canes go to machine where they’ll be crushed and squeezed in order to obtain the juice.
4. The juice goes through a clarification process where impurities are left and only used under the above (the gravity helps that process).
5. This juice is going to pass some time in a big recipient while it ferments until obtaining the desired Brix degrees. (Obtaining of OH radicals).
6. The fermented juice passes to the distillation columns where using high temperatures the OH radicals can separate from the water.
7. The OH radicals pass to a condensation process because they’re gaseous and have to be in liquid, obtaining the ethanol with 99.9% of purity.

Emily LaPoint