ALCOHOL DISTILLATION BY SOLAR ENERGY（酒精蒸馏的太阳能）.pdf

Published in ISES Solar World Congress Proceedings, Vol. I, Part II. Pp. 772-777 (1991). Pergamon Press. ALCOHOL DISTILLATION BY SOLAR ENERGY (this work was a direct outcome of small scale solar still developed in 1984) Rajiv M. Jorapur and Anil K. Rajvanshi Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), P.O. Box 44, PHALTAN 415523, India. nariphaltan@ ABSTRACT Ethanol (alcohol) from a multi-purpose crop like sweet sorghum is an attractive alternative to kerosene for cooking and lighting in developing countries. This paper reports the successful use of solar energy for distillation of alcohol. A flat plate solar collector system with a collector area of 38 m2 was coupled to a pilot-scale distillation plant with a capacity of 1.8 l/h of 95% v/v ethanol. Data collected on this system over 4000 hours of operation shows that the average daily insolation was 6 kWh/m2 2 .day. The average daily solar collection was 1.68 kWh/m .day and the collection efficiency was 28%. The average specific ethanol production rate was 0.63 l/ 2 m .day and the yearly solar load was 65%. A correlation was developed between the specific alcohol production rate and the solar load for different insolation levels. The economics of using flat plate systems for alcohol production was not favorable at the prevailing collector prices. However, low cost solar systems like solar ponds could be a viable alternative.