Abstract
One technique that has been largely used in the production of anhydrous ethanol is the azeotropic distillation with benzene, whose carcinogenic properties are well known. The present work reports on the extractive distillation by salt effect using a soluble potassium acetate salt, which is an alternative ecologically viable process to dehydrate an ethanol-water mixture. Besides producing an ethanol free of separating agent, it allows a reduction in energy requirement. An important factor in this process is the salt recovery to be reused in the distillation column, which is fundamental to the economical viability of the process. In this work, the potassium acetate salt is completely recovered in a spray dryer. The process simulation results showed that the proposed process presented a lower energy requirement than conventional processes, which use a liquid separation agent, and the potassium acetate proved to be an appropriate agent to replace benzene.
