TECHNO-ECONOMICAL EVALUATION OF DIVERSIFICATION IN THE SUGARCANE INDUSTRY

摘要

As A consequence of the continuous decrease in the sugar price, product diversification in the sugar industry, by the simultaneous production of energy, fuels, animal food and other byproducts, is mandatory. In this paper, an optimisation program named 'Diversification' is developed and a case study is presented. For this case study, costs and prices were supplied by a medium-sized sugar and alcohol mill from the Minas Gerais State in Brazil. The optimisation program determines the optimal quantity of each product and by-product to be produced looking for a maximum specific profit (by tonne of milled cane). The set of products includes sugar, alcohol, molasses, surplus electricity and surplus bagasse. The Monte Carlo method was used for the investment risk evaluation. It is concluded that optimised diversification programs are economically justified and can lead to a considerable increase in the total specific profit of a sugar mill.