Measurement of sucrose and ethanol concentrations in process streams and effluents of sugarcane bioethanol industry by optical fiber sensor

摘要

The measurement of process streams and effluents from sugar-ethanol industry by using optical fiber sensor based on Fresnel reflection principle is reported. Firstly, binary sucrose-water and ethanol-water solutions were measured in order to determine the calibration curves. Secondly, the co-products from various processing stages were analyzed in order to identify the sucrose or ethanol concentration. The absolute error was calculated by comparison between the nominal concentration values obtained by plant laboratory analysis and the sensor response, yielding errors < 5 wt% and < 5 vol% for sucrose and ethanol content, respectively. The fiber sensor provided reliable results even for samples with more complex compositions than pure sucrose or ethanol solutions, with perspectives of application on the several stages of the plant facility.