Process simulation applied to studying strategies for spirit distillation from fermented must with high methanol content

摘要

Methanol is one of the most important congeners present in alcoholic beverages and associated, at high concentrations, with poisoning in humans. Its origin is related to the presence of pectic material in the spirit raw material. Spirits originating from grains and spirits in whose the must fermentation was added vegetables residues with high content of pectin (peel and pomace of fruit) tend to present a higher methanol content. Taking this into account, this work aims to investigate, by process simulation, strategies for continuous spirit distillation from wine (fermented must) with high methanol levels. Aspen Plus process simulator was used for this investigation. A standard solution containing water, ethanol, and 10 congeners represented the fermented must. The spirit production was simulated by one column with 23 stages. The wine was feed into stage 5 (top to bottom) and the spirit was withdrawn from stage 3 with a small second alcohol stream as column distillate. A sensitivity analysis, including the effects of changes in reflux ratio, spirit mass flow, distillate mass flow and the number of stages of the rectifier section, was performed. Their impact on the spirits’ methanol level was investigated aiming to ensure the legislation limits and health of spirit consumers.