Modelling of superheated steam drying for combined heat and power at a corn ethanol plant using Aspen Plus software

A superheated steam drying (SSD) model was developed in Aspen Plus software to determine energy and water recovery for drying the co-products in a corn ethanol plant. The SSD was integrated into a biomass integrated gasification combined cycle (BIGCC) heat and power production model developed for a 190 million litre per year corn ethanol plant. The BIGCC system was fuelled with either corn stover or a mixture of syrup and corn stover at a rate of 110 MW. Results were compared to estimates for steam tube drying (STD). Energy consumed for the SSD was 759–804 kJ kg−1 of water removed compared to 2660–2690 kJ kg−1 for the STD. Approximately 1.3 l of water were recovered per litre of ethanol produced with the SSD, with none for the STD. Less power was generated in the BIGCC system with SSD due to its smaller heat sink than for the BIGCC system with STD.