Belonio, A. T. creator Rafael, M. L. Villota, K. C. Castillo, P. R. Gagelonia, E. C. Regalado, MJ. C. text monographic eng

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pp. 30-39 illustration 23cm A. T. Belonio, M. L. Rafael, K. C. Villota, P. R. Castillo, E. C. Gagelonia and MJ. C. Regalado PhilRice, in its quest to reduce dependence on fossil fuels for mechanized rice farming operations, has developed a distiller to produce hydrous (i.e., 95% alcohol) or fuel-grade bioethanol for small gasoline engines. The distiller was designed, tested and evaluated for distillation of bioethanol from naturally fermented nipa sap with 7.2% average alcohol content and crude (i.e., 40%) bioethanol from nipa diluted to 15% alcohol concentration. The product was tested and was proven effective as fuel for retrofitted gasoline engines in powering water pumps, grass cutters, and pump boats. The distiller consists of an internally heated boiler-streamer, a packet bed column, and a water-trickling condenser. It was designed to operate with a moving-bed rice husk gasifier as heat source using 17-28 kilograms of rice hull per hour. Performance of the distiller was tested and evaluated using 200 liters of fermented nipa sap for 6 to 7 hours distilling period producing 14-15 liters of bioethanol with 93-95% alcohol content. Using crude bioethanol diluted with water to 15% alcohol, on the other hand, resulted in an increase in the capacity of the distiller to 18-20 liters of bioethanol with 92% alcohol content in five hours. The calculated distilling rate of the unit ranges from 3.4-3.7 L/h when using fermented sap to 5.0 L/h when using diluted crude from the feedstock, depending on the total volume used. The investment cost for the distiller is PHP 123,000. Only one person is needed to conveniently and safely operate the unit using producer gas as fuel and electricity as power source for the blower and pumps. Cost analysis showed that the distiller can process fermented nipa sap and diluted crude bioethanol into hydrous bioethanol ay PHP26.40-37.70 per liter and PHP10.50-17.60 per liter respectively, depending on the concentration level of alcohol in the feedstock. The distiller size can be scaled up to further increase its capacity and reduce the production cost of fuel-grade bioethanol. Crude bioethanol Hydrous bioethanol Distiller Fuel-grade alcohol Nipa sap Per 662 B418 2619-6913 250613 20250613152134.0