Otimização do desempenho de um processo fermentativo para produção de cerveja utilizando simulação dinâmica e análise exergética

Abstract

Fermentation plays a fundamental role in beer production, and in this study, we exploredaninnovative approach to optimize this vital process. Our main goal was to performa dynamicsimulation of the concentrations of key beer components, with a focus on optimizingthetemperature profile, as well as an exergy analysis to assess the overall systemefficiency. Toachieve these objectives, we used kinetic models and optimization techniques, leveragingavailable data in the literature to propose and evaluate a comprehensive mathematicalsimulation of the fermentation process. When certain essential parameters were not readilyavailable in the literature, we employed an optimization routine to estimate them. Theresultsprovided significant values for these parameters, with Kx reaching 59.1341 g/Landtlaghaving a value of 0.3264 hours. After obtaining these crucial parameters, we validatedthemathematical simulation of the fermentation process. Using the Particle SwarmOptimization(PSO) algorithm, we achieved an optimized temperature profile for the fermenter. Ourobjective function was twofold: to minimize the fermentation time and ensure that theconcentrations of by-products (diacetyl and ethyl acetate) remained within acceptablelimits.As a result of this enhancement, we were able to reduce the fermentation time by17.5hourscompared to the performance of WEST Brewery, while also increasing theethanolconcentration. In addition to remarkable results in terms of time and concentration, wealsoconducted an exergy analysis to evaluate the efficiency of the systemas a whole. Theresultsrevealed a satisfactory efficiency of 85%, indicating robust performance and a sustainablesystem. The amount of destroyed exergy that affected the fermentation process waslow,representing only 14% of the total, further highlighting the efficiency of our method. Finally,it is worth noting that our fermentation process achieved a yield of 0.45 grams of ethanol pergram of consumed glucose, highlighting the effectiveness and potential of our approach.These results demonstrate the significant impact of our dynamic simulation and optimizationon enhancing the fermentation process, contributing to the production of high-qualitybeersina more efficient and sustainable manner.