ASEAN Journal of Chemical Engineering 2023, Vol. 23, No.

3, 270 – 281

Extractive Distillation of Ethanol/Water with 1-Butyl-3-

Methylimidazolium Bromide Ionic Liquid as a Separating
Agent: Process Simulation
Dhoni Hartanto *,1
Prima Astuti Handayani 1
Widi Astuti 1
Ratna Dewi Kusumaningtyas 1
Yulian Candra Purwana 1
Maftukhaturrizqiyah 1
Reni Titis Wijayanti 1
Durroti Zuhriah Wulansari 1
Ria Wulansarie 1
Irene Nindita Pradnya 1
Danang Subarkah Hadikawuryan 1
Agung Ari Wibowo 2
Riza Mazidu Sholihin 3,4
Achmad Chafidz 5,6
Ianatul Khoiroh 7
1
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Semarang,
Kampus Sekaran, Gunungpati, Semarang, 50229, Indonesia
2
Department of Chemical Engineering, Politeknik Negeri Malang, Jl. Soekarno-Hatta No. 9, 64415,
Indonesia.
3
RSUD Dr. Harjono, Pakunden, Ponorogo, 63419, Indonesia
4
Akafarma Sunan Giri Ponorogo, Jalan Batoro Katong, Ponorogo 63411, Indonesia
5
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta, 55584, Indonesia
6
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
7
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering,
University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, Semenyih, 43500 Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia
*e-mail: [email protected]

Submitted 14 January 2022 Revised 10 August 2023 Accepted 14 August 2023

Abstract. Ethanol purification has become of great interest recently because ethanol can be used
as renewable energy, solvent in many industries, and for medicinal purposes. The separation of
ethanol from water is challenging because the azeotropic point has appeared in this binary
mixture. Extractive distillation technology is one of the most interesting methods to separate
ethanol from water due to the competitiveness of its energy consumption and capital investment
costs. Ionic liquids such as 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide [BMIM] [Br], categorized as a
green solvent, produce a significant salting-out effect in the ethanol-water system. This makes
ionic liquid a promising solvent in ethanol-water separation. This study simulated the extractive
distillation of an ethanol-water system with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide as a solvent.
The simulation and sensitivity analysis were performed on the Aspen Plus Process Simulator to

DOI: 10.22146/ajche.72250
D, Hartanto, P.A. Handayani, W. Astuti, R.D. Kusumaningtyas, Y.C. Purwana, Maftukhaturrizqiyah, R.T. Wijayanti, 271
D.Z. Wulansari, R. Wulansarie, I.N. Pradnya, D.S. Hadikawuryan, A.A. Wibowo, R.M. Sholihin, A. Chafidz, I. Khoiroh

obtain the optimum configuration. The NRTL thermodynamic model was used in this study. The
effects of the number of stages (NS), binary feed stage (BFS), entrainer feed stage (EFS), and reflux
ratio (RR) on the ethanol concentration with minimum energy requirements were studied. The
most optimal configurations to produce a high ethanol concentration with less energy are NS 28,
BFS 22, EFS 4, and RR 1.5.

Keywords: Dehydration, Ethanol, Extractive Distillation, [BMIM] [Br] Ionic Liquid, Process
Simulation

INTRODUCTION azeotrope point (95.6 wt%), and therefore

simple distillation cannot be used to produce
Ethanol is widely used as an industrial high-purity ethanol.
solvent, a renewable energy source, and a Alternative processes have been
building block chemical for fuels and developed for ethanol-water separation.
chemicals. In medicine, ethanol acts as an Solar distillation technology was applied to
antidote for the overdoses of methanol and purify the ethanol only up to 80% v/v
ethylene glycol (Strohm, 2014), an activating (Vorayos et al., 2006). Membrane-based
agent for granular aerogel adsorbent to purification, i.e., conventional pervaporation
remove the organic pollutant in hospital and pervaporation with a dynamic control
wastewater (Prasanna et al., 2020), a chemical technology, generated anhydrous ethanol
treatment for re-used N95 respirators and (Meireles et al., 2016; Luyben, 2009). However,
surgical masks (Grinshpun et al., 2020), and membrane-based technology has drawbacks,
chemical treatment for benign prostatic such as the complex preparation of good-
hypertrophy (BPH) (Cheung et al., 2018), and quality membranes, the low separation
testosterone-induced BPH (Ekeyi et al., 2021). efficiency induced by plasticization, and the
Ethanol sustainability sources, available limitation of operating in large-scale ethanol
in large quantities with a competitive price production. Adsorption-based technology
and the feasibility of converting ethanol into can also be implemented in ethanol
several derivative chemicals, make ethanol purification (Zheng et al., 2023). But this
more attractive (Manochio et al., 2017; Dagle technology faces a great challenge when
et al., 2020). The minimum concentration implemented in large-scale processes.
requirement of ethanol for many chemical Moreover, a complex adsorber-desorber
industries as well as pharmaceutical or should be provided in this process.
specific medical purposes and fuel purposes Extractive and azeotrope distillation are
is 99.5 wt% (Zhu et al., 2016a) or 99.0–99.8 dominant technologies for ethanol
wt% according to international standards (EN dehydration in industrial practice (Kiss and
15376, ASTM D 4806). On the other hand, Suszwalak, 2012). Extractive distillation
ethanol easily forms an azeotropic point at a performs better than azeotrope distillation as
purity of 95.6 wt%, requiring special it requires less energy, up to 30.3% (Arifin and
separation methods to produce higher Chien, 2008). Therefore, extractive distillation
ethanol purity (Kiss and Suszwalak, 2012). The is preferred.
maximum purity obtained by conventional Entrainer selection is one of the most
distillation can only be achieved up to the important factors in extractive distillation
272 Extractive distillation of ethanol/water with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ionic liquid as
a separating agent: process simulation

(Pan et al., 2019). Ethylene glycol was used as needs to be conducted to understand the
a conventional entrainers in extractive process design and its optimum
distillation (Hartanto et al., 2020; Li et al., configuration. In this work, the simulation of
2021). Unfortunately, ethylene glycol poses the extractive distillation of ethanol/water
toxicity that causes depression in the central with [BMIM] [Br] ionic liquid has been studied
nervous system and failure of the cardio- to understand the effect of the number of
pulmonary and renal systems (Leth and stages, binary feed stages, entrainer feed
Gregersen, 2005). Inorganic salts were also stages, and reflux ratio on the purity of
considered potential entrainers, even though ethanol, total annual cost, and the energy
they cause corrosion and incrustation requirement in the condenser and reboiler.
problems (Hernández-Hernández et al., Moreover, the performance of the ionic liquid
2022). Currently, greener entrainers are has been compared with that of the
greatly interested in being used in extractive conventional entrainer.
distillation technology. Ionic liquids have
become a rising star chemical that can be
used as an entrainer to substitute METHOD
conventional solvents. The advantages of
using ionic liquids are high-temperature Thermodynamic Model
stability, the ability to be used in various The software package Aspen Plus V.11
mixtures, a wide temperature range, and no was used in this study. The rigorous method
vapor pressure (Tsanas et al., 2014). In was applied to simulate extractive distillation.
addition, ionic liquids (ILs) are considered a The nonideality condition of the liquid phase
green solvent and have been applied in was calculated using the Non-Random Two-
extractive distillation technology as one of Liquid (NRTL), assuming that the vapor phase
the promising entrainers (Malik et al., 2023). is in the ideal condition. The NRTL is one of
Some recent studies evaluated the use of ILs the most common thermodynamic models
for the ethanol-water separation (Fadia et al., used in liquid phase calculations because of
2022; Graczová and Steltenpohl, 2022; Ma et its capability to produce good calculation
al., 2019; Momeni and Shekaari, 2022). One of results. The provided optimum binary
the ILs that is considered a green solvent is 1- interaction parameters are listed in Table 1.
butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide [BMIM] The optimum binary interaction parameters
[Br] (Sudhan et al., 2018; Ghorbani et al., are important as they quantify the molecular
2021). Tsanas et al. (2019) measured the interaction behavior and predict the vapor-
effect of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium liquid equilibrium properties. Hence, these
bromide [BMIM] [Br] ionic liquid in properties will affect the whole process
ethanol/water vapor-liquid equilibrium. The simulation's accuracy. Furthermore, the non-
results indicate that the [BMIM] [Br] ionic randomness factor (Cij) of NRTL has an
liquid can break the azeotrope point in the optimum range of 0.2–0.5. However, the
ethanol/water system. However, the effect of the randomness factor of this range
simulation study of this system and the on the curve of excess Gibbs energy is not
performance comparison of ionic liquid with strong. Therefore, the founders of the NRTL
conventional entrainers are not available in model recommend 0.3 as the most optimal
the open literature. Therefore, further study one (Renon and Prausnitz, 1968).
D, Hartanto, P.A. Handayani, W. Astuti, R.D. Kusumaningtyas, Y.C. Purwana, Maftukhaturrizqiyah, R.T. Wijayanti, 273
D.Z. Wulansari, R. Wulansarie, I.N. Pradnya, D.S. Hadikawuryan, A.A. Wibowo, R.M. Sholihin, A. Chafidz, I. Khoiroh

The extended Antoine equation other method may also be used to approach
evaluated the total and partial pressures the ionic liquid with a compound with a
(eq.1). similar chemical structure and properties. In
𝐴2
ln⁡(𝑃 𝑠 ) = 𝐴1 + 𝑇+𝐴 + 𝐴4 𝑇 + 𝐴5 ln 𝑇 + addition, the ionic liquid can be well defined
3

𝐴6 𝑇𝐴7 , 𝑓𝑜r⁡𝐴8 ⁡ < ⁡𝑇 < ⁡ 𝐴9⁡⁡⁡⁡(1) by inputting some known thermo-physical

properties, such as molecular weight, boiling
Where⁡Ps⁡in⁡kPa⁡and⁡T⁡in⁡K.⁡ point, critical properties, and acentric factor.
The extended Antoine constants were For the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium
taken from the Aspen Plus physical property bromide, the thermo-physical properties
databank, as provided in Table 2. The Antoine were obtained from Valderrama and Rojas
constant for ionic liquid has been fixed at A1 (2009).
= -1000, and A2 to A7 as 0 represents the non-
vapor behavior, ensuring that the ionic liquid Configuration and Sensitivity analysis
will have a zero-vapor pressure. Initial process design parameters were
Ionic liquid databases are only partially fixed on a simulation basis. The parameters
available in Aspen Plus due to relatively novel and their values are listed in Table 3. The
compounds, limited experimental data, and a concentration of aqueous ethanol solution
shortage of predictive methods to provide was set at 0.7 mole fraction due to below the
proper thermo-physical properties as basic azeotrope point of the ethanol/water mixture.
data for the process simulation. Therefore, it The pressure was set in atmospheric
is required to provide user-defined ionic conditions (101.3 kPa).
liquids, which can be used as components in Sensitivity analysis was studied to
a process simulation. User-defined ionic understand the effect of several parameters,
liquids can be approached by drawing or such as a number of stages, binary feed
importing the molecular structures as mol stages, entrainer feed stages, and reflux ratio
files into Aspen Plus. Aspen Plus will estimate to ethanol purity and condenser-reboiler
some of its thermo-physical properties. The duty.

Table 1. Optimum binary interaction parameters for the NRTL model (Tsanas et al., 2014)

Component i Component j Aij Aji Bij (K) Bji (K) Cij

Ethanol Water 0 0 -34.59 621.73 0.3
Ethanol [BMIM][Br] 0 0 1089.56 -961.22 0.3
Water [BMIM][Br] 0 0 2361.08 -1146.1 0.3
where Aij, Aji, Bij, and Bji are the adjustable parameters, and Cij is the non-randomness factor
fixed to be 0.3 in this work.
Table 2. The extended Antoine equation constant.

Components A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 10-6 A7 A8 A9
Etanol 61.7911 -7122.3 0 0 -7.1412 2.88 2 -114 240.85
Water 62.1361 -7258.2 0 0 -7.3037 4.16 2 0.01 373.95
[BMIM] [Br] -1000 0 0 0 0 0 0 - -
274 Extractive distillation of ethanol/water with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ionic liquid as
a separating agent: process simulation

Table 3. Initial process design parameter ratio (RR). The details of the process flow
diagram are provided in Figure 1. The
Parameters Value
aqueous ethanol solution (FEED stream) and
Ethanol feed mole-fraction 0.7
[BMIM] [Br] ionic liquid (SOLVENT stream)
Theoritical stage numbers 30
enter the EDC. In the first column, ethanol
Entrainer mole fraction 0.5
was separated from the water using the
Feed temperature (oC) 25
entrainer. Higher purity of ethanol (ETHA
Entrainer temperature (oC) 70
stream) was obtained in the top column, and
Binary feed stage 21
a mixture of water/[BMIM] [Br] ionic liquid
Entrainer feed stage 3
was achieved in the bottom column. The
Pressure (kPa) 101.3
mixture of water/[BMIM] [Br] ionic liquid
(RICH-SOL) enters the second column,
followed by the separation process. [BMIM]
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
[Br] ionic liquid was collected in the bottom
column, and water was obtained in the top
Conceptual Process Design and
column. [BMIM] [Br] ionic liquid (IL-1 stream)
Preliminary Simulation
was cooled to meet the desired temperature.
The conceptual process design for the
The cooler [BMIM] [Br] ionic liquid (IL-2) was
separation of ethanol from water using
recycled to the EDC and mixed with the
[BMIM] [Br] ionic liquid as an entrainer
make-up entrainer to keep a sufficient
through extractive distillation consists of two
amount of entrainer in the EDC. In addition,
main columns, which are the extractive
the preliminary simulation was studied in our
distillation column (EDC) as a first column and
previous work to validate the simulation
the entrainer recovery column (ERC) as a
method (Hartanto et al., 2021). The
second column. The RadFrac block, as a
simulation indicates satisfactory results with a
rigorous calculation model, was used to
small deviation compared to the literature.
simulate EDC and ERC. The main parameters
The simulation results for extractive
in EDC that can be used to optimize the
distillation, recovery column, and stream are
separation performance consist of the
provided in Tables 4 and 5, respectively.
number of stages (NS), binary feed stage
(BFS), entrainer feed stage (EFS), and reflux

MIXER

SOLVENT EXT-DIS REC-COLM

MAKE-UP
ETHA
WATER

RICH-SOL
FEED

IL-1
COOLER

IL-2

Fig. 1: Extractive distillation process flow diagram for ethanol and water separation using [BMIM]
[Br] ionic liquid as an entrainer.
 D, Hartanto, P.A. Handayani, W. Astuti, R.D. Kusumaningtyas, Y.C. Purwana, Maftukhaturrizqiyah, R.T. Wijayanti, 275
D.Z. Wulansari, R. Wulansarie, I.N. Pradnya, D.S. Hadikawuryan, A.A. Wibowo, R.M. Sholihin, A. Chafidz, I. Khoiroh

Table 4. The extractive distillation and

recovery column simulation results 1.000
0.996 RR 1,0

Ethanol purity (mole fraction)

RR 1,1
Distillation Column 0.992 RR 1,2
Parameters RR 1,3
Extractive Recovery 0.988 RR 1,4
RR 1,5
Pressure (kPa) 101.3 101.3 0.984

Condenser temperature 0.980

0.976
(oC) 78.4 143.5
0.972
Condenser heat duty
0.968
(kW) -1669.15 -3052.02
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Reboiler temperature (oC) 144.2 159.3 NS
Reboiler heat duty (kW) 2513.54 3051.75
Fig. 2: Effect of NS and RR on Ethanol Purity
Distillate rate (kmol/hr) 60 140
(BFS 21, EFS 3).
Bottom rate (kmol/h) 145 5
Boil up rate (kmol/h) 174.25 266.28
As shown in Figure 2, ethanol purity
Molar boil up ratio 1.207 53.255
remains constant as the stage number
increases from 25 to 30. The contact between
Table 5. The extractive distillation stream
liquid and vapor remains constant in these
results
stages, so adding more stages will not
Parameters Distilate Bottom significantly change the ethanol's purity.
Flowrate (kmol/h) 60 145 Stage 28 was selected as an optimum
Ethanol mole fraction 0.9956 0.007 condition, with the safety design
-5
Water mole fraction 5.7 x 10 0.206 consideration between 25 and 30. On the
Ionic liquid mole other hand, ethanol purity has increased with
fraction 0.004 0.722 the reflux ratio. Reflux ratios significantly
affect ethanol purity more than stage
Sensitivity Analysis numbers from 25 to 30 because a higher
The initial simulation of extractive reflux ratio will increase the liquid-vapor
distillation uses BFS 21, EFS 3, feed molar contact and mass transfer rates in the
flow, and entrainer molar flow of 100 extractive distillation column. This work
kmole/hr and 105 kmole/hr, respectively. The evaluated reflux ratios of 1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4,
simulation shows the ethanol purity of the and 1.5.
top product was 0.9956 of mole fraction. The
sensitivity analysis results for the effect of the
NS and reflux ratio on the ethanol purity are
shown in Figure 2.
 276 Extractive distillation of ethanol/water with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ionic liquid as
a separating agent: process simulation

Figure 3 indicates that increasing the stage

1675 RR 1,0 number did not affect the condenser and
1650 RR 1,1
1625 RR 1,2 reboiler duties. However, the reflux ratio can
RR 1,3
1600 RR 1,4 affect the duties of the equipment. More
1575 RR 1,5
1550 vapor flow will be produced in the column
-Qc (kW)

1525
with an increased reflux ratio. Thus, the
1500
1475 energy duties of the reboiler and condenser
1450
1425
will also increase due to the product
1400 vaporization and distillate condensation
1375
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 requirements. The results align with the
NS previous study, which indicated that an
(a) increasing reflux ratio would significantly
increase reboiler and condenser duties (Zhu
et al., 2016; Stewart, 2014). The highest
2525
2500
RR 1,0
RR 1,1
energy duties for the reboiler and condenser
2475 RR 1,2
RR 1,3
occurred in the highest reflux ratio of 1.5.
2450
2425 RR 1,4 The effect of BFS and EFS on ethanol
2400 RR 1,5
purity was studied. Figure 4 shows that the
QR (kW)

2375
2350 ethanol purity remains constant for the BFS
2325
2300 20 until 29. On the other hand, EFS caused a
2275
2250 significant change in ethanol purity. As the
2225
2200
solvent is supplied to the top stages, it is
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 possible to confirm that the entrainer in the
NS
liquid phase is present in all the tower's trays
(b) below the EFS. Therefore, this condition
Fig. 3: Effect of NS and RR on: (a) Condenser results in less contact between vapor and
heat duty (QC) and (b) Reboiler heat duty liquid in a binary mixture, resulting in a less
(QR). effective separation process. The highest
ethanol purity was achieved at EFS 4.
These results also agree with a recent However, the ethanol purity decreased after
study indicating that a higher distillate will be BFS 29 because, as the BFS goes to the lower
achieved at a higher reflux ratio (Zhu et al., part of the column, the bottom part will
2016). The highest ethanol purity of 0.9956 contain more volatile compounds and
mole fraction can be achieved when the reflux therefore less ethanol purity than the top
ratio is 1.5. A higher reflux ratio means the part, the resulting increase in condenser and
energy required will increase because the reboiler duty, as depicted in Figure 5. In this
reboiler and condenser duty will also work, the BFS has the maximum number in
increase. Therefore, maintaining the reflux stage 29. BFS 22 was selected as the optimum
ratio as low as possible should be considered. number because the binary mixture can be
However, a low reflux ratio will only produce fed near the bottom column, which has
ethanol with a purity of less than 99%. Hence, longer contact with the entrainer, while
this work selected the reflux ratio of 1.5 as the maintaining the purity of the ethanol in the
optimum one. top product. Moreover, too low a feed stage
D, Hartanto, P.A. Handayani, W. Astuti, R.D. Kusumaningtyas, Y.C. Purwana, Maftukhaturrizqiyah, R.T. Wijayanti, 277
D.Z. Wulansari, R. Wulansarie, I.N. Pradnya, D.S. Hadikawuryan, A.A. Wibowo, R.M. Sholihin, A. Chafidz, I. Khoiroh

can cause excessive reboiler and condenser

duty. 1840
1820
1800 EFS 2
1.01 EFS 3
Ethanol purity (mole fraction)

1780
1.00 EFS 2 EFS 4
EFS 3 1760

-Qc (kW)
0.99 EFS 4 1740
0.98 1720
1700
0.97
1680
0.96 1660
0.95 1640
0.94 1620
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
0.93
BFS
0.92
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 (a)
BFS
Fig. 4: Effect of BFS and EFS on Ethanol 2600

Purity on stage number 28. 2580

EFS 2,0
EFS 3,0
2560 EFS 4,0
Figure 5 displays the effect of the BFS and
QR (kW)

EFS on the energy required in the condenser 2540

and reboiler. As shown in Figure 5, the 2520

increase in the BFS did not show a significant
2500
change in the condenser and reboiler duties,
2480
while the increase in the EFS gave a significant
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
change in the condenser and reboiler duties. BFS
EFS 2 shows the highest energy requirement
(b)
for the condenser and reboiler compared
Fig. 5: Effect of BFS and EFS on: (a)
with EFS 3 and 4. As entrainer is fed at the top
Condenser heat duty (QC) and (b) Reboiler
of the column, the liquid entrainer will cover
heat duty (QR).
all the trays below the entrainer, which makes
less contact between the vapor and liquid
phases of the binary mixture. Therefore, a Table 6 compares several best
harder separation will take place. Harder possibilities for the entrained feed stage at
separation needs to be adjusted by the the binary feed stage of 22 with an NS of 28
increase of reflux ratio, followed by the and a reflux ratio of 1.5. The results
increase of reboiler and condenser duty, to performed at EFS 4 at BFS 22 give the best
meet the required ethanol purity. These results with the highest ethanol purity and
results match earlier studies, which show that the lowest energy, which are 0.9999 mole
reboiler duty will increase when the entrainer fraction and 4116.96 kW, respectively. The
is fed in the upper part (Gómez and Gil, 2007). optimum configuration is listed in Table 7.
The entrainer feed stage of 4 was selected as The optimum configuration was obtained by
an optimum condition because it needs less iterative analysis. BFS and EFS trial values
energy than the EFS of 2 and 3 but can were used to provide suitable NS and RR to
produce the highest ethanol concentration. obtain a high purity of ethanol. The selected
NS and RR were used to evaluate the
278 Extractive distillation of ethanol/water with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ionic liquid as
a separating agent: process simulation

optimum BFS and EFS based on the ethanol (TAC) compared to the other stages, as seen
purity obtained and the energy requirements. in Figure 6. The TAC using NS 28 was 6.02 x
106 USD, lower than the TAC when glycerol is
used as an entrainer, as simulated by Novita
et al. (2018), with a TAC of 6.56 x 106 USD.

CONCLUSIONS

In this work, extractive distillation for the

azeotropic mixture of ethanol/water with
[BMIM] [Br] ionic liquid as an entrainer, has
been studied. The Aspen Plus V11, as process
simulation software, has been equipped. The
Fig. 6: Total annual cost of extractive
NRTL thermodynamics model was used to
distillation process using 1-butyl-3-
calculate the nonideality of the liquid phase.
methylimidazolium bromide as an entrainer.
A sensitivity analysis has been performed to
determine the effect of stage number, reflux
Table 6. The comparison for the ratio, binary feed stage, and entrainer feed
combination of entrainer feed stage to the stage on ethanol purity and condenser and
ethanol purity and total heat duties reboiler duties. The selected stage number
BFS EFS Ethanol Total of was 28, which produces high purity ethanol
purity (mole Energy and is a safety design consideration. The
fraction) (kW ) reflux ratio of 1.5 was chosen due to its
22 2 0.9248 4415.33 capability to produce high purity ethanol. BFS
22 3 0.9956 4182.7 did not significantly affect the ethanol purity
22 4 0.9999 4116.96 or condenser-reboiler duty, but BFS 22 was
selected to prevent excessive reboiler and
condenser duties. On the contrary, the
Table 7. Optimum configuration
change in EFS number can affect ethanol
Parameters Value purity and condenser-reboiler duty. EFS 4 was
Number of stages 28 selected because it can produce high-purity
BFS 22 ethanol with less energy. The optimum
EFS 4 configuration can reach an ethanol purity of
Reflux ratio 1.5 0.9999 moles fraction. Furthermore, the ionic
Ethanol purity (mole 0.9999 liquid performs better in total annual cost
fraction) than glycerol entrainers.
Reboiler duty (kW) 2513.47
Condensor duty (kW) -1669.04 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Moreover, the selection of number of The authors acknowledge the Faculty of

stages 28 also supported by the cost analysis. Engineering, Universitas Negeri Semarang for
NS 28 produces a high ethanol purity of the financial support through Dana DIPA
ethanol with the lowest total annual cost Fakultas Tahun 2021 Grant No. DIPA-
D, Hartanto, P.A. Handayani, W. Astuti, R.D. Kusumaningtyas, Y.C. Purwana, Maftukhaturrizqiyah, R.T. Wijayanti, 279
D.Z. Wulansari, R. Wulansarie, I.N. Pradnya, D.S. Hadikawuryan, A.A. Wibowo, R.M. Sholihin, A. Chafidz, I. Khoiroh

023.17.2.677507/2021. The authors also Chemical Engineering (ECCE-6), 1–19.

gratefully acknowledge the financial support Grinshpun, S. A., Yermakov, M., and Khodoun,
through a doctoral scholarship for Dhoni M., 2020. “Autoclave sterilization and
Hartanto by Indonesia Endowment Fund for ethanol treatment of re-used surgical
Education (LPDP), Ministry of Finance, the masks and N95 respirators during COVID-
Republic of Indonesia 19: impact on their performance and
integrity.” Journal of Hospital Infection,
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