Evaluación de la producción de aceite crudo de palma y palmiste en el norte de Colombia mediante el análisis de exergía asistido por computador

Palm production chains in Colombia have some unsatisfied demands that affect their competitiveness. Specific demands include efficiency in energy use. Therefore, in the present report, an exergy analysis for the dual crude palm and kernel oil production process was carried out to determine the main energy sinks and suggest technological improvements that allow better use of energy. For this study, the process was initially simulated in the Aspen Plus ® software, where the chemical and physical exergies of the species and streams involved were quantified. The process irreversibilities, the exergy loss, the exergy of waste, and the exergy of utilities were calculated for each stage and the whole process. An overall exergy efficiency of 18% was achieved, while the highest process irreversibilities contribution was due to the destroyed exergy with the waste in the threshing stage. To increasing the global exergy efficiency of dual crude palm and kernel oil production, it is proposed the evaluation of palm rachis use to obtain biofuels and/or high-value products.