The Rebis distillation unit is designed to obtain rectified alcohol directly from mash in a continuous cycle. It includes sequentially installed stripping (analyzer), epuration and spirit columns with the corresponding heat exchange and auxiliary equipment. The selection of head and tail fractions is carried out simultaneously with the selection of ethyl alcohol.
To obtain extra neutral alcohol, for example, “Alpha” according to GOST 5962-2013, which is impossible to achieve in the case of distillation on batch stills without significant losses in product yield, the equipment can be equipped with three additional columns: fusel, methanol and ether.
An analyzer column is a specialized distillation column, typically used in the first stage of distillation. Stripping is a physical separation process in which one or more components are removed from a liquid stream by a vapor stream.
The operation of the stripping column is based on the principle of mass transfer. The idea is to create conditions that favor the transition of component “A” from the liquid phase to the vapor phase. This implies the presence of a vapor-liquid interface that the component must cross.
During the ethanol production process, steam is fed into the bottom of the analyzer column to separate the alcohol and all congeners from wash (beer) fed to the top of the column. The spirit vapor enters the next column for concentration and further purification, and the stripped wash (spent stillage) exits at the bottom.
Common configurations include a two-column system with a beer column and a rectifier, or a triple-column system with a beer stripper, rectifying column, and a low-pressure column. More advanced units, such as thermally coupled ones, provide higher purity and energy efficiency.
This classic rectification unit is produced in two configurations: for continuous distillation of grain spirits, such as whiskey; for obtaining crude alcohol in the production of bioethanol.
In the case of grain alcohol production, the components can be selected from any of the plates or from several at the same time and in the required proportions, which will allow distillates with the required content of specific congeners to be obtained.
In the case of bioethanol production, a third distillation column, called the “side stripper”, is added.
The Rebis Rexx is a continious distillation unit, which implements the principle of multiple distillation and separation, i.e. heat and mass transfer, which makes it possible to deeply purify such multi-component mixtures as crude ethanol containing more than 40 congeners.
In this rectification unit, crude ethanol is heated and mixed with water, after which it enters the epuration column, where the main products are separated, which are then sent to the EAF collector. Epurate, purified from most of the main impurities, is sent to a spirit column, where the rectified product is collected.
A spirit column with another fusel column remove other components – “high and low oils”. One column removes methanol from the final alcohol to produce an extra neutral alcohol.
Sometimes we use a final column to collect the waste alcohols obtained from the other columns and process them into a recyclable form.
Each unit is engineered to suit the distillate being produced. The column provides flexible adjustment to organoleptic, energy efficiency and productivity requirements.
| The product you receive |
|---|
| C crude ethanol |
| I industrial alcohol |
| F flavoured spirits |
| M neutral alcohol |
| Number of columns |
|---|
| 1 Rebis Satus |
| 2 Rebis Duo |
| 3 Rebis Rexx |
| 4 modul “Lux” |
| 5 modul “Alfa” |
| Material |
|---|
| C copper |
| S stainless steel |
| СS combined |
| Pressure |
|---|
| A atmospheric |
| H multiple-effect distillation |
| Options |
|---|
| O fusel oil cleaning module |
| E ether purification module |
For example, REBIS SATUS M.4S.A.O, is an atmospheric four-column distillation unit made of stainless steel for obtaining neutral alcohol with the possibility of installing a module for cleaning fusel oils.