AGUADA DE PASAJEROS, Cienfuegos.–The final start up process has begun at the Alficsa Plus S. A. distillery here, featuring the latest technology from Spain, with the goal of producing fine alcohols from high quality sugar cane, destined for the domestic market and export.
This is an investment project of national importance, which in addition to its industrial significance, will make a valuable contribution to productive chains linked to the nearby Antonio Sánchez sugar mill, and will generate byproducts to be used in the production of torula yeast for animal feed and carbon dioxide for beverages.
Affiliated with the Azcuba state enterprise group, the plant closes the production cycle with the use of final residues to irrigate and fertilize cane fields.
The renovation involves a total investment of 827,400 pesos, and, in its next phase, will make the plant the most modern and efficient of its kind in the country.
Engineer Lucía Mayra Rodríguez Rivero, executive vice president of the Cuba-Spain joint venture, told Granma International that the rehab of the distillery, after a six-year shutdown, includes improvements to the steam-generating area, the water purification-cooling system, and alcohol rectification, with modernization and automation of machinery.
She added that, in less than a year, specialized forces and the plant’s own staff worked diligently and carefully to erect the new 20-ton steam cauldron, with proven results in energy conservation.
Also part of the project is a novel 1000 cubic meter water treatment plant, based on reverse osmosis, to guarantee water quality throughout the process. A new cooling tower was installed in the distillation area, while rods in the rectifying column were changed out and increased, which should lead to greater alcohol production and higher quality.
The new technology will allow for production of more than 1,000 hectoliters a day of fine alcohol.
