352 Int. J. Exergy, Vol. 22, No. 4, 2017 Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. A new exergoeconomic optimisation methodology applied to an industrial distillation system Lucas Bonfim Rocha*, Marcelino Luiz Gimenes and Sérgio Henrique Bernardo de Faria Technology Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, State University of Maringa, Colombo Avenue 5.790, Maringá 87020-900, Brazil Email: lucasbonfimeq@gmail.com Email: marcelino@deq.uem.br Email: shbfaria@deq.uem.br *Corresponding author Laureano Jiménez Esteller Engineering Faculty, Departament d’Enginyeria Química, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Av. Països Catalans 26, Tarragona 43007, Spain Email: laureano.jimenez@urv.cat Abstract: In this work, we simulate and optimise an industrial distillation system to produce bioethanol manipulating design parameters to reduce the total exergy loss inside the columns and taking into account the economic parameters. The operational parameters are validated using Aspen Plus through the analysis of the exergy loss profile. However, the variation of the number of stages is not straightforward in processes simulators because requires to evaluate the optimal position to insert the stage in the column (i. e., stripping or rectification section). It is demonstrated that the number of stages tightly impacts the energy efficiency of the columns. The optimisation is realised in Matlab to relate the total exergy loss inside the columns with its cost identifying the sections with greater exergy loss, inserting new stages (defined by the user) and calculating the capital cost associated. The results show that is possible thermodynamically optimise the industrial distillation system. Keywords: aspen plus; bioethanol; exergoeconomic; exergy loss profile; industrial distillation system; Matlab; optimisation. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Rocha, L.B., Gimenes, M.L., de Faria, S.H.B. and Jiménez-Esteller, L. (2017) ‘A new exergoeconomic optimisation methodology applied to an industrial distillation system’, Int. J. Exergy, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp.352–375. Biographical notes: Lucas Bonfim Rocha is a PhD student of the postgraduate program in Chemical Engineering of the State University of Maringa (Brazil). He got his BE in Chemical Engineering (2013) and MSc in Chemical