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This study aims to propose a new process design, simulation, and techno-economic analysis of an integrated process plant that produces glucose and furfural from palm oil empty fruit bunches (EFB). In this work, an Aspen Plus-based simulation has been established to develop a process flow diagram of co-production of glucose and furfural along with the mass and energy balances. The plant’s economics are analyzed by calculating the fixed capital income (FCI), operating costs, and working capital. In contrast, profitability is determined using cumulative cash flow (CCF), net present value (NPV), and internal rate of return (IRR). The findings show that the production capacity of 10 kilotons per year (ktpy) of glucose and 4.96 ktpy of furfural with a purity of 98.21 and 99.54%—weight, respectively, was achieved in this study. The FCI is calculated as United States Dollar (USD) 20.80 million, while the working and operating expenses are calculated as USD 3.74 million and USD 16.93 million, respectively. This project achieves USD 7.65 million NPV with a positive IRR of 14.25% and a return on investment (ROI) of 22.06%. The present work successfully develops a profitable integrated process plant that is established with future upscaling parameters and key cost drivers. The findings provided in this work offer a platform and motivation for future research on integrated plants in the food, environment, and energy nexus with the co-location principle. Graphical Abstract

In light of environmental issues, lignocellulosic empty fruit bunch (EFB) biomass is promoted as a carbon–neutral, environmentally friendly, and renewable alternative feedstock. A comprehensive environmental assessment of EFB biorefineries is critical for determining their sustainability in parallel with the bioeconomy policy. Nonetheless, no life cycle assessment (LCA) has been performed on co-producing food and biochemicals (furfural and glucose) derived from EFB biomass. This research is the first to evaluate the environmental performance of the furfural and glucose co-production processes from EFB biomass. Environmental analysis is conducted using a prospective gate-to-gate LCA for four impact categories, including global warming potential (GWP), acidification (ADP), eutrophication (EP), and human toxicity (HT). Aspen Plus is used to simulate the co-production process of furfural and glucose as well as generate mass and energy balances for LCA inventory data usage. The findings suggest that the environmental footprint in respect of GWP, ADP, EP, and HT is 4846.85 kg CO 2 equivalent per ton EFB, 7.24 kg SO 2 equivalent per ton EFB, 1.52 kg PO 4 equivalent per ton EFB, and 2.62E-05 kg 1,4-DB equivalent per ton EFB, respectively. The normalized overall impact scores for GWP, ADP, EP, and HT are 1.16E-10, 2.28E-11, 6.12E-10, and 2.18E-17 years/ton of EFB, respectively. In summary, the proposed integrated plant is not only economically profitable but also environmentally sustainable. In the attempt to enhance the Malaysian economic sector based on the EFB, this study has the potential to serve as an indicator of the environmental sustainability of the palm oil industry. Graphical abstract Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-022-02633-8.

This study proposes a new process design, simulation, and techno-economic analysis of an integrated process plant that produces glucose and furfural from Malaysian empty fruit bunches (EFB). An Aspen Plus-based simulation has been established to develop a process flow diagram of co-production of glucose and furfural along with the mass and energy balances. For the production capacity of 10 kilotons per year (ktpy) of glucose and 4.96 ktpy of furfural in Malaysia, purity of 98.21 and 99.54% - weight, respectively, was achieved. The plant’s economics is analyzed by calculating the fixed capital income (FCI), operating costs, and working capital. In contrast, profitability is determined using cumulative cash flow (CCF), net present value (NPV), and internal rate of return (IRR). The FCI is calculated as Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) 81.61 million, while the working and operating expenses are calculated as MYR 11.29 million and MYR 46.92 million, respectively. This project achieves MYR 31.45 million as NPV with a positive IRR of 14.25% and return on investment (ROI) of 22.06%. As a result, a profitable integrated process plant is established with future upscaling parameters and key cost drivers. The proposed integrated process plant minimizes waste generated from the palm oil mill, resulting in a profitable and sustainable plant.