Biomass‐based chemical production using techno‐economic and life cycle analysis

Abstract

Furfural has been selected as one of the top 30 biomass derived platform compounds by the U.S.Department of Energy based on several indicators including the raw material used for production, estimated processing cost, technical complexity, and market potential. In this work, several high value chemicals such as butadiene, surfactants, jet-fuels and lubricants are produced from furfural. The paper proposes the integrated flowsheet to produce those chemical and techno-economic and life cycle analysis is performed to compare the minimum selling price and environmental impacts of the integrated process. The capital and operating cost for production of lubricants and surfactants is the highest when compared with other products. Production of surfactants performs the best in terms of environmental impacts except in water depletion when compared with other processes while butadiene production performs the worst regarding the environmental effects.

Techno-economic and Life Cycle Analysis of MixAlco® Processes for Mixed Alcohol Production from Brown Algae

“…Multiple thermodynamic models can be used in Aspen Plus's process simulation, and the proper selection and correct use of the thermodynamic model determine the accuracy, reliability, and success of the simulation. NRTL thermodynamic package is selected for the property method to predict the liquid-liquid and liquid-vapor behavior [21] . Next, heat integration is carried out using Aspen Energy Analyzer V8.8 to generate the optimal heat exchanger network designs.…”

“…are based on the rst quarter's price in 2014 [21] . The input chemicals' production cost is used to determine the minimum selling price of mixed alcohol [24] .…”

“…The functional unit of one metric ton of product is considered for LCA. For inventory analysis, the Ecoinvent® v3.3 database is used for its extensive database [21,29,30] . Furthermore, some assumptions are made to perform LCA, including 1.…”

Challenges and Opportunities of Modeling Biomass Gasification in Aspen Plus: A Review

“…, , , , or with high moisture (e.g., sludge, food processing wastes etc.) , , , , , which may cause operational problems or feedstocks with environmental hazardous effects (e.g., waste tires etc.) .…”

“…In the bioenergy sector, concepts such as oxycombustion of biomass for nearly zero‐net emissions , pressurized anaerobic digestion and biogas upgrading , and techno‐economic assessment of biomass‐based chemical production have been investigated using Aspen Plus. Even though each study handles the modeling process from a different technological perspective, the main goal is the development of a realistic process model with high efficiency and product quality.…”