Glycolic Acid Production from Ethylene Glycol via Sustainable Biomass Energy: Integrated Conceptual Process Design and Comparative Techno-economic–Society–Environment Analysis

Abstract

Glycolic acid (GA) is a promising building block for synthesizing biodegradable materials, which could replace conventional coal-derived and petroleum-derived plastic materials. However, conventional coal-based GA routes are facing severe obstacles in nonrenewable energy consumptions and pollutant emissions. Biomass energy is regarded as a potential contributor to a greener and cleaner development. Herein, we develop and evaluate a novel ethylene glycol (EG) selective oxidation to GA process using renewable biomass energy, which aims to realize the sustainable and cost-effective production of GA based on the highly efficient bimetallic PtMn/MCM-41 nanocatalysts. Compared with other GA production processes, the bio-based EG selective oxidation to GA process has significantly boosted the techno-economic performance (increasing the energy efficiency by 19.7% and the net present value by 121%). Furthermore, the life cycle society−environment assessment also indicates that the performance of fossil energy demand (FED), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and water resource consumption (WRC) in the EG selective oxidation to GA process is superior to that of other coal-based techniques (reducing FED, GHG, and WRC by 881.3, 32.7, and 47.8%, respectively). This study aims to give unambiguous and quantitative results for developing a sustainable and cost-effective bio-based GA production process and provide guidance for other engineering applications of biomass polyhydric alcohols.

Toward Low-Carbon-Footprint Glycolic Acid Production for Bioplastics through Metabolic Engineering in Escherichia coli

“…Current manufacturing technologies for GA involve the hydrolysis of glycolonitrile, chloroacetic acid, or methyl glycolate, and extraction from sugarcane and various fruits. 5,6 To overcome the pollution issues associated with chemical synthesis, bioproduction of GA using genetically engineered cells provides an alternative, environmentally friendly, and economical approach. 1,5 Microorganisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, 7 Corynebacterium glutamicum, 8 and Escherichia coli 2,9,10 are prevailing bacterial hosts for the biosynthesis of GA from different carbon sources.…”

“…5,6 To overcome the pollution issues associated with chemical synthesis, bioproduction of GA using genetically engineered cells provides an alternative, environmentally friendly, and economical approach. 1,5 Microorganisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, 7 Corynebacterium glutamicum, 8 and Escherichia coli 2,9,10 are prevailing bacterial hosts for the biosynthesis of GA from different carbon sources. GA can be synthesized from glyoxylate via glycolysis and TCA cycle, or from glycolaldehyde through xylose and ribulose pathways in bacteria.…”

A roundabout strategy for high-purity glycolic acid biopreparation via a resting cell bio-oxidation catalysis of ethylene glycol

“…Besides, separating the organic solvent from the hydrolysates for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications is also a big problem. The more important issue for the industrial production of high-purity GA is that almost all commercial processes for GA crystallization depend on organic solvents, such as flammable and combustible acetone and tri-noctylamine, [14][15][16] increasing the industrial production cost, environmental pollution, and safety issues. 7,17,18 Conversely, the biological production of GA, such as through resting cell catalysis, has the advantages of mild reaction conditions, good selectivity, and green process for industrial application.…”

Bismuth-Decorated Beta Zeolites Catalysts for Highly Selective Catalytic Oxidation of Cellulose to Biomass-Derived Glycolic Acid

“…Particularly, glycolic acid (GA) is a very important biomass-derived high added-value platform with a hydroxyl and a carboxyl group, and exhibits the properties of both alcohol and organic acid, which has been widely applied in, but not limited to, metal cleaning, skin-care agent formulation, and industrial rusted removal together with food processing, especially in polymer degradation materials and pharmaceutical engineering materials [12][13][14][15][16]. GA represents a high and strong market demand, which was estimated to 310.4 million USD in 2020 and projected to reach approximately 531.5 million USD with an annual growth rate of 8.0% by 2027 [17].…”