Process design and life cycle assessment of furfural and glucose co-production derived from palm oil empty fruit bunches

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.

Renewable Carbohydrates: Advancements in Sustainable Glucose Production and Optimization

“…Applying LCA to glucose production allows for a comprehensive analysis of the environmental footprint and sustainability performance of different production methods. The LCA of glucose production considers the entire life cycle, encompassing various stages such as feedstock acquisition, preprocessing, enzymatic or acid hydrolysis, fermentation, downstream processing, and final product distribution (Ng et al, 2022). It also includes the energy consumption, emissions, and waste generated at each stage.…”

“…For glucose production, system boundaries can be set to include the entire production chain, from feedstock acquisition to the production of glucose, or focus on specific stages of the process (Ryan & Yaseneva, 2021). Clearly defining the system boundaries ensures consistency and comparability among different LCA studies and facilitates meaningful interpretation of the results (Ng et al, 2022). During the impact assessment phase of LCA, the collected data on inputs and outputs are translated into environmental impact indicators.…”

Assessing the environmental impacts of furfural production in a poplar wood biorefinery: A study on the role of mannitol concentration and catalyst type

“…Furthermore, while some studies have focused on specific aspects of the environmental impact of furfural production, comprehensive reports addressing the overall environmental footprints and their implications for human health and ecosystem quality at both the midpoint and endpoint levels are currently lacking. For instance, a study by Raman and Gnansounou [45] evaluated the LCA of bioethanol and furfural production from vetiver leaves, with only carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fossil oil depletion considered. Compared with conventional petrol and furfural systems, the results of the LCA indicated that CO2 emissions and fossil oil depletion could be alleviated by 99% and 17%, respectively.…”

“…Another research assessed the environmental impact of simultaneous furfural and glucose production from oil palm empty fruit bunch. Four impact categories, i.e., global warming potential (GWP), eutrophication, acidification, and human toxicity, were applied through gate-to-gate LCA [45].…”