Techno-Economic Analysis for the Production of 2,3-Butanediol from Brewers’ Spent Grain Using Pinch Technology

Abstract

2,3-Butanediol (BDO) is a versatile platform chemical with great potential as the precursor for various valueadded derivatives across different industrial sectors. This work thus presents a techno-economic feasibility study for microbial BDO production from C 5 and C 6 sugars derived from brewers' spent grain (BSG). Water-soluble carbohydrates obtained from pretreatment were further utilized for the biogas generation. Besides, the solid residue generated after fermentation and biogas were used to generate high-pressure steam and electricity. The process integration was carried out using pinch technology for various BDO titers and plant capacities. The pinch analysis helped in the reduction of hot and cold utility consumption by about 34 and 18%, respectively. The minimum hot and cold utility consumption was 4.59 and 10.97 MW for 100 MT BSG per day with 100 g/L BDO titer, respectively. The cooling water consumption was decreased, and electricity generation was increased with the increase in BDO titer, while the BDO production cost reduced marginally.

Life Cycle Assessment of Microbial 2,3-Butanediol Production from Brewer’s Spent Grain Modeled on Pinch Technology

“…For instance, beer is one of the most consumed beverages in the world and brewer’s spent grain (BSG) is a major inevitable byproduct obtained during the brewing process. In 2016, EU-28 generated ∼10.8 million tons of nutrient-rich BSG with Germany and UK accounting for around 327,000 and 194,000 tons, respectively. , Usually, a low economic value is associated with BSG, ∼USD 50 t –1 when utilized as an animal feed or biogas production, and the excess are disposed of in landfills . However, the challenge is to derive an economically more attractive product such as BDO as compared to current practices.…”

“…Considering the available scope for evaluating the environmental performance of BDO production with a distinct 2G feedstock BSG, a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted for the industrial scale process model handing 100 metric tons BSG per day. Since energy consumption in a biorefinery is one of the cost as well as pollution contributing parameters, a process integration tool for energy saving known as pinch technology was employed to enhance the thermal efficiency and effective utilization of heat within the process . As per the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to conduct LCA for BDO production from BSG while incorporating pinch technology in process design.…”

Highly efficient production of 2,3-butanediol from xylose and glucose by newly isolated thermotolerant Cronobacter sakazakii

“…Most petrochemically synthesized chemicals can be produced using microbial biocatalysts [3]. Of the various microbial fermentation products, 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) is a valuable bulk chemical that is used in various application such as production of chemicals, cosmetics, pesticides, foods and pharmaceuticals [3][4][5][6][7][8]. 2,3-BD is also a widely used antifreeze agent and a valuable fuel additive with a heating value of 27.2 kJ/g, comparable to those of methanol (22.1 kJ/g), n-butanol (33.1 kJ/g) and ethanol (29.1 kJ/g).…”

“…2,3-BD is also a widely used antifreeze agent and a valuable fuel additive with a heating value of 27.2 kJ/g, comparable to those of methanol (22.1 kJ/g), n-butanol (33.1 kJ/g) and ethanol (29.1 kJ/g). Due to its high octane number, BD now functions as a gasoline octane booster [7][8][9][10]. Furthermore, 2,3-BD can be converted by dehydration to methyl-ethyl-ketone (MEK), a potent fuel additive with higher combustion values and industrial solvents, or to 1,3-butadiene, an important monomer in synthetic rubber production.…”

“…In the global market, 2,3-BD is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3% from 2019 to 2027, reaching US $ 220 million by 2027, and the current market price of 2,3-BD is higher than that of 1,4-butanediol [6,11,12]. The downstream products of BD have the potential of a global market of around 32 million tons per annually, worth US $ 43 billion [7,8]. Therefore, the production of bio-based organic chemicals such as BD represents the potential for renewable, sustainable energy for the planet.…”