Technoeconomic and Life-Cycle Assessment for Electrocatalytic Production of Furandicarboxylic Acid

Abstract

2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a platform chemical for polyethylene furanoate (PEF) manufacturing, a promising biobased and green alternative to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with a market size of 1.8 million tonne/ annum. There are several routes to produce FDCA, all through 5hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) conversion. The traditional thermochemical process is highly energy intensive with a low yield. The electrocatalytic pathway, on the other hand, is gaining increased interest for it makes the process control more efficient, achieves a higher yield, and more importantly can be driven by renewable electricity to lower the environmental impact compared to the thermochemical process. This study assesses the economic aspects and environmental impacts of the electrochemical production of FDCA. It is found that the net present value (NPV) of the integrated electrochemical conversion and product separation plant is highly profitable, $72 million for 100 tonne/day production of FDCA, under optimistic conditions. It also reveals that the HMF price has significant impact on process economics, and the current density has the largest scope of improvement. The life-cycle assessment (LCA) results indicate that processes related to HMF production contribute the most to the overall environmental impactscalling for low impact HMF production processes, with cost reductionshowever, the impacts of the electrochemical route are much lower in comparison with the thermochemical route.

High oxidation state enabled by plated Ni-P achieves superior electrocatalytic performance for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural oxidation reaction

“…By valorizing the biomass byproducts such as HMF via clean energy, a circular economy model can be established, which benefits both the biorefinery industry and the general public, rendering the electrochemical oxidation of HMF a highly researched topic. A recent techno-economic analysis demonstrates the considerable merits of electrochemical oxidation of HMF in both energy and material perspectives compared with conventional thermal catalysis ( Patel et al., 2022 ). Another profound benefit of this technique is the potential to reduce CO 2 emission owing to the use of clean energy (e.g., renewable electricity) that can transform the conventional fossil-fuel-powered thermal treatment into a more sustainable biorefinery process.…”

A consolidated review of commercial-scale high-value products from lignocellulosic biomass

“…Compared to the conventional thermochemical process, the renewable electricity pathway has lower-energy intensity and a milder environmental impact. Accordingly, Patel et al (2022) concluded that the processes of HMF production is the most significant factor in overall environmental impact in many categories. A similar study focusing on microalgae biomass, the most promising feedstock for third-generation biofuel production, demonstrated its great potential for bioethanol production, with a favorable net energy ratio (0.45) and net energy balance (–2,749.6 GJ y –1 ), as well as low water and land footprints in bioethanol production plants ( Hossain et al, 2019 ).…”

Review of the Electrospinning Process and the Electro-Conversion of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) into Added-Value Chemicals

“…Consequently, the potential of the anode where the electrooxidation is happening must be as small as possible for a given cathode material. As shown in Figure 10b, HMF electrooxidation is less energy-demanding than OER [12], and its electrocatalysis can be regulated to produce value-added chemicals to replace petroleum-based polymers [10,12,13]. The linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) of Figure 10b shows that the presence of 50 mM HMF in 1 M KOH is accompanied by a drastic shift in the potential needed to drive more current density (and thus more conversion of the reactants into products, the second law of Faraday).…”

“…For instance, several candidates such as 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF), 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (HFCA), 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFCA), and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) have been generated by the oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) under different conditions [2,[7][8][9]. HMF derives from cellulose and hemicellulose, the two primary constituents of lignocellulosic biomass (60-75%), and has the potential to be converted into platform biofuels [10,11]. Specifically, the biosourced compound HMF is an intermediate for the synthesis of bio-renewable FDCA, which is the monomer for the polyethylene furanoate (PEF) biopolymer materials of industrial relevance as it is a green alternative to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) [10,12,13].…”

“…HMF derives from cellulose and hemicellulose, the two primary constituents of lignocellulosic biomass (60-75%), and has the potential to be converted into platform biofuels [10,11]. Specifically, the biosourced compound HMF is an intermediate for the synthesis of bio-renewable FDCA, which is the monomer for the polyethylene furanoate (PEF) biopolymer materials of industrial relevance as it is a green alternative to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) [10,12,13]. On the other hand, by producing these value-added chemicals from an electro-oxidation process in an electrolyzer, the electro-reduction step could be used to create another valueadded chemical.…”