Technology selection for bioethanol production: supply chain perspective

Abstract

There is a large body of literatures regarding the choice and optimization of different processes for bioethanol and bio-commodities production. However, most of these works are focusing either on single unit of operation or single conversion facility. As these operations are heavily related, it is essential to consider all of them at the supply chain level. In this work, an optimization model for biomass to ethanol supply chain is developed, which takes into account economics and environments as primary objectives. The developed model is used to compare the efficiency of several pre-treatment methods: Dilute-Sulphuric acid, Organosolv and Soaking in Ethanol and Aqueous Ammonia pre-treatment methods, together with Thermochemical conversion in Minnesota, USA. It can be concluded that currently, Dilute-Sulphuric acid pretreatment is still the most profitable method for ethanol production. However, Organosolv pre-treatment process is the most promising technology accessed since it captures most of the lignin present in the feedstock, which is a significant source of CO 2 emission if sent for combustion. We believe that the future of technology selection for biomass conversion should be focusing on the holistic view of the entire supply chain, and our approach represents a dependable way to obtain the required results.

Recent findings and the energetic potential of plant biomass as a renewable source of biofuels - A review

“…Some biomass samples, such as rice straw, used office and newsprint paper can contain increased amounts of mineral substances (15 to 30%). Continuing Advances in the Field of Biofuels Many books, reviews, and articles have been published that are devoted to the use of biomass sources for production of biofuels and energy (Klass 1998;Kaltschmidt and Hartmann 2001;Berndes et al 2003;Lee et al 2006;Lucian et al 2006;Lynd et al 2009;Saxena et al 2009;Abbasi and Abbasi 2010;Haberl et al 2011;Stelte et al 2012;Lehtovaara et al 2013;Zhang et al 2013;Yu et al 2014;etc.). These papers contain reports about reserves of the biomass, forecast of its energy, known kinds of biofuels, methods of their production, cost and market potential, as well as about impact of the biomass and biofuels on the environment.…”

“…Technology of bioethanol production from non-edible biomass comprises four main steps (Yu et al 2014):…”