A process for converting fructose to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, a monomer used in the production of a renewable plastics.

Replacing petroleum by biomass can be economically feasible by generating revenue from the three primary biomass constituents.

We demonstrate the design of a solvent system for efficient production and enhanced separation of carbohydrates from lignocellulosic biomass.

2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a promising renewable building block, which can replace conventional petroleum-derived terephthalic acid (TPA). Here, we develop and evaluate a new catalytic process for the production of...

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2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), an eco-friendly biobased material, can replace petroleum-based terephthalic acid (TPA), in the polymer industry, for applications such as water bottle production and food packaging. In this study, an integrated process was developed for the coproduction of FDCA as a biobased plastic monomer and 1,5-pentanediol as a high-value product from lignocellulosic biomass using catalytic conversions and designing separation areas. The integrated process has several energy-intensive units that require a considerable amount of heating sources. Heat integration is performed to reduce and satisfy total heating requirements. Through a technoeconomic analysis, the minimum selling price of FDCA is determined to be US$1024/ton. Moreover, a wide range of sensitivity analyses are conducted to identify the major cost drivers among the economic and environmental parameters. Environmental impacts are compared between biomass-derived FDCA and petroleum-derived TPA productions by life-cycle assessment. In the former production, fossil depletion is lower (53%) than that of the latter production, although climate change of the former is higher (29%) than that of the latter. FDCA production can be more environmentally friendly by changing the sources for electricity generation.

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