Assessment of Combinations between Pretreatment and Conversion Configurations for Bioethanol Production

Abstract

The bioethanol production from lignocellulosic materials is a socially and environmentally well-accepted option; however, its technical and economic feasibility needs to be established. In order to know if the bioethanol production from this feedstock has a potential for implementation, we developed a comparison of 16 process configurations based on four pretreatment methods and six conversion options. Indexes that relate to energy consumption, amount of bioethanol produced, water consumption, and final bioethanol composition were used to compare the processing options. Seven alternatives were selected for further analysis with the implementation of a separation process. It was found that the process based on dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis and cofermentation combination shows the best economic potential. On the other hand, the cellulose hydrolysis based on an enzymatic process showed the best energy efficiency, but the final economic incentive for industrial implementation depends strongly on a fairly low enzyme cost.

Biomass–Water Interaction and Its Correlations with Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Steam-Exploded Corn Stover

“…The main reason for this result was that compared with UCS, SECS became more homogeneous by the autohydrolysis and mechanical tearing effect of SE. 7,27 The screening may not be …”

A lignocellulosic ethanol strategy via nonenzymatic sugar production: Process synthesis and analysis

“…Lignocellulosic biomass can be a potential sustainable source for biofuel production to meet future renewable fuel demands (Daoutidis et al, 2013;Demirbas, 2007). Biofuels, such as bioethanol, biobutanol, and biogasoline, can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass via three different process platforms: (1) biochemical, using enzymatic or chemical hydrolysis, followed by microbial fermentation Conde-Mejía et al, 2013;Gnansounou and Dauriat, 2010;Kazi et al, 2010;Uppugundla et al, 2014;Zhong et al, 2009); (2) thermochemical, using gasification/pyrolysis and subsequent catalytic upgrading or carbohydrate reforming Corma et al, 2011;Huber et al, 2006;Lange, 2007;Pham et al, 2014;Swanson et al, 2010;Wright et al, 2010);and (3) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.01.135 0960-8524/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.…”

Multi‐scale systems engineering for energy and the environment: Challenges and opportunities

“…[73][74][75][76][77] Process synthesis and optimization algorithms have been applied to improve the prominent process, with one example being the use of mixed-integer nonlinear modeling to optimize a system that converts corn-both the grain and lignocellulosic portions-to both ethanol and food. 78 By integrating the energy and water usage of the facilities to maximize efficiencies, considerable improvements can be made to the process.…”