Bio‐based propylene production in a sugarcane biorefinery: A techno‐economic evaluation for Brazilian conditions

Abstract

This paper presents a techno-economic evaluation of potential Greenfi eld projects of integrated fi rst-and second-generation sugarcane biorefi neries, in which ethanol is converted to bio-based propylene through metathesis of ethylene with 2-butene. Two scenarios were tested, considering improvements both in fi rst-and second-generation ethanol production: with and without pentoses fermentation, which increases the amount of ethanol produced. The viability of the proposed propylene production facility was studied through Minimum Bio-Propylene Selling Price (MBSP), and sensitivity and risk analysis were performed. Results show that, compared to the average propylene prices in recent years, the MBSP (based on the average estimates) would be no more than 85-90% higher than the price of the conventional fossil-fuel based product. In addition, three aspects were further assessed: (i) scaling of production plants, (ii) learning effects, and (iii) policies that would result lower capital costs. The results show that the cumulative effect would lead a substantial reduction of the MBSP, leading to a competitive price of 1347 US$/t.

Production of 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) from starch, glucose, or high‐fructose corn syrup: techno‐economic analysis

“…As shown in the previous section, the main feedstock is the central production cost and therefore has the largest impact on sensitivity. This behavior was reported in other lignocellulosic‐based plant studies …”

Bio‐based polymers production in a kraft lignin biorefinery: techno‐economic assessment

“…A linear depreciation method was applied considering an equipment's economic lifespan of 25 years, which is most commonly used for new technologies. A one‐year start‐up time is considered; therefore, there is no profit in the first year, and the biorefinery works three 8 h·d ‐1 shifts for 250 d·yr ‐1 ‐ which is a conservative estimate, a higher number of days per year would return even more profitable outcome. The return rate used in this study is 10%; the return rate, also called minimum attractive rate return, is used in cash flows to determine the present value of future cash flows.…”

“…It reflects uncertainty on the process performance to introduce several hidden costs that cannot be foreseen, it also remunerates the investment. Other studies have considered a range of 8% to 15%; for example, 8.3%; 10%; 12%; and 15% …”

“…The simulation was executed in the Analytic Solver Platform V2016‐R3 (16.5.1.0) for Education, Copyright© 2016 Frontline Systems, Inc., and 10,000 runs were calculated considering random variables according to the probability distribution. A triangular distribution, frequently used in similar studies, for example Machado ­ et al . and Sastre et al ., was assumed when the minimum, maximum a most likely values were available, and when there was no historical data available at no cost to analyze the price fluctuations.…”

Acceptability and Societal Impact of the Introduction of Bioplastics as Novel Environmentally Friendly Packaging Materials in Ireland

“…In looking at biopolymers, these can be broadly broken down into three groups [14]. The first group, the so-called "drop in" alternatives, which utilises plant oils or plant resins as a replacement of petrochemical-derived precursors [15], are the longest established. The two remaining groups comprise of protein-based biopolymers (e.g., collagen, soy isolate, whey protein) and polysaccharide-based biopolymers (starch, cellulose, pectin), which appear to be more advanced.…”