Current status and future trends of computer-aided process design, applied to purification of liquid biofuels, using process intensification: A short review

Segovia‐Hernández, Juan Gabriel; Sánchez‐Ramírez, Eduardo

doi:10.1016/j.cep.2022.108804

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 114 publications

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“…The first case study considers the dehydration of ethanol, an essential and often investigated separation [2,[53][54][55] that shows significant similarity to isopropanol dehydration. It is of great importance in the production of bioethanol, which, in combination with biodiesel, accounts for 90% of the applied biofuels [56] and for which the global production is expected to reach about 145 billion liters by 2023 [57]. The mixture forms a minimum-boiling azeotrope at 89.1 mol% ethanol with a boiling point of 78.17 °C at atmospheric pressure [58].…”

Section: Ethanol Dehydrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topology-Based Initialization for the Optimization-Based Design of Heteroazeotropic Distillation Processes

Kruber

Skiborowski

2022

Processes

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Distillation-based separation processes, such as extractive or heteroazeotropic distillation, present important processes for separating azeotropic mixtures in the chemical and biochemical industry. However, heteroazeotropic distillation has received much less attention than extractive distillation, which can be attributed to multiple reasons. The phase equilibrium calculations require a correct evaluation of phase stability, while the topology of the heterogeneous mixtures is generally more complex, comprising multiple azeotropes and distillation regions, resulting in an increased modeling complexity. Due to the integration of distillation columns and a decanter, even the simulation of these processes is considered more challenging, while an optimal process design should include the selection of a suitable solvent, considering the performance of the integrated hybrid process. Yet, the intricate mixture topologies largely impede the use of simplified criteria for solvent selection. To overcome these limitations and allow for a process-based screening of potential solvents, the current work presents a topology-based initialization and optimization approach for designing heteroazeotropic distillation processes. The systematic initialization enables an efficient evaluation of different solvents with different mixture topologies, which is further exploited for optimization-based sensitivity analysis and multi-objective optimization. Three case studies are analyzed with about 170 individually optimized process designs, including stage numbers, feed locations, phase ratios, and heat duties.

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Section: Ethanol Dehydrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topology-Based Initialization for the Optimization-Based Design of Heteroazeotropic Distillation Processes

Kruber

Skiborowski

2022

Processes

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“…Growing environmental concerns and the prospect of irreversible climate change (CC) highlight the need for the rapid transformation from a fossil-based economy to a biobased one, in which sustainable biorefineries that process biomass into a spectrum of biobased products and bioenergy play a vital role . Separation and purification of the biomass components and product streams, and their full integration with the overall process, can be the most significant factor influencing the success of biorefineries, thus ensuring their viability both economically and environmentally . Solvent extraction plays a vital role among the existing separation technologies and has demonstrated many advantages compared to other separation technologies, such as distillation .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Separation and purification of the biomass components and product streams, and their full integration with the overall process, can be the most significant factor influencing the success of biorefineries, thus ensuring their viability both economically and environmentally. 2 Solvent extraction plays a vital role among the existing separation technologies and has demonstrated many advantages compared to other separation technologies, such as distillation. 3 Extraction processes are employed to obtain products with the required purity and remove unwanted compounds and are crucial to separate components with similar boiling points, azeotropic mixtures, temperature-sensitive substances, and highly diluted components such as fermentation broths.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Environmental Evaluation of Alternative Solvents Used in Lipid Extraction─The Case of Algae Biodiesel

Zapata-Boada,

Gonzalez-Miquel,

Jobson

et al. 2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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Lipid extraction is regarded as a major bottleneck in an industrial-scale production of algae biodiesel because of the use of hazardous solvents and energy-intensive operations for cell disruption and solvent recovery. This study uses life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impacts and primary energy demand (PED) of algae biodiesel production from “cradle to grave”, focusing for the first time on alternative solvents used for lipid extraction and to identify opportunities for process design improvements. Limonene, ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), and cyclohexane are investigated alongside the benchmark solvent, hexane. The ReCiPe method is used to estimate 18 midpoint environmental impacts of “the production and combustion of 1 MJ of algae biodiesel”. Results show that the climate change (CC) and PED of algae biodiesel range from 94 to 101 g CO2 eq./MJ and 1.59 to 1.65 MJ/MJ, with hexane having the lowest CC and PED and limonene the highest. Lipid extraction is identified as the main hotspot in downstream processing due to the high energy consumption for cell disruption (i.e., high-pressure homogenization) and solvent recovery. The use of an acid pretreatment for cell disruption prior to lipid extraction reduces 11 out of 18 environmental impacts and PED of algae biodiesel for all solvents, including hexane. Overall, this study highlights the critical role of lipid extraction in algae biodiesel production and the need for improvements in solvents and process design. Moreover, the findings provide valuable insights that can be applied to improve the environmental sustainability of other extraction applications.

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Recent Progress in Intensifying Synthesis of Acrylic Microspheres for Catalysis

Gaddale

Kale

Srinivasan

et al. 2023

Adv Materials Inter

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Over the past decades, there has been an escalating rise in the need for chemicals and catalytic materials to keep up with global demands. Addressing those issues by conventional methods often becomes inefficient, with myriad operational risks. Process intensification methods through procedural and equipment‐based modifications have been considered greener, have higher heat and mass transfer rates, and operate with lower costs. In this review, research using ultrasonic reactors and microreactors, along with developments through an integrated external energy source, for synthesizing acrylic microspheres is covered extensively. Acrylic microspheres have garnered much interest for their biocompatibility, affinity toward functionalization, and wide range of applications. Core–shell, composite, functional‐group modified, and porous acrylic microspheres are used for enzyme immobilization and as catalyst carriers. The use of acrylic support has provided huge improvements in catalytic activity, reusability, recyclability, and overall stability. Finally, various other process intensification methods and alternate support materials are covered to help enhance future developments in the field of catalysis.

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Current status and future trends of computer-aided process design, applied to purification of liquid biofuels, using process intensification: A short review

Cited by 11 publications

References 114 publications

Topology-Based Initialization for the Optimization-Based Design of Heteroazeotropic Distillation Processes

Topology-Based Initialization for the Optimization-Based Design of Heteroazeotropic Distillation Processes

Life Cycle Environmental Evaluation of Alternative Solvents Used in Lipid Extraction─The Case of Algae Biodiesel

Recent Progress in Intensifying Synthesis of Acrylic Microspheres for Catalysis

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