On the Economics and Process Design of Renewable Butadiene from Biomass-Derived Furfural

Abstract

The catalytic conversion of biomass-derived furfural to 1,3butadiene is a potential synthetic route to renewable rubber. In this work, we present and evaluate a conceptual process design consisting of three steps: (i) decarbonylation of furfural to furan, (ii) hydrogenation of furan to tetrahydrofuran, and (iii) dehydra-decyclization of tetrahydrofuran to 1,3-butadiene. Detailed reaction and separation systems are designed using process simulation and economic optimization. At a scale of 77 kton year −1 of furfural (100 kmol h −1 ) purchased at $1.84 kg −1 ($176 kmol −1 ), a minimum sale price of butadiene of $5.43 kg −1 is calculated. The selectivities of the decarbonylation and dehydradecyclization catalysts are identified as the key process parameters by performing a sensitivity analysis on the minimum selling price of butadiene. Economic and technological factors necessary to achieve a minimum sale price of butadiene below $1.50 kg −1 ($81 kmol −1 ) are identified. A quantitative treatment of process sustainability results in a carbon efficiency of ∼58% and an E-factor of ∼1.5 for the overall process.

Sustainable Hybrid Route to Renewable Methacrylic Acid via Biomass-Derived Citramalate

“…The efficiency of the hybrid chemical route to methacrylic acid (MAA) and ultimately methyl methacrylate (MMA) depends on the independent catalyst and biocatalyst technologies to achieve high selectivity. As shown via economic sensitivity analysis within full process techno-economic analyses, − the loss of feedstock carbon due to side reactions in large-scale commodity processes is the single most impactful metric for the economic viability of a chemical technology. For this reason, the two sequential reactions, fermentation of sugars to citramalate and decarboxylation of citramalate, are presented in order with a focus on catalyst performance.…”

Defining the Macromolecules of Tomorrow through Synergistic Sustainable Polymer Research

“…Kuznetsov et al assessed the viability of a modified process starting from furfural (2-7) on an industrial plant scale (Scheme 2). 23 After decarbonylation of 2-7 to furan (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8) and hydrogenation to 2-9, dehydra-decyclization could provide a high-purity butadiene (2-10) monomer. The authors predicted that the gas-phase decarbonylation could be performed under ambient pressure at 280 °C over two Pd/alumina catalyst reactors.…”

“…Scheme 2. Catalytic Conversion of Other Biomass-Derived Saturated Furans (2-9),(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12), and (2-16) to the Corresponding Dienes19,23,25 …”

Irreversible and Self-Healing Electrically Conductive Hydrogels Made of Bio-Based Polymers

“…Recently, PA has been synthesized via ring-opening metathesis polymerization using a cyclooctatetraene (COT), which is much easier to handle than acetylene gas [ 73 ]. COT could be isolated from certain fungi [ 98 ] or produced from 1,4-butadiene, which is also available from natural resources [ 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 ]. In general, the instability towards air and the difficulty in processing make the applications of PA very limited compared to the other conductive polymers.…”