TY - CHAP
T1 - Lignocellulosic biofuels process synthesis and intensification
T2 - Superstructure-based Methodology
AU - Ibarra-Gonzalez, Paola
AU - Rong, Ben-Guang
PY - 2019/10
Y1 - 2019/10
N2 - Advanced biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass have been presented as a promising alternative to transportation fuels due to their many advantages over fossil fuels and first-generation biofuels. Some of these advantages are lower GHG emissions and minimal negative impacts on food production. However, nowadays, fossil fuels are still being considered the dominant source of transportation energy. This is because the production of advanced biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass is still in early stages of research and development and their success depends on the technology and total pro-duction costs. Synthesis and integration of new production facilities can reduce the pro-duction costs of biofuels and increase their viability. In this chapter, a systematic methodology framework based on rigorous simulations and a Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) model for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to liquid (BtL) transportation fuels is presented. First, five process routes including thermochemical conversion, upgrading, and separation technologies are proposed. Then, the process simulator Aspen Plus V8.8 is used to perform rigorous simulation of the five process routes. The simulations and experimental data taken from the literature are used to predict conversion and separation factors, and capital and energy costs of unit operations. From the simulation results, the possibility of combining unit operations between the thermochemical routes, as well as mass and energy integration, are explored. Thereafter, the five process routes are interconnected and transformed into a processing superstructure. The superstructure is defined as a MINLP problem coded in GAMS 24.5.6, which sets the objective to minimize the total annual cost (TAC) of BtL fuels under different cases and integration scenarios. Under different product profile constraints, two network flowsheets are identified as optimal technology routes for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels, which are then rigorously simulated for benchmark purposes. From the two optimal case scenarios, different upgrading and separation configuration alternatives as well as process intensification possibilities are proposed. The results demonstrate that this methodology can explore and generate optimal total biofuels production processes.
AB - Advanced biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass have been presented as a promising alternative to transportation fuels due to their many advantages over fossil fuels and first-generation biofuels. Some of these advantages are lower GHG emissions and minimal negative impacts on food production. However, nowadays, fossil fuels are still being considered the dominant source of transportation energy. This is because the production of advanced biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass is still in early stages of research and development and their success depends on the technology and total pro-duction costs. Synthesis and integration of new production facilities can reduce the pro-duction costs of biofuels and increase their viability. In this chapter, a systematic methodology framework based on rigorous simulations and a Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) model for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to liquid (BtL) transportation fuels is presented. First, five process routes including thermochemical conversion, upgrading, and separation technologies are proposed. Then, the process simulator Aspen Plus V8.8 is used to perform rigorous simulation of the five process routes. The simulations and experimental data taken from the literature are used to predict conversion and separation factors, and capital and energy costs of unit operations. From the simulation results, the possibility of combining unit operations between the thermochemical routes, as well as mass and energy integration, are explored. Thereafter, the five process routes are interconnected and transformed into a processing superstructure. The superstructure is defined as a MINLP problem coded in GAMS 24.5.6, which sets the objective to minimize the total annual cost (TAC) of BtL fuels under different cases and integration scenarios. Under different product profile constraints, two network flowsheets are identified as optimal technology routes for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels, which are then rigorously simulated for benchmark purposes. From the two optimal case scenarios, different upgrading and separation configuration alternatives as well as process intensification possibilities are proposed. The results demonstrate that this methodology can explore and generate optimal total biofuels production processes.
U2 - 10.1515/9783110596120-010
DO - 10.1515/9783110596120-010
M3 - Book chapter
SN - 9783110596076
SP - 277
EP - 325
BT - Process Intensification
PB - De Gruyter
ER -