Understanding cost drivers and economic potential of two variants of ionic liquid pretreatment for cellulosic biofuel production

Biotechnology for Biofuels

NVSN Murthy Konda³  Jian Shi⁴  Seema Singh⁴  Harvey W Blanch²  Blake A Simmons⁴  Daniel Klein-Marcuschamer¹ 

[1] Dow Center for Sustainable Engineering Innovation, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia

[2] Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, 94720 Berkeley, CA, USA

[3] Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 94720 Berkeley, CA, USA

[4] Biological and Materials Science Center, Sandia National Laboratories, 94551 Livermore, CA, USA

关键词: Process modeling;    Lignin valorization;    One-pot process;    Techno-economic analysis;    Ionic liquid pretreatment;    Lignocellulosic biofuels;   

Others  :  792244
DOI  :  10.1186/1754-6834-7-86

 received in 2014-01-31, accepted in 2014-05-14,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment could enable an economically viable route to produce biofuels by providing efficient means to extract sugars and lignin from lignocellulosic biomass. However, to realize this, novel IL-based processes need to be developed in order to minimize the overall production costs and accelerate commercial viability. In this study, two variants of IL-based processes are considered: one based on complete removal of the IL prior to hydrolysis using a water-wash (WW) step and the other based on a “one-pot” (OP) process that does not require IL removal prior to saccharification. Detailed techno-economic analysis (TEA) of these two routes was carried out to understand the cost drivers, economic potential (minimum ethanol selling price, MESP), and relative merits and challenges of each route.

Results

At high biomass loading (50%), both routes exhibited comparable economic performance with an MESP of $6.3/gal. With the possible advances identified (reduced water or acid/base consumption, improved conversion in pretreatment, and lignin valorization), the MESP could be reduced to around $3/gal ($3.2 in the WW route and $2.8 in the OP route).

Conclusions

It was found that, to be competitive at industrial scale, lowered cost of ILs used and higher biomass loadings (50%) are essential for both routes, and in particular for the OP route. Overall, while the economic potential of both routes appears to be comparable at higher biomass loadings, the OP route showed the benefit of lower water consumption at the plant level, an important cost and sustainability consideration for biorefineries.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Konda et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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