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Techno-Economic Evaluation of Cellulosic Ethanol Production Based on Pilot Biorefinery Data: a Case Study of Sweet Sorghum Bagasse Processed via L+SScF

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Abstract

Replacing fossil fuels with renewable fuels derived from lignocellulosic biomass can contribute to the mitigation of global warming and the economic development of rural communities. This will require lignocellulosic biofuels to become price competitive with fossil fuels. Techno-economic analyses can provide insights into which parts of the biofuel production process need to be optimized to reduce cost or energy use. We used data obtained from a pilot biorefinery to model a commercial-scale biorefinery that processes lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol, with a focus on the minimum ethanol selling price (MESP). The process utilizes a phosphoric acid-catalyzed pre-treatment of sweet sorghum bagasse followed by liquefaction and simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (L+SScF) of hexose and pentose sugars by an engineered Escherichia coli strain. After validating a techno-economic model developed with the SuperPro Designer software for the conversion of sugarcane bagasse to ethanol by comparing it to a published Aspen Plus model, six different scenarios were modeled for sweet sorghum bagasse Under the most optimistic scenario, the ethanol can be produced at a cost close to the energy-equivalent price of gasoline. Aside from an increase in the price of gasoline, the gap between ethanol and gasoline prices could also be bridged by either a decrease in the cost of cellulolytic enzymes or development of value-added products from lignin.

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Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the USDA-NIFA Biomass Research and Development Initiative Grant No. 2011-10006-30358 (WV, KTS, LOI); US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Bioenergy Technologies Office and sponsored by the US DOE’s International Affairs under award no. DE-PI0000031 (WV, KTS, LOI); and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences Grant No. 020650 (LOI). The authors also thank Foley Cellulose (Perry, Florida) for proving low-pressure steam and many amenities for the pilot plant, Florida Crystals (West Palm Beach, FL) for providing sugarcane bagasse; Dr. Randy Powell and colleagues at Delta BioRenewables (Memphis, TN) for processing sweet sorghum on a commercial scale; and Novozymes North America (Franklinton, NC) for providing cellulase enzymes.

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  1. Rick van Rijn

    Present address: Sanquin Plasma Products, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  2. Ismael U. Nieves

    Present address: Cargill, Eddyville, IA, 52553, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology & Cell Science – IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Rick van Rijn, Ismael U. Nieves, K. T. Shanmugam, Lonnie O. Ingram & Wilfred Vermerris

  2. UF Stan Mayfield Biorefinery Pilot Plant, University of Florida, Perry, FL, 32348, USA

    Rick van Rijn, Ismael U. Nieves & Lonnie O. Ingram

  3. UF Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Wilfred Vermerris

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  1. Rick van Rijn
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Correspondence to Wilfred Vermerris.

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van Rijn, R., Nieves, I.U., Shanmugam, K.T. et al. Techno-Economic Evaluation of Cellulosic Ethanol Production Based on Pilot Biorefinery Data: a Case Study of Sweet Sorghum Bagasse Processed via L+SScF. Bioenerg. Res. 11, 414–425 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-018-9906-3

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