Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Design, Sustainability Analysis and Multiobjective Optimisation of Ethanol Production via Syngas Fermentation

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Waste and Biomass Valorization Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ethanol production from non-edible feedstock has received significant attention over the past two decades. The utilisation of agricultural residues within the biorefinery concept can positively contribute to the renewable production of fuels. To this end, this study proposes the utilisation of bagasse in a hybrid conversion route for ethanol production. The main steps of the process are the gasification of the raw material followed by syngas fermentation to ethanol. Aspen plus was utilised to rigorously design the biorefinery coupled with Matlab to perform process optimisation. Based on the simulations, ethanol can be produced at a rate of 283 L per dry tonne of bagasse, achieving energy efficiency of 43% and according to the environmental analysis, is associated with low CO2 emissions. The conduction of a typical discounted cash flow analysis resulted in a minimum ethanol selling price of 0.69 $ L−1. The study concludes with multiobjective optimisation setting as objective functions the conflictive concepts of total investment costs and exergy efficiency. The total cost rate of the system is minimised whereas the exergy efficiency is maximised by using a genetic algorithm. This way, various process configurations and trade-offs between the investigated criteria were analysed for the proposed biorefinery system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. He, J., Zhang, W.: Techno-economic evaluation of thermo-chemical biomass-to-ethanol. Appl. Energy 88(4), 1224–1232 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.10.022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Naik, S.N., Goud, V.V., Rout, P.K., Dalai, A.K.: Production of first and second generation biofuels: a comprehensive review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 14(2), 578–597 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2009.10.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Antizar-Ladislao, B., Turrion-Gomez, J.L.: Second-generation biofuels and local bioenergy systems. Biofuels, Bioprod. Biorefin. 2(5), 455–469 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Mohr, A., Raman, S.: Lessons from first generation biofuels and implications for the sustainability appraisal of second generation biofuels. Energy Policy 63, 114–122 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.08.033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Gupta, A., Verma, J.P.: Sustainable bio-ethanol production from agro-residues: a review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 41, 550–567 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.08.032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Saini, J.K., Saini, R., Tewari, L.: Lignocellulosic agriculture wastes as biomass feedstocks for second-generation bioethanol production: concepts and recent developments. 3 Biotech 5(4), 337–353 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-014-0246-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Srivastava, N., Rawat, R., Singh Oberoi, H., Ramteke, P.W.: A review on fuel ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Int. J. Green Energy 12(9), 949–960 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1080/15435075.2014.890104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Liguori, R., Ventorino, V., Pepe, O., Faraco, V.: Bioreactors for lignocellulose conversion into fermentable sugars for production of high added value products. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 100, 597–611 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-7125-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Fang, K., Li, D., Lin, M., Xiang, M., Wei, W., Sun, Y.: A short review of heterogeneous catalytic process for mixed alcohols synthesis via syngas. Catal. Today 147(2), 133–138 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2009.01.038

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Acharya, B., Roy, P., Dutta, A.: Review of syngas fermentation processes for bioethanol. Biofuels 5(5), 551–564 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1080/17597269.2014.1002996

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Bertsch, J., Müller, V.: Bioenergetic constraints for conversion of syngas to biofuels in acetogenic bacteria. Biotechnol. Biofuels 8(1), 210 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-015-0393-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Piccolo, C., Bezzo, F.: A techno-economic comparison between two technologies for bioethanol production from lignocellulose. Biomass Bioenergy 33(3), 478–491 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2008.08.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Wagner, H., Kaltschmitt, M.: Biochemical and thermochemical conversion of wood to ethanol—simulation and analysis of different processes. Biomass Convers. Biorefin. 3(2), 87–102 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-012-0064-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Roy, P., Dutta, A., Deen, B.: Greenhouse gas emissions and production cost of ethanol produced from biosyngas fermentation process. Bioresour. Technol. 192, 185–191 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.05.056

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Pandey, A., Soccol, C.R., Nigam, P., Soccol, V.T., Vandenberghe, L.P.S., Mohan, R.: Biotechnological potential of agro-industrial residues. II: cassava bagasse. Bioresour. Technol. 74(1), 81–87 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-8524(99)00143-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Zanin, G.M., Santana, C.C., Bon, E.P., Giordano, R.C., de Moraes, F.F., Andrietta, S.R., de Carvalho Neto, C.C., Macedo, I.C., Fo, D.L., Ramos, L.P., Fontana, J.D.: Brazilian bioethanol program. Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 84–86, 1147–1161 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Zabed, H., Sahu, J.N., Boyce, A.N., Faruq, G.: Fuel ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass: an overview on feedstocks and technological approaches. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 66, 751–774 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.08.038

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Balat, M., Balat, H.: Recent trends in global production and utilization of bio-ethanol fuel. Appl. Energy 86(11), 2273–2282 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2009.03.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Ververis, C., Georghiou, K., Danielidis, D., Hatzinikolaou, D.G., Santas, P., Santas, R., Corleti, V.: Cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin and ash content of some organic materials and their suitability for use as paper pulp supplements. Bioresour. Technol. 98(2), 296–301 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2006.01.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Gao, Y., Xu, J., Zhang, Y., Yu, Q., Yuan, Z., Liu, Y.: Effects of different pretreatment methods on chemical composition of sugarcane bagasse and enzymatic hydrolysis. Bioresour. Technol. 144, 396–400 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.06.036

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Bhatia, L., Johri, S., Ahmad, R.: An economic and ecological perspective of ethanol production from renewable agro waste: a review. AMB Express 2(1), 65 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1186/2191-0855-2-65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Isikgor, F.H., Becer, C.R.: Lignocellulosic biomass: a sustainable platform for the production of bio-based chemicals and polymers. Polym. Chem. 6(25), 4497–4559 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1039/C5PY00263J

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Mosier, N., Wyman, C., Dale, B., Elander, R., Lee, Y.Y., Holtzapple, M., Ladisch, M.: Features of promising technologies for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. Bioresour. Technol. 96(6), 673–686 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2004.06.025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Gassner, M., Maréchal, F.: Thermo-economic process model for thermochemical production of synthetic natural gas (SNG) from lignocellulosic biomass. Biomass Bioenergy 33(11), 1587–1604 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2009.08.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Michailos, S., Parker, D., Webb, C.: Comparative analysis of synthetic natural gas versus hydrogen production from bagasse. Chem. Eng. Technol. 40(3), 546–554 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1002/ceat.201600424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Farzad, S., Mandegari, M.A., Görgens, J.F.: A critical review on biomass gasification, co-gasification, and their environmental assessments. Biofuel Res. J. 3(4), 483–495 (2016). https://doi.org/10.18331/brj2016.3.4.3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Fu, Q., kansha, Y., Song, C., Liu, Y., Ishizuka, M., Tsutsumi, A.: An advanced cryogenic air separation process based on self-heat recuperation for CO2 separation. Energy Procedia 61, 1673–1676 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2014.12.189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Perrin, N., Dubettier, R., Lockwood, F., Tranier, J.-P., Bourhy-Weber, C., Terrien, P.: Oxycombustion for coal power plants: advantages, solutions and projects. Appl. Therm. Eng. 74, 75–82 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.03.074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Trippe, F., Fröhling, M., Schultmann, F., Stahl, R., Henrich, E.: Techno-economic assessment of gasification as a process step within biomass-to-liquid (BtL) fuel and chemicals production. Fuel Process. Technol. 92(11), 2169–2184 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2011.06.026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Sudiro, M., Bertucco, A.: Production of synthetic gasoline and diesel fuel by alternative processes using natural gas and coal: process simulation and optimization. Energy 34(12), 2206–2214 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2008.12.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Panopoulos, K.D., Fryda, L.E., Karl, J., Poulou, S., Kakaras, E.: High temperature solid oxide fuel cell integrated with novel allothermal biomass gasification: part I: modelling and feasibility study. J. Power Sources 159(1), 570–585 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2005.12.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Erlich, C., Fransson, T.H.: Downdraft gasification of pellets made of wood, palm-oil residues respective bagasse: experimental study. Appl. Energy 88(3), 899–908 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.08.028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Sreejith, C.C., Muraleedharan, C., Arun, P.: Thermo-chemical analysis of biomass gasification by gibbs free energy minimization model-part: II (optimization of biomass feed and steam to biomass ratio). Int. J. Green Energy 10(6), 610–639 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1080/15435075.2012.709203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Drzyzga, O., Revelles, O., Durante-Rodríguez, G., Díaz, E., García, J.L., Prieto, A.: New challenges for syngas fermentation: towards production of biopolymers. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 90(10), 1735–1751 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.4721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Arora, D., Basu, R., Breshears, F.S., Gaines, L.D., Hays, K.S., Phillips, J.R., Wikstrom, C.V., Clausen, E.C.: J. L. Gaddy. United States. Department of Energy. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy., United States. Department of Energy. Albuquerque Operations Office., United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information.: Production of ethanol from refinery waste gases. Final report, April 1994–July 1997. United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy,. http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/565441-UPx17r/webviewable/ (1997)

  36. De Kam, M.J., Vance Morey, R., Tiffany, D.G.: Biomass integrated gasification combined cycle for heat and power at ethanol plants. Energy Convers. Manag. 50(7), 1682–1690 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2009.03.031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Williams, T.C., Shaddix*, C.R., Schefer, R.W.: Effect of syngas composition and CO2-diluted oxygen on performance of a premixed swirl-stabilized combustor. Combust. Sci. Technol. 180(1), 64–88 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1080/00102200701487061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Tassios, D.P.: Extractive and azeotropic distillation, In: Advances in chemistry, vol. 115. American Chemical Society, Washington, (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  39. Park, S.R., Pandey, A.K., Tyagi, V.V., Tyagi, S.K.: Energy and exergy analysis of typical renewable energy systems. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 30, 105–123 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2013.09.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Michailos, S., Parker, D., Webb, C.: A multicriteria comparison of utilizing sugar cane bagasse for methanol to gasoline and butanol production. Biomass Bioenerg. 95, 436–448 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2016.06.019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Bridgwater, A.V.: Step counting methods for preliminary capital cost estimating. Cost Eng. 23(5), 293–302 (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Lucia, A., Towler, G.: Chemical engineering design principles, practice, and economics of plant and process design by. and R. Sinnott. AIChE J. 54(11), 3034–3035 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.11633

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Sadhukhan, J., Ng, K.S., Hernandez, E.M.: Economic analysis. Biorefineries and chemical processes. pp. 43–61. Wiley, Hoboken (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Hamelinck, C.N., Hooijdonk, G.v., Faaij, A.P.C.: Ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass: techno-economic performance in short-, middle- and long-term. Biomass Bioenergy 28(4), 384–410 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2004.09.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Caputo, A.C., Palumbo, M., Pelagagge, P.M., Scacchia, F.: Economics of biomass energy utilization in combustion and gasification plants: effects of logistic variables. Biomass Bioenergy 28(1), 35–51 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2004.04.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Peters, M., Timmerhaus, K., West, R.: Plant design and economics for chemical engineers. McGraw-Hill Education, New York (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Gubicza, K., Nieves, I.U., Sagues, W.J., Barta, Z., Shanmugam, K.T., Ingram, L.O.: Techno-economic analysis of ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse using a liquefaction plus Simultaneous Saccharification and co-Fermentation process. Bioresour. Technol. 208, 42–48 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.01.093

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. UNICA – Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association. Report. http://www.unicadata.com.br (Accessed 4/02/2015)

  49. Humbird, D., National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S.), Harris Group Inc.: Process design and economics for biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol : dilute-acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover. Natl. Renew. Energy Lab. http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo8034

  50. Jones, S., Meyer, P., Snowden-Swan, L., Padmaperum, A., Tan, E., Dutta, A., Jacobson, J., Cafferty, K.: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (U.S.)., United States. Department of Energy., United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information.: Process design and economics for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to hydrocarbon fuels fast pyrolysis and hydrotreating bio-oil pathway. United States. Department of Energy. ; distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Department of Energy,. http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1115839/ (2013)

  51. de Jong, S., Hoefnagels, R., Faaij, A., Slade, R., Mawhood, R., Junginger, M.: The feasibility of short-term production strategies for renewable jet fuels—a comprehensive techno-economic comparison. Biofuels, Bioprod. Biorefin. 9(6), 778–800 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.1613

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Rubin, E.S., Azevedo, I.M.L., Jaramillo, P., Yeh, S.: A review of learning rates for electricity supply technologies. Energy Policy 86(Supplement C), 198–218 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2015.06.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Albarelli, J.Q., Onorati, S., Caliandro, P., Peduzzi, E., Meireles, M.A.A., Marechal, F., Ensinas, A.V.: Multi-objective optimization of a sugarcane biorefinery for integrated ethanol and methanol production. Energy (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2015.06.104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Geraili, A., Sharma, P., Romagnoli, J.A.: A modeling framework for design of nonlinear renewable energy systems through integrated simulation modeling and metaheuristic optimization: applications to biorefineries. Comput. Chem. Eng. 61, 102–117 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2013.10.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Devarapalli, M., Atiyeh, H.K.: A review of conversion processes for bioethanol production with a focus on syngas fermentation. Biofuel Res. J. 2(3), 268–280 (2015). https://doi.org/10.18331/brj2015.2.3.5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Richter, H., Martin, M., Angenent, L.: A two-stage continuous fermentation system for conversion of syngas into ethanol. Energies 6(8), 3987 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, Aston University, Aston Express Way, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK

    Stavros Michailos

  2. School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK

    David Parker

  3. School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    Colin Webb

Authors
  1. Stavros Michailos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David Parker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Colin Webb
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stavros Michailos.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Michailos, S., Parker, D. & Webb, C. Design, Sustainability Analysis and Multiobjective Optimisation of Ethanol Production via Syngas Fermentation. Waste Biomass Valor 10, 865–876 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-017-0151-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-017-0151-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation