Utilizing stillage in the biorefinery: Economic, technological and energetic analysis
Abstract
The goal of this study is to evaluate the economics and energy efficiency of different biorefinery configurations which include stillage valorization strategies for bioproducts synthesis. Specifically, a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model is developed to identify the optimal process network, and the impact of various parameters (e.g., bioproduct selling price, production cost, and energy requirement) on the performance of the biorefinery is investigated. Results show that the optimal strategy leading to a minimum ethanol selling price of $${$$$}$$3.44/GGE includes γ-valerolactone deconstruction, glucose and xylose co-fermentation, heat and power generation, and does not include stillage valorization. Economic analyses indicate that the stillage valorization becomes economically viable at bioproduct selling prices above $${$$$}$$2.0/kg for a base unit production cost and conversion coefficient of $${$$$}$$2.0/kg bioproduct and 0.3 kg bioproduct/kg sugars, respectively. Further studies imply that under certain scenarios, the biorefinery does not generate sufficient energy if all stillage is utilized for bioproducts production. Thus, the utilization of stillage has to be optimized in order to achieve an energy self-sufficient biorefinery. Finally, analyses are performed to study how improvements in combinations of parameters can lead to lower cost and higher energy efficiency.
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), Madison, WI (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1572213
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1548299
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0018409
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Applied Energy
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Applied Energy Journal Volume: 241 Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0306-2619
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 09 BIOMASS FUELS; Cellulosic biofuels; Optimization; Superstructure; Stillage valorization; Process synthesis; Bioproducts
Citation Formats
Ng, Rex T. L., Fasahati, Peyman, Huang, Kefeng, and Maravelias, Christos T. Utilizing stillage in the biorefinery: Economic, technological and energetic analysis. United Kingdom: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.03.020.
Ng, Rex T. L., Fasahati, Peyman, Huang, Kefeng, & Maravelias, Christos T. Utilizing stillage in the biorefinery: Economic, technological and energetic analysis. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.03.020
Ng, Rex T. L., Fasahati, Peyman, Huang, Kefeng, and Maravelias, Christos T. Wed .
"Utilizing stillage in the biorefinery: Economic, technological and energetic analysis". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.03.020.
@article{osti_1572213,
title = {Utilizing stillage in the biorefinery: Economic, technological and energetic analysis},
author = {Ng, Rex T. L. and Fasahati, Peyman and Huang, Kefeng and Maravelias, Christos T.},
abstractNote = {The goal of this study is to evaluate the economics and energy efficiency of different biorefinery configurations which include stillage valorization strategies for bioproducts synthesis. Specifically, a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model is developed to identify the optimal process network, and the impact of various parameters (e.g., bioproduct selling price, production cost, and energy requirement) on the performance of the biorefinery is investigated. Results show that the optimal strategy leading to a minimum ethanol selling price of ${$}$3.44/GGE includes γ-valerolactone deconstruction, glucose and xylose co-fermentation, heat and power generation, and does not include stillage valorization. Economic analyses indicate that the stillage valorization becomes economically viable at bioproduct selling prices above ${$}$2.0/kg for a base unit production cost and conversion coefficient of ${$}$2.0/kg bioproduct and 0.3 kg bioproduct/kg sugars, respectively. Further studies imply that under certain scenarios, the biorefinery does not generate sufficient energy if all stillage is utilized for bioproducts production. Thus, the utilization of stillage has to be optimized in order to achieve an energy self-sufficient biorefinery. Finally, analyses are performed to study how improvements in combinations of parameters can lead to lower cost and higher energy efficiency.},
doi = {10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.03.020},
journal = {Applied Energy},
number = C,
volume = 241,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.03.020
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