Conversion of Distiller’s Grains to Renewable Fuels and High Value Protein: Integrated Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment
Abstract
Distiller’s grains are a byproduct of corn ethanol production and provide an opportunity for increasing the economic viability and sustainability of the overall grain-to-fuels process. Typically, these grains are dried and sold as a ruminant feed adjunct. Here, this study considers utilization of the residuals in a novel supplementary fermentation process to produce two products, enriched protein and fusel alcohols. The value-added proposition and environmental impact of this second fermentation step for distiller’s grains are evaluated by considering three different processing scenarios. Techno-economic results show the minimum protein selling price, assuming fusel alcohol products are valued at 0.79 cents per liter gasoline equivalent, ranges between 1.65–2.48 kg protein–1 for the different cases. Environmental impacts of the systems were evaluated through life cycle assessment. Results show a baseline emission results of 17 g CO2-eq (MJ fuel)–1 for the fuel product and 10.3 kg CO2-eq kg protein–1 for the protein product. Sensitivity to allocation methods show a dramatic impact with results ranging between –8 to 140 g CO2-eq (MJ fuel)–1 for the fuel product and –0.3 to 6.4 kg CO2-eq kg protein–1 for the protein product. The discussion is focused on the potential impact of the technology on corn ethanol production economicsmore »
- Authors:
-
[1]
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Emeryville, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1559493
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-2019-8438J
Journal ID: ISSN 0013-936X; 677672
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Environmental Science and Technology
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 53; Journal Issue: 17; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-936X
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 09 BIOMASS FUELS
Citation Formats
DeRose, Katherine, Liu, Fang, Davis, Ryan W., Simmons, Blake A., and Quinn, Jason C. Conversion of Distiller’s Grains to Renewable Fuels and High Value Protein: Integrated Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b03273.
DeRose, Katherine, Liu, Fang, Davis, Ryan W., Simmons, Blake A., & Quinn, Jason C. Conversion of Distiller’s Grains to Renewable Fuels and High Value Protein: Integrated Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b03273
DeRose, Katherine, Liu, Fang, Davis, Ryan W., Simmons, Blake A., and Quinn, Jason C. Mon .
"Conversion of Distiller’s Grains to Renewable Fuels and High Value Protein: Integrated Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b03273. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1559493.
@article{osti_1559493,
title = {Conversion of Distiller’s Grains to Renewable Fuels and High Value Protein: Integrated Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment},
author = {DeRose, Katherine and Liu, Fang and Davis, Ryan W. and Simmons, Blake A. and Quinn, Jason C.},
abstractNote = {Distiller’s grains are a byproduct of corn ethanol production and provide an opportunity for increasing the economic viability and sustainability of the overall grain-to-fuels process. Typically, these grains are dried and sold as a ruminant feed adjunct. Here, this study considers utilization of the residuals in a novel supplementary fermentation process to produce two products, enriched protein and fusel alcohols. The value-added proposition and environmental impact of this second fermentation step for distiller’s grains are evaluated by considering three different processing scenarios. Techno-economic results show the minimum protein selling price, assuming fusel alcohol products are valued at 0.79 cents per liter gasoline equivalent, ranges between 1.65–2.48 kg protein–1 for the different cases. Environmental impacts of the systems were evaluated through life cycle assessment. Results show a baseline emission results of 17 g CO2-eq (MJ fuel)–1 for the fuel product and 10.3 kg CO2-eq kg protein–1 for the protein product. Sensitivity to allocation methods show a dramatic impact with results ranging between –8 to 140 g CO2-eq (MJ fuel)–1 for the fuel product and –0.3 to 6.4 kg CO2-eq kg protein–1 for the protein product. The discussion is focused on the potential impact of the technology on corn ethanol production economics and sustainability.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.est.9b03273},
journal = {Environmental Science and Technology},
number = 17,
volume = 53,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Aug 05 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Mon Aug 05 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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Figures / Tables:
Figure 1: Block flow diagram for the DGS upgrading facility. There are two alcohol recovery options including distillation or solvent extraction; and two protein recovery options including ultrafiltration followed by drying and drying.
Figures / Tables found in this record: