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Techno‐economic analysis of a lignocellulosic ethanol biorefinery with ionic liquid pre‐treatment
Author(s) -
KleinMarcuschamer Daniel,
Simmons Blake A.,
Blanch Harvey W.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
biofuels, bioproducts and biorefining
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.931
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1932-1031
pISSN - 1932-104X
DOI - 10.1002/bbb.303
Subject(s) - biorefinery , commercialization , ionic liquid , biomass (ecology) , biochemical engineering , lignocellulosic biomass , cellulosic ethanol , pulp and paper industry , raw material , biofuel , process engineering , environmental science , chemistry , business , waste management , engineering , cellulose , marketing , organic chemistry , oceanography , catalysis , geology
Lignocellulose dissolution in ionic liquids is a relatively new biomass pre‐treatment technology that is receiving growing interest from the biofuels community as a route to provide readily‐hydrolyzable holocellulose. Despite its proven advantages over other pre‐treatment technologies – including feedstock invariance, high monomeric sugar yields over short saccharification times, and extensive delignification – there are several core issues that stand in the way of commercialization. These include the relative high cost of the ionic liquids themselves, a lack of knowledge in terms of process considerations for a biorefinery based on these solvents, and scant information on the coproducts this pre‐treatment technology could provide to the marketplace. We present an initial techno‐economic model of a biorefinery that is based on the ionic liquid pre‐treatment technology and have identified, through a comprehensive sensitivity analysis, the most significant areas in terms of cost savings/revenue generation that must be addressed before ionic liquid pre‐treatment can compete with other, more established, pre‐treatment technologies. This report evaluates this new pre‐treatment technology through the perspective of a virtual operating biorefinery, and although there are significant challenges that must be addressed, there is a clear path that can enable commercialization of this novel approach. © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd