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Techno‐economic assessment of the production of bio‐based chemicals from glutamic acid
Author(s) -
Lammens Tijs M.,
Gangarapu Satesh,
Franssen Maurice C.R.,
Scott Elinor L.,
Sanders Johan P.M.
Publication year - 2012
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.349
Subject(s) - succinonitrile , acrylonitrile , bottleneck , production (economics) , process (computing) , biochemical engineering , economic potential , chemistry , process engineering , computer science , organic chemistry , economics , engineering , polymer , operating system , electrode , copolymer , electrolyte , macroeconomics , embedded system , economic growth
In this review, possible process steps for the production of bio‐based industrial chemicals from glutamic acid are described, including a techno‐economic assessment of all processes. The products under investigation were those that were shown to be synthesized from glutamic acid on lab‐scale, namely N‐methylpyrrolidone (NMP), N‐vinylpyrrolidone (NVP), succinonitrile, and acrylonitrile. The goal was not only to assess the economic feasibility at this stage, but mainly to discover where is the most potential for improvements in these processes, in order to direct future research. The techno‐economic assessment leads to the conclusion that the production of NMP and NVP is the most feasible both in terms of technology and economy. Bio‐based acrylonitrile and succinonitrile do not seem very profitable under the current process configurations. Especially the acrylonitrile process shows very high costs in relation to the possible gains. Further optimization is necessary, but a clear direction where the optimization should be aimed could be derived from the assessment, and was provided in the discussion of the processes. The main point to optimize was the reaction of glutamic acid with sodium hypochlorite, a bottleneck in both the acrylonitrile and the succinonitrile process. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd