Process integration biorefinery

Descriptions of reactions or processes for chemical production and material production using examples are shown in the following section. After that, process systems engineering tools that are proved to be useful for complex biorefinery process integration are shown with specific applications. Main findings and recommendations are discussed at the end of each case study. 

Combining fuel and power production, possibly extended with (bulk) chemical production by advanced integrated biorefinery process concepts... 

This chapter surveys different process options to convert terpenes, plant oils, carbohydrates and lignocellulosic materials into valuable chemicals and polymers. Three different strategies of conversion processes integrated in a biorefinery scheme are proposed from biomass to bioproducts via degraded molecules , from platform molecules to bioproducts , and from biomass to bioproducts via new synthesis routes . Selected examples representative of the three options are given. Attention is focused on conversions based on one-pot reactions involving one or several catalytic steps that could be used to replace conventional synthetic routes developed for hydrocarbons. 

It is thought that this cascade of products could be manufactured in a biorefinery by integrating all the unit operations needed to convert biomass into chemicals. A lot more research is needed, however, to develop the hydrothermolysis process and high-efficiency/low-cost fermentation and acid treatments. An efficient exploitation of lignin (the only naffiral source of aromatic rings) has also to be developed. 

It can be speculated that advanced membrane technology could separate carbonic acids, higher alcohols, or other intermediate fermentation products from the sludge during biogas fermentatiOTi. But none of these processes is so far developed enough to calculate cost-effectiveness, and integration in an economically viable biorefinery process is not foreseeable. 

Process integration (utihty savings) potential of integrating a biorefinery producing ethylene from bio-based feedstock... 

In this chapter, a design strategy for integrating a biorefinery process within a chemical cluster is proposed. The procedure is illustrated in a case study conducted on the chemical cluster in Stenungsund, Sweden. The design strategy is based on pinch analysis tools. In a... 

Arvidsson, M. and Lundin, B. (2011). Process Integration Study of a Biorefinery Producing Ethylene from Lignocellulosic Feedstock for a Chemical Cluster. Master s thesis. Chahners University of Technology, Gdteborg. Retrieved from publications.hb.chalmers.se/records/fulltext/140886.pdf. Accessed 25 July 2015. 

Martinez-Hemandez, E., Martinez-Herrera, J., Campbell, G.M., and Sadhnkhan, J. (2014). Process integration, energy and GHG emission analyses of Jatropha-based biorefinery systems. Biomass Comers. Bioref, 4(2), 105-124. 

The Role of Process Integration in Reviewing and Comparing Biorefinery Processing Routes ... 

The present chapter focuses on process options integrated in a biorefinery scheme that should yield bio-products at a more competitive market price and quality. Although bioconversions are essential steps to derive the platform molecules that are used subsequently for catalytic transformations, only chemo-catalytic process will be examined. Selected examples of catalytic conversions illustrating different process options will be given. 

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