Production of Chemicals from Renewable Resources

The chemical industry is heavily dependent on oil, which is the major feedstock for the production of chemicals, and a significant source of energy, particularly for vehicle applications. More than 90% of all organic compounds are derived from petroleum. However, the increased world demand for petroleum-based products and energy, as well as the finite reserve of crude oil, pose an enormous sustainability challenge. Combustion of fossil resources produces CO, which leads to climate change. And there is no doubt that fossil resources are in limited supply. Thus, strategies based on renewable sources are warranted. 

Biomass resources can be used directly as a fuel, generally through combustion. But to be able to derive a chemical industry based on renewable resources, it is necessary to convert the structures within the biomass into useful chemicals that can replace chemicals currently produced from petroleum-derived compounds. This remains a significant challenge and the basis of a great deal of ongoing research. 

Recognizing the efficiencies of the petroleum refinery in producing a large variety of products simultaneously, conventional thought is that the most effective plan for conversion of bioresources will be through a biorefinery process. In the petrorefinery process based on a build-up approach, feedstocks such as crude oil 

Syngas is a platform product that allows biomass to be converted to traditional chemical products, most typically through a process known as Fischer-Tropsch (F-T). The F-T technology is not new and has been employed for the conversion of 

The first step of the gasification process is through combustion, in which the carbon and hydrogen are converted to CO and water. Because the reactions are exothermic, temperatmes in excess of 1000 °C can be achieved, depending on how much residual water is retained within the fuel. The extent of combustion is controlled by the amount of oxygen present in the fuel. After all of the oxygen is consumed, a series of reduction reactions occur that convert the CO to CO, either by disproportionation with residual carbon 

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A major aspect of research and development in industrial catalysis is the identification of catalytic materials and reaction conditions that lead to effective catalytic processes. The need for efficient approaches to facilitate the discovery of new solid catalysts is particularly timely in view of the growing need to expand the applications of catalytic technologies beyond the current chemical and petrochemical industries. For example, new catalysts are needed for environmental applications such as treatment of noxious emissions or for pollution prevention. Improved catalysts are needed for new fuel cell applications. The production of high-value specialty chemicals requires the development of new catalytic materials. Furthermore, new catalysts may be combined with biochemical processes for the production of chemicals from renewable resources. The catalysts required for these new applications may be different from those in current use in the chemical and petrochemical industries. 

This chapter explores the sources of renewable feedstocks, in particular, carbohydrates, lignin, lipid oils, and proteins, followed by the production of chemicals from renewable resources, and finally some current applications of renewable materials. 

While the oils associated with vegetable matter and those pressed from algae used in waste treatment processes are most typically converted to biodiesel fuel, it is also possible to produce a broad range of products from vegetable oil and animal fats. These products can then once again serve as the basis for the production of chemicals from renewable resources (Figure 8.20). As with all bio-based products, it is important to complete a full economic and enviromnental life cycle analysis to determine the most viable routes for desired products. 

Johanna Ivy Levene is a Senior Chemical Applications Engineer at NREL. She specializes in the technical and economic analysis of electrolysis systems, and her current focus is the production of fuels from renewable resources. Prior to her work at NREL, Johanna has worked as a process control engineer, a database administrator, a systems administrator and a programmer. Results from her work have been published in Solar Today and Science. 

Over the past few years, the production of polymers from renewable resources has rapidly increased at the industrial scale. Cargill-Dow has an industrial plant for the production of biodegradable PLA, which has a high-molar mass PRU 00]. Major chemical companies and downstream industries are all preparing for these changes [MAS 06]. 

Commercial production of PA is mainly achieved through chemical synthesis from petroleum feedstocks however, fermentation is an attractive alternative method for the production of PA from renewable resources. Due to the exhaustion of petroleum resources and the serious environmental pollution caused by the utilization of fossil resources, production of PA by microbial fermentation from renewable resources has attracted increasing attention.The species that have been used for the microbial production of PA include Propimibaderiumfieudenreichii, Propionibacterium acidipropionici, Propionibacterium thoenii, and Propionibacterium jensenii. 

Although quite often these flavour chemicals can be prepared from petrochemical sources, renewable resources are preferred by the flavour industry, because access to these renewable resources is very good and already existed when these companies were started. In addition, chemicals from renewable resources are natural, so they can be used in natural flavours and offer the possibility to be used for the production of natural secondary products. 

BREW, Medium and Long-Term Opportunities and Risks of the Biotechnological Production of Bulk Chemicals From Renewable Resources - The Potential of White Biotechnology, the BREW Project. Final report, 2006. 

Patel, M., Crank, M., Domburg, V., Hermann, B., Roes, L., Husing, B., Overbeek, L., Terragni, F. and Recchia, E. 2006. The BREW Project Report Medium and Long-Term Opportunities and Risks of the Biotechnological Production of Bulk Chemicals from Renewable Resources. http //www.chem.uu.nl/brew/BREW.Final.Report.September 2006.pdf Perretti, G., Miniati, E., Montanari, L. and Fantozzi, P. 2003. Improving the Value of Rice By-Products by SFE. J. Supercrit. Fluids, 6, 63-71. 

Patel M, Crank M, Dornburg V, et al. BREW - medium and long-term opportunities and risks of the biotechnological production of bulk chemicals from renewable resources. Utrecht University, 2006. 

A study commissioned by the EU in 2006 on biotechnological production of bulk chemicals from renewable resources [37] investigates 21 bulk chemicals using LCA for environmental assessment. Systems boundary is cradle-to-gate based on a functional unit of 11 of product. In addition, waste management is assessed where credits for energy recovery are accounted. As feedstock, crops for production... 

The future society and petrochemical-based industry are faced to energy and resource limitation and environmental problems due to the steadily decreasing availability of fossil fuels. Besides hydro-, wind-, and solar power, the biotechnological production of fuels and chemicals from renewable resources is regarded as key technology to... 

Conventional processes for the production of 1,4-butanediol use fossil fuel feedstocks such as acetylene and formaldehyde. The biobased process involves the use of glucose from renewable resources to produce succinic acid followed by a chemical reduction to produce butanediol. PBS is produced by transesterification, direct polymerization, and condensation polymerization reactions. PBS copolymers can be produced by adding a third monomer such as sebacic acid, adipic acid and succinic acid, which is also produced by renewable resources [34]. 

The current trend toward the production of chemicals from feedstocks based on renewable resources rather than fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas has also led to a need for effective methods for the conversion of carbohydrates, from glycerol to polysaccharides, to commercially valuable products. In many cases this will involve selective aerobic oxidation of one or more alcohol moieties. 

Recently, microbial production of SA from renewable biomass has been recognized as a potential alternative for SA production by the US Department of Energy and other groups [6-8]. Production of SA from renewable biomass can be environmentally advantageous, as CO2 is assimilated during SA fermentation, and can alleviate our dependence on fossil resources. Hence, SA is becoming a forerunner in biorefinery platform chemicals. Among the various... 

A methodology was described to assess the feasibihty of success in making commodity chemicals from renewable resources. The methodology uses a five-step process in the assessment. The first step is portfolio selection, and some of the key selection criteria are high theoretical yields from substrate, high market interest, and volume. The second phase involves initial economic screening and uses an economic criterion called the Fraction of Revenue for Feedstock (FRF). In this calculation, the cost of the feedstock is divided by the value of all the products, and the products that show the most promise are those where the fraction is smallest. This value takes into account the yields of the products derived from the various feedstock components. The third phase is a comparative analysis of bioprocessing routes that uses a raw material cost ratio, which... 

The pressure on companies producing products from chemicals to use renewable feedstock will most certainly increase. From an economical point of view this may influence both material and production costs. Products made of ethylene from renewable resources, whether it is plastics or surfactants, will have the same properties as if they were produced from fossil feedstock. This means that there will be no need to invest in new production equipment. 

The chemical industries are looking for sustainable growth with a high-energy, efficient biomass conversion approach that can be commercialized into value-added platform chemicals to replace petroleum-derived chemicals (Menon and Rao, 2012). The industrial conversion depends on the selective syntiiesis of products at higher yields, with large-scale production, efficient separation techniques, and tire removal of impurities from renewable resources (Ruppert et al., 2012). The preferred targets of the chemical industry based on raw material, process complexity, productivity, and potential market for the top value-added platform chemicals are listed in Table 26.1. 

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