A New Approach for the Design and Assessment of Bio-based Chemical Processes toward Sustainability

Substituting biomass for fossil-based feedstock is a potential scenario of chemical production. To achieve sustainable production, various issues must be considered, such as the constraints of limited biomass resources, feasibility of production technologies, and competitiveness of bio-based chemical products. In this study, we developed a new framework for the design and assessment of bio-based chemical processes. Both monetary and nonmonetary indicators including production cost, energy consumption, environmental impact, and safety hazards are considered. The framework was applied to the design and assessment of both existing and emerging new bio-based processes producing potential platform chemicals from bioethanol. On the basis of the design and assessment results, the suitable biomass feedstock, a sustainable synthesis process, a competitive bio-based product, and an appropriate production scenario can be selected. Using data available at the conceptual design stage, the framework can be applied to synthesize high-potential bio-based chemical processes for future sustainability development

Development of a Structure-Based Lumping Kinetic Model for Light Gas Oil Hydrodesulfurization

With adoption of the petroleomics concept, significant effort has been made to create extensive databases of molecular structures and chemical and physical properties of complex petroleum mixtures. By collation of the available information provided by petroleomics, this study develops a new structure-based lumping kinetic model for hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of light gas oil. An advanced experimentation system, analytical technique, and computer software tool are employed to generate the necessary data. The model contains 16 structure-based lumps, each of which includes species having a similar structure and reactivity. The model allows for the tracking of changes in molecular structure type of the input and output mixtures during HDS. Its prediction capability is validated over a wide range of HDS operation temperatures (200–375 °C)