Techno-economic evaluation of 2nd generation bioethanol production from sugar cane bagasse and leaves integrated with the sugar-based ethanol process

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bioethanol produced from the lignocellulosic fractions of sugar cane (bagasse and leaves), i.e. second generation (2G) bioethanol, has a promising market potential as an automotive fuel; however, the process is still under investigation on pilot/demonstration scale. From a process perspective, improvements in plant design can lower the production cost, providing better profitability and competitiveness if the conversion of the whole sugar cane is considered. Simulations have been performed with AspenPlus to investigate how process integration can affect the minimum ethanol selling price of this 2G process (MESP-2G), as well as improve the plant energy efficiency. This is achieved by integrating the well-established sucrose-to-bioethanol process with the enzymatic process for lignocellulosic materials. Bagasse and leaves were steam pretreated using H₃PO₄as catalyst and separately hydrolysed and fermented.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The addition of a steam dryer, doubling of the enzyme dosage in enzymatic hydrolysis, including leaves as raw material in the 2G process, heat integration and the use of more energy-efficient equipment led to a 37 % reduction in MESP-2G compared to the Base case. Modelling showed that the MESP for 2G ethanol was 0.97 US$/L, while in the future it could be reduced to 0.78 US$/L. In this case the overall production cost of 1G + 2G ethanol would be about 0.40 US$/L with an output of 102 L/ton dry sugar cane including 50 % leaves. Sensitivity analysis of the future scenario showed that a 50 % decrease in the cost of enzymes, electricity or leaves would lower the MESP-2G by about 20%, 10% and 4.5%, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>According to the simulations, the production of 2G bioethanol from sugar cane bagasse and leaves in Brazil is already competitive (without subsidies) with 1G starch-based bioethanol production in Europe. Moreover 2G bioethanol could be produced at a lower cost if subsidies were used to compensate for the opportunity cost from the sale of excess electricity and if the cost of enzymes continues to fall.</p

Techno-economic evaluation of stillage treatment with anaerobic digestion in a softwood-to-ethanol process

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Replacing the energy-intensive evaporation of stillage by anaerobic digestion is one way of decreasing the energy demand of the lignocellulosic biomass to the ethanol process. The biogas can be upgraded and sold as transportation fuel, injected directly into the gas grid or be incinerated on-site for combined heat and power generation. A techno-economic evaluation of the spruce-to-ethanol process, based on SO₂-catalysed steam pretreatment followed by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation, has been performed using the commercial flow-sheeting program Aspen Plus™. Various process configurations of anaerobic digestion of the stillage, with different combinations of co-products, have been evaluated in terms of energy efficiency and ethanol production cost versus the reference case of evaporation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Anaerobic digestion of the stillage showed a significantly higher overall energy efficiency (87-92%), based on the lower heating values, than the reference case (81%). Although the amount of ethanol produced was the same in all scenarios, the production cost varied between 4.00 and 5.27 Swedish kronor per litre (0.38-0.50 euro/L), including the reference case.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Higher energy efficiency options did not necessarily result in lower ethanol production costs. Anaerobic digestion of the stillage with biogas upgrading was demonstrated to be a favourable option for both energy efficiency and ethanol production cost. The difference in the production cost of ethanol between using the whole stillage or only the liquid fraction in anaerobic digestion was negligible for the combination of co-products including upgraded biogas, electricity and district heat.</p

The influence of solid/liquid separation techniques on the sugar yield in two-step dilute acid hydrolysis of softwood followed by enzymatic hydrolysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Two-step dilute acid hydrolysis of softwood, either as a stand-alone process or as pretreatment before enzymatic hydrolysis, is considered to result in higher sugar yields than one-step acid hydrolysis. However, this requires removal of the liquid between the two steps. In an industrial process, filtration and washing of the material between the two steps is difficult, as it should be performed at high pressure to reduce energy demand. Moreover, the application of pressure leads to more compact solids, which may affect subsequent processing steps. This study was carried out to investigate the influence of pressing the biomass, in combination with the effects of not washing the material, on the sugar yield obtained from two-step dilute acid hydrolysis, with and without subsequent enzymatic digestion of the solids.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Washing the material between the two acid hydrolysis steps, followed by enzymatic digestion, resulted in recovery of 96% of the mannose and 81% of the glucose (% of the theoretical) in the liquid fraction, regardless of the choice of dewatering method (pressing or vacuum filtration). Not washing the solids between the two acid hydrolysis steps led to elevated acidity of the remaining solids during the second hydrolysis step, which resulted in lower yields of mannose, 85% and 74% of the theoretical, for the pressed and vacuum-filtered slurry, respectively, due to sugar degradation. However, this increase in acidity resulted in a higher glucose yield (94.2%) from pressed slurry than from filtered slurry (77.6%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Pressing the washed material between the two acid hydrolysis steps had no significant negative effect on the sugar yields of the second acid hydrolysis step or on enzymatic hydrolysis. Not washing the material resulted in a harsher second acid hydrolysis step, which caused greater degradation of the sugars during subsequent acid hydrolysis of the solids, particularly in case of the vacuum-filtered solids. However, pressing in combination with not washing the material between the two steps enhanced the sugar yield of the enzymatic digestion step. Hence, it is suggested that the unwashed slurry be pressed to as high a dry matter content as possible between the two acid hydrolysis stages in order to achieve high final sugar yields.</p

Process Design and Economics of On-Site Cellulase Production on Various Carbon Sources in a Softwood-Based Ethanol Plant

On-site cellulase enzyme fermentation in a softwood-to-ethanol process, based on SO2-catalysed steam pretreatment followed by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation, was investigated from a techno-economic aspect using Aspen Plus© and Aspen Icarus Process Evaluator© softwares. The effect of varying the carbon source of enzyme fermentation, at constant protein and mycelium yields, was monitored through the whole process. Enzyme production step decreased the overall ethanol yield (270 L/dry tonne of raw material in the case of purchased enzymes) by 5–16 L/tonne. Capital cost was found to be the main cost contributor to enzyme fermentation, constituting to 60–78% of the enzyme production cost, which was in the range of 0.42–0.53 SEK/L ethanol. The lowest minimum ethanol selling prices (4.71 and 4.82 SEK/L) were obtained in those scenarios, where pretreated liquid fraction supplemented with molasses was used as carbon source. In some scenarios, on-site enzyme fermentation was found to be a feasible alternative

Separate hydrolysis and co-fermentation for improved xylose utilization in integrated ethanol production from wheat meal and wheat straw

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The commercialization of second-generation bioethanol has not been realized due to several factors, including poor biomass utilization and high production cost. It is generally accepted that the most important parameters in reducing the production cost are the ethanol yield and the ethanol concentration in the fermentation broth. Agricultural residues contain large amounts of hemicellulose, and the utilization of xylose is thus a plausible way to improve the concentration and yield of ethanol during fermentation. Most naturally occurring ethanol-fermenting microorganisms do not utilize xylose, but a genetically modified yeast strain, TMB3400, has the ability to co-ferment glucose and xylose. However, the xylose uptake rate is only enhanced when the glucose concentration is low.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Separate hydrolysis and co-fermentation of steam-pretreated wheat straw (SPWS) combined with wheat-starch hydrolysate feed was performed in two separate processes. The average yield of ethanol and the xylose consumption reached 86% and 69%, respectively, when the hydrolysate of the enzymatically hydrolyzed (18.5% WIS) unwashed SPWS solid fraction and wheat-starch hydrolysate were fed to the fermentor after 1 h of fermentation of the SPWS liquid fraction. In the other configuration, fermentation of the SPWS hydrolysate (7.0% WIS), resulted in an average ethanol yield of 93% from fermentation based on glucose and xylose and complete xylose consumption when wheat-starch hydrolysate was included in the feed. Increased initial cell density in the fermentation (from 5 to 20 g/L) did not increase the ethanol yield, but improved and accelerated xylose consumption in both cases.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Higher ethanol yield has been achieved in co-fermentation of xylose and glucose in SPWS hydrolysate when wheat-starch hydrolysate was used as feed, then in co-fermentation of the liquid fraction of SPWS fed with the mixed hydrolysates. Integration of first-generation and second-generation processes also increases the ethanol concentration, resulting in a reduction in the cost of the distillation step, thus improving the process economics.</p

Influence of different SSF conditions on ethanol production from corn stover at high solids loadings

In this study, three different kinds of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of washed pretreated corn stover with water-insoluble solids (WIS) content of 20% were investigated to find which one resulted in highest ethanol yield at high-solids loadings. The different methods were batch SSF, prehydrolysis followed by batch SSF and fed-batch SSF. Batch-SSF resulted in an ethanol yield of 75–76% and an ethanol concentration of 53 g/L. Prehydrolysis prior to batch SSF did not improve the ethanol yield compared with batch SSF. Fed-batch SSF, on the other hand, increased the yield, independent of the feeding conditions used (79–81%, 57–60 g/L). If the initial amount of solids during fed-batch SSF was lowered, the yield could be improved to some extent. When decreasing the enzyme dosage, the greatest decrease in yield was seen in the fed-batch mode (75%), while lower or the same yield was seen in batch mode with and without prehydrolysis (73%). This resulted in similar ethanol yields in all methods. However, the residence time to achieve the final ethanol yield was shorter using fed-batch. This shows that fed-batch can be a better alternative also at a lower enzyme loading

A kinetic model for quantitative evaluation of the effect of hydrogen and osmolarity on hydrogen production by Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus </it>has attracted increased interest as an industrial hydrogen (H₂) producer. The aim of the present study was to develop a kinetic growth model for this extreme thermophile. The model is based on Monod kinetics supplemented with the inhibitory effects of H₂and osmotic pressure, as well as the liquid-to-gas mass transfer of H₂.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mathematical expressions were developed to enable the simulation of microbial growth, substrate consumption and product formation. The model parameters were determined by fitting them to experimental data. The derived model corresponded well with experimental data from batch fermentations in which the stripping rates and substrate concentrations were varied. The model was used to simulate the inhibition of growth by H₂and solute concentrations, giving a critical dissolved H₂concentration of 2.2 mmol/L and an osmolarity of 0.27 to 29 mol/L. The inhibition by H₂, being a function of the dissolved H₂concentration, was demonstrated to be mainly dependent on H₂productivity and mass transfer rate. The latter can be improved by increasing the stripping rate, thereby allowing higher H₂productivity. The experimentally determined degree of oversaturation of dissolved H₂was 12 to 34 times the equilibrium concentration and was comparable to the values given by the model.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The derived model is the first mechanistically based model for fermentative H₂production and provides useful information to improve the understanding of the growth behavior of <it>C. saccharolyticus</it>. The model can be used to determine optimal operating conditions for H₂production regarding the substrate concentration and the stripping rate.</p

Impact of dual temperature profile in dilute acid hydrolysis of spruce for ethanol production

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The two-step dilute acid hydrolysis (DAH) of softwood is costly in energy demands and capital costs. However, it has the advantage that hydrolysis and subsequent removal of hemicellulose-derived sugars can be carried out under conditions of low severity, resulting in a reduction in the level of sugar degradation products during the more severe subsequent steps of cellulose hydrolysis. In this paper, we discuss a single-step DAH method that incorporates a temperature profile at two levels. This profile should simulate the two-step process while removing its major disadvantage, that is, the washing step between the runs, which leads to increased energy demand.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The experiments were conducted in a reactor with a controlled temperature profile. The total dry matter content of the hydrolysate was up to 21.1% w/w, corresponding to a content of 15.5% w/w of water insoluble solids. The highest measured glucose yield, (18.3 g glucose per 100 g dry raw material), was obtained after DAH cycles of 3 min at 209°C and 6 min at 211°C with 1% H₂SO₄, which resulted in a total of 26.3 g solubilized C6 sugars per 100 g dry raw material. To estimate the remaining sugar potential, enzymatic hydrolysis (EH) of the solid fraction was also performed. EH of the solid residue increased the total level of solubilized C6 sugars to a maximum of 35.5 g per 100 g dry raw material when DAH was performed as described above (3 min at 210°C and 2 min at 211°C with 1% H₂SO₄).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The dual-temperature DAH method did not yield decisively better results than the single-temperature, one-step DAH. When we compared the results with those of earlier studies, the hydrolysis performance was better than with the one-step DAH but not as well as that of the two-step, single-temperature DAH. Additional enzymatic hydrolysis resulted in lower levels of solubilized sugars compared with other studies on one-step DAH and two-step DAH followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. A two-step steam pretreatment with EH gave rise to a considerably higher sugar yield in this study.</p