A Techno-economic Analysis for Integrating an Electrochemical Reactor into a Lignocellulosic Biorefinery for Production
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A Techno-economic Analysis for Integrating an Electrochemical Reactor into a Lignocellulosic Biorefinery for Production of Industrial Chemicals and Hydrogen Mahtab NaderiNasrabadi 1 & Sudip K. Rakshit 2 & Ganapathy Viswanathan 3 & Zewei Chen 4 & Peter B. Harrington 4 & John A. Staser 1 Received: 11 September 2020 / Accepted: 8 November 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
In this study, we present a techno-economic analysis for integrating an electrochemical reactor into a lignocellulosic biorefinery for the purpose of converting biorefinery lignin to higher-value industrial chemicals with co-generation of hydrogen. We consider how the electrochemical reactor impacts the manufacturing costs for producing biofuel and determine a break-even value for the lignin oxidation product stream, which is the minimum lignin conversion product stream value that renders the cost to produce biofuel the same as in the typical biorefinery concept. We conclude that at low extents of lignin conversion, the break-even product stream value is likely too high for the process to be feasible. However, at higher extents of lignin conversion, the break-even product stream value may be between $1.00 and $2.00/kg, depending on capital cost and other manufacturing costs like depreciation. Potential markets for the biomass conversion products include resin manufacturing, where the products would compete with petroleumderived resin precursors. Keywords Lignin . Electrochemical . Conversion . Biorefinery . Economics
* John A. Staser [email protected]
1
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
2
Biorefining Research Institute, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
3
Hexion Inc., Louisville, KY, USA
4
Center for Intelligent Chemical Instrumentation, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Introduction Biofuel has been viewed as one possible way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. In the USA, corn is the main biomass source for the production of biofuel, and the annual volume has been increasing rapidly. For example, in 1998, about 6.4 billion L of bioethanol were produced in the USA. By 2016, the volume of bioethanol generated in the USA had increased to 57.8 billion L [1]. Second-generation biofuel is typically defined as being derived from biomass other than agricultural crops (i.e., agricultural residue or some other biomass) [2]. In particular, cellulosic or lignocellulosic biofuel in the USA has been proposed as a product from agricultural residue like corn stover [3]. Under the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standards for 2019, 418 million gallons of cellulosic (second-generation) biofuel were to be generated [4] out of a total 19.92 billion gallons of renewable fuel. This continues a trend in which cellulosic biofuel makes up a very small fraction of the total renewable fuel generated. For example,
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