Conceptual Design of a Biorefinery Integrated into a Soybean Production and Processing System

• Grant number: 24/03270-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Moisés Teles dos Santos
• Grantee: Ivaldir José Tamagno Junior
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/02809-0 - Waste valorization and technological innovation in the agro-industrial and chitin supply chains by computational models, AP.PNGP.PI
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/06860-9 - Valorization of soybean straw: pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion models, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Brazil is the world's largest soybean producer, with a productivity of approximately 3,528 kg/ha, over a total area of about 40 million hectares (CONAB, 2022). During soybean processing, various residues are generated in planting and processing stages. Some of these residues are already commercially valued, mainly in the food industry, but there is still significant underutilized potential for most of them, which can be used for energy, fuels, polymers, fibers and composites, adsorbents, peroxidases for effluent treatment applications, pectin, food additives, fermentation media for ethanol production, and other technically viable chemicals. Despite the potential for valorization of soybean processing residues, further technical, economic, and environmental feasibility studies are needed for new processes to valorize these residues. This project aims to develop computational and simulation models to access different performance parameters of potential biorefineries integrated into the soybean chain. Through stationary process simulation, it aims to evaluate technical parameters (e.g., yields, conversions, stream compositions), preliminary economic evaluation (CAPEX and OPEX), and environmental indicators (effluent generation, energy consumption, gas emissions, among others) in order to identify the best alternatives for valorizing residues from this agro-industrial chain.