Economic Potential of Bio-Ethylene Production via Oxidative Coupling of Methane in Biogas from Anaerobic Digestion of Industrial Effluents

Author(s)

Teixeira Penteado, Alberto ^[1] ; Lovato, Giovanna ^{[2, 3]} ; Perez Ortiz, Abigail ^[1] ; Esche, Erik ^[1] ; Domingues Rodrigues, Jose Alberto ^[2] ; Godini, Hamid Reza ^{[1, 4]} ; Orjuela, Alvaro ^[5] ; Gusca, Julija ^[6] ; Repke, Jens-Uwe ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Tech Univ Berlin, Grp Proc Dynam & Operat, Sekretariat KWT9, Str 17 Juni 135, D-10623 Berlin - Germany

^[2] Maua Inst Technol, Maua Sch Engn, Biochem Engn Lab, Praca Maua 1, BR-09580900 Sao Caetano do Sul, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Sch Engn, Ave Trabalhador Sao Carlense, BR-13566590 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[4] Eindhoven Univ Technol TU E, Dept Chem Engn & Chem, Inorgan Membranes & Membrane Reactors, Den Dolech 2, NL-5612 AZ Eindhoven - Netherlands

^[5] Univ Nacl Colombia, Dept Chem & Environm Engn, Bogota 111321 - Colombia

^[6] Riga Tech Univ, Inst Energy Syst & Environm, 12-K1 Azene St, LV-1048 Riga - Latvia

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PROCESSES; v. 9, n. 9 SEP 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Brazil's large biofuels industry generates significant amounts of effluents, e.g., vinasse from bioethanol, that can effectively be used as substrate for production of biogas via Anaerobic Digestion (AD). The Oxidative Coupling of Methane (OCM) is the heterogeneous catalytic oxidation of methane into ethylene, which is a main building block for the chemical industry. This work investigates the potential and competitiveness of bio-ethylene production via OCM using biogas produced by biological anaerobiosis of vinasse as a feedstock. The proposed process can add incentive to treat of vinasse via AD and replace fossil ethylene, thus potentially reducing emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHG). A process model is developed in Aspen Plus v10 software and used to design an economic Biogas-based Oxidative Coupling of Methane (Bio-OCM) process that consumes biogas and oxygen as educts and produces ethylene, ethane, and light off-gases as products. Operating conditions in the reaction section are optimized and a reaction product yield of 16.12% is reached by applying two adiabatic Packed Bed Reactors (PBRs) in series. For the downstream CO2 removal section, a standalone amine-absorption process is simulated and compared to a hybrid membrane-absorption process on an economic basis. For the distillation section, two different configurations with and without Recycle Split Vapor (RSV) are simulated and compared. The bio-ethylene production cost for a Bio-OCM plant to be installed in Brazil is estimated considering a wide range of prices for educts, utility, side products, and equipment within a Monte Carlo simulation. The resulting average production cost of bio-ethylene is 0.53 +/- 0.73 USD kg(C2H4)(-1). The production cost is highly sensitive to the sales price assigned to a light off-gas side-product stream containing mostly the un-reacted methane. A sales price close to that of Brazilian pipeline natural gas has been assumed based on the characteristics of this stream. The Monte Carlo simulation shows that a bio-ethylene production cost below or equal to 0.70 USD kg(C2H4)(-1) is achieved with a 55.2% confidence, whereas market values for fossil ethylene typically lie between 0.70USD kg(C2H4)(-1)-1.50USD kg(C2H4)(-1). Technical and economic challenges for the industrial implementation of the proposed Bio-OCM process are identified and relevant opportunities for further research and improvement are discussed. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/07692-8 - Co-digestion of glycerin and whey in AnSBBR for biohydrogen and biomethane production
• Grantee: Giovanna Lovato
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 18/17715-6 - Biohydrogen production by treating agro-industry wastes (whey and glycerin) in an AnSBBR operated in thermophilic condition
• Grantee: Giovanna Lovato
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral