Utilization of pentoses from sugarcane biomass: Techno-economics of biogas vs. butanol production

Author(s)

Mariano, Adriano Pinto ^[1] ; Dias, Marina O. S. ^[2] ; Junqueira, Tassia L. ^{[2, 1]} ; Cunha, Marcelo P. ^[2] ; Bonomi, Antonio ^{[2, 1]} ; Maciel Filho, Rubens ^{[2, 1]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Campinas UNICAMP, Sch Chem Engn, Lab Optimizat Design & Adv Control LOPCA, BR-13083852 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[2] Lab Nacl Ciencia & Tecnol Bioetanol CTBE CNPEM, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Bioresource Technology; v. 142, p. 390-399, AUG 2013.
• Web of Science Citations: 46

Abstract

This paper presents the techno-economics of greenfield projects of an integrated first and second-generation sugarcane biorefinery in which pentose sugars obtained from sugarcane biomass are used either for biogas (consumed internally in the power boiler) or n-butanol production via the ABE batch fermentation process. The complete sugarcane biorefinery was simulated using Aspen Plus (R). Although the pentoses stream available in the sugarcane biorefinery gives room for a relatively small biobutanol plant (7.1-12 thousand tonnes per year), the introduction of butanol and acetone to the product portfolio of the biorefinery increased and diversified its revenues. Whereas the IRR of the investment on a biorefinery with biogas production is 11.3%, IRR varied between 13.1% and 15.2% in the butanol production option, depending on technology (regular or engineered microorganism with improved butanol yield and pentoses conversion) and target market (chemicals or automotive fuels). Additional discussions include the effects of energy-efficient technologies for butanol processing on the profitability of the biorefinery. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 08/57873-8 - An integrated process for total bioethanol production and zero CO2 emission
• Grantee: Rubens Maciel Filho
• Support type: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Thematic Grants