Performance and techno-economic assessment of several solid-liquid separation technologies for processing dilute-acid...

Area of Science:

• Biomass processing
• Chemical engineering
• Sustainable energy

Background:

• Solid-liquid separation is crucial for producing biofuels and chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass.
• Effective separation requires high sugar recovery and efficient biomass dewatering.
• Dilute acid pretreated corn stover slurries were used to assess separation technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the technical and economic merits of pressure filtration, vacuum filtration, and basket centrifugation for lignocellulosic biomass slurries.
• To compare different filtration methods and their process settings in a biorefinery context.
• To identify the most economically viable solid-liquid separation technology.

Main Methods:

• Experimental evaluation of pressure filtration, vacuum belt filtration, and basket centrifugation.
• Process simulations using a 2000 tonne/day biorefinery model.
• Economic analysis of the tested separation technologies.

Main Results:

• All tested filtration methods successfully separated pretreated slurries into liquid and solid fractions.
• Sugar recoveries of at least 95% were achieved with cake washing.
• Continuous vacuum belt filtration demonstrated the most favorable process economics.

Conclusions:

• Solid-liquid separation is a key step in lignocellulosic biomass utilization.
• Continuous vacuum belt filtration is an economically advantageous technology for biorefineries.
• Optimized filtration processes are essential for efficient biofuel and chemical production.