Biobutanol production from municipal solid waste: Technical and economic analysis

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology and Bioengineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Sustainable Energy

Background:

• Acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) production is crucial for biofuels and chemicals.
• Traditional ABE production faces challenges with feedstock costs and process efficiency.
• Municipal solid waste (MSW) presents an underutilized, sugar-rich resource for bioprocessing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and simulate novel ABE production processes from MSW.
• To evaluate different integrated process configurations for enhanced ABE yield and economic viability.
• To address key obstacles in industrial-scale ABE fermentation.

Main Methods:

• Process simulation using Aspen Plus® for three distinct scenarios.
• Scenario 1: Conventional distillation.
• Scenario 2: Fermentation coupled with gas stripping.
• Scenario 3: Fermentation followed by gas stripping and pervaporation (PV).

Main Results:

• Gas stripping significantly increased total ABE production.
• The addition of a PV module reduced distillation columns from 6 to 2.
• Scenario 3 achieved a 6.4% increase in butanol yield compared to Scenario 1.
• Economic analysis showed reduced payout periods: 15.9 years (Scenario 1), 4.4 years (Scenario 2), and 2.9 years (Scenario 3).

Conclusions:

• Integrated gas stripping and PV systems offer a promising approach for efficient ABE production from MSW.
• Utilizing MSW as a feedstock significantly lowers costs.
• The developed processes present a viable solution to overcome ABE production limitations.