Optimal design and exergy analysis of biomass-to-ethylene glycol process

Ethylene glycol production has been significantly augmented in recent years due to its various uses. However, conventional oil and coal-based ethylene glycol routes are forcing severe obstacles in production cost and pollutant emissions. Biomass is regarded as a potential contributor to cleaner and sustainable development of the energy sector. Herein, an efficient biomass-to-ethylene glycol (BtEG) process is firstly proposed and analyzed by the simulator, Aspen Plus software. Its key operational parameters are investigated and optimized after the validation of the established models and simulation results. Results show that the optimal oxygen/biomass ratio and temperature of biomass gasifier are 0.4 t/t and 1300 °C. The optimal reaction temperature, pressure, and H₂/DMO ratio of ethylene glycol synthesis reactor are 220 °C, 4.0 MPa, and 4.5 kmol/kmol, respectively. After conducting carbon and exergy analyses, it found that the carbon and exergy efficiencies of this process are calculated as 37.64% and 38.74%.