(590f) Innovative Multiproduct Biorefinery Design: Unlocking Value from Mexican Biomass Resources

Agricultural activities globally generate substantial residues, estimated at 5.9 billion tons annually, from various sources such as crops, livestock, and aquaculture (Allender, 2010). Traditionally, these residues are disposed of through burning, contributing significantly to CO, CO2, methane, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions, amounting to approximately 8.68 billion tons of CO2 annually (Alcocer et al., 2022). However, these residues present an opportunity for revalorization as raw materials in biorefineries for chemical and fuel production. In Mexico, renowned for its robust agricultural sector, abundant crop residues serve as valuable resources for acquiring high-value chemical compounds. This study focuses on revalorizing lignocellulosic agricultural residues into chemicals with diverse industrial applications. Product selection was guided by a comprehensive review of biomass-derived products, drawing insights from studies by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the United States, and consultations with industry experts to gauge international demand and applications. Notable compounds identified include levulinic acid (LA), γ-valerolactone (GVL), furfural (FF), and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), with significant global market values. Process simulation, utilizing Aspen Plus software, was conducted for the design, with data derived from extensive literature review. Dilute acid pretreatment was chosen for biomass treatment, focusing on Mexican corn stover. The simulations comprehensively covered pretreatment, reaction, and purification stages, assessing three scenarios to attain a purity exceeding 98% for the simultaneous production of all compounds. Notably, all compounds can be synthesized within a single process. The difference between scenarios lies in the prioritization of specific compound production Sustainability assessment involved economic and environmental metrics, including total annualized cost (TAC), environmental indicator (Eco-99), and total energy consumption, serving as objective functions for optimization. Differential evolution with tabu list method was employed for optimization, with the aim of identifying the optimal scenario. Heat integration techniques, particularly thermal coupling, were applied to distillation columns for energy consumption reduction and environmental impact mitigation. Various configurations, including thermally coupled sequence, side-stripper setup, and Petlyuk arrangement, were investigated for intensified designs in FF and HMF recovery processes, demonstrating significant reductions in performance indicators compared to conventional setups. The results obtained of optimization of conventional scenarios unveiled that scenario two presented the optimal plant design. It prioritizes maximizing the yield of γ-valerolactone, resulting in minimized Total Annual Cost (TAC) and the lowest environmental impact, as indicated by the Eco-99 metric. The values obtained were 3.157×10^7 USD/year for TAC and 7.7×10^6 points/year for environmental impact. Additionally, this scenario exhibits a minimal energy requirement of 1.756×10^9 MJ/year. Regarding column intensification, two configurations under evaluation demonstrated notable improvements in cost and environmental footprint of the process. Specifically, the thermally coupled arrangement exhibited reductions of 11%, 22.7%, and 27.9% in TAC, Eco-99, and energy consumption, respectively, compared to the conventional configuration. In contrast, the side-stripper arrangement achieved savings of 6%, 16.3%, and 14.7% in the same metrics compared to the conventional setup. In conclusion, the study achieves the development of a biorefinery design capable of producing all four compounds, ensuring cost-effectiveness, minimal environmental impact, and low energy consumption.