Energy considerations for a SSF-based softwood ethanol plant.

Ethanol can be produced from softwood by steam pretreatment followed by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). However, the final ethanol concentration in the SSF step is usually rather low (around 4 wt%) and as a result the energy demand in the downstream processing will be high. In an effort to reduce the energy consumption various alternatives for the downstream processing part of the process were evaluated from a technical-economic standpoint. With experimental data as a basis, the whole process was modelled using the commercial flowsheeting program Aspen Plus. The results were used in the subsequent economic evaluation, which was performed using Icarus process evaluator. A base case configuration, consisting of three thermally coupled distillation columns and multiple-effect evaporation was established. For a feed containing 3.5% ethanol (w/w) to the distillation step, the overall process demand for steam was estimated to be 19.0 MJ/L ethanol and the ethanol production cost 4.14 SEK/L (0.591 USD/L). Different alternatives were considered, such as integration of a stripper with the evaporation step, increasing the number of evaporation effects and the application of mechanical vapour recompression to the evaporation step. Replacement of evaporation with anaerobic digestion was also considered. Among these alternatives, evaporation using mechanical vapour recompression and the anaerobic digester alternative both resulted in significantly lower energy demand than the base case, 10.2 and 9.8 MJ/L, respectively, and productions costs of 3.82 (0.546 USD/L) and 3.84 SEK/L (0.549 USD/L).

Process engineering economics of bioethanol production.

This work presents a review of studies on the process economics of ethanol production from lignocellulosic materials published since 1996. Our objective was to identify the most costly process steps and the impact of various parameters on the final production cost, e.g. plant capacity, raw material cost, and overall product yield, as well as process configuration. The variation in estimated ethanol production cost is considerable, ranging from about 0.13 to 0.81 US$ per liter ethanol. This can be explained to a large extent by actual process differences and variations in the assumptions underlying the techno-economic evaluations. The most important parameters for the economic outcome are the feedstock cost, which varied between 30 and 90 US$ per metric ton in the papers studied, and the plant capacity, which influences the capital cost. To reduce the ethanol production cost it is necessary to reach high ethanol yields, as well as a high ethanol concentration during fermentation, to be able to decrease the energy required for distillation and other downstream process steps. Improved pretreatment methods, enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis with cheaper and more effective enzymes, as well as improved fermentation systems present major research challenges if we are to make lignocellulose-based ethanol production competitive with sugar- and starch-based ethanol. Process integration, either internally or externally with other types of plants, e.g. heat and power plants, also offers a way of reducing the final ethanol production cost.

Effect of reduction in yeast and enzyme concentrations in a simultaneous- saccharification-and-fermentation-based bioethanol process: technical and economic evaluation.

The ethanol production cost in a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation-based bioethanol process is influenced by the requirements for yeast production and for enzymes. The main objective of this study was to evaluate--technically and economically--the influence of these two factors on the production cost. A base case with 5 g/L of baker's yeast and an initial concentration of water-insoluble solids of 5% resulted in an experimental yield of 85%. When these data were implemented in Aspen Plus, yeast was assumed to be produced from sugars in the hydrolysate, reducing the overall ethanol yield to 69%. The ethanol production cost was 4.80 SEK/L (2.34 US$/gal). When adapted yeast was used at 2 g/L, an experimental yield of 74% was achieved and the estimated ethanol production cost was the same as in the base case. A 50% reduction in enzyme addition resulted in an increased production cost, to 5.06 SEK/L (2.47 US$/gal) owing to reduced ethanol yield.

Process considerations and economic evaluation of two-step steam pretreatment for production of fuel ethanol from softwood.

To increase the overall ethanol yield from softwood, the steam pretreatment stage can be carried out in two steps. The two-step pretreatment process was evaluated from a techno-economic standpoint and compared with the one-step pretreatment process. The production plants considered were designed to utilize spruce as raw material and have a capacity of 200,000 tons/year. The two-step process resulted in a higher ethanol yield and a lower requirement for enzymes. However, the two-step process is more capital-intensive and has a higher energy requirement. The estimated ethanol production cost was the same, 4.13 SEK/L (55.1 cent /L) for both alternatives. For the two-step process different energy-saving options were considered, such as a higher concentration of water-insoluble solids in the filter cake before the second step, and the possibility of excluding the pressure reduction between the steps. The most optimistic configuration, with 50% water-insoluble solids in the filter cake in the feed to the second pretreatment step, no pressure reduction between the pretreatment steps, and 77% overall ethanol yield (0.25 kg EtOH/kg dry wood), resulted in a production cost of 3.90 SEK/L (52.0 cent /L). This shows the potential for the two-step pretreatment process, which, however, remains to be verified in pilot trials.

Techno-economic evaluation of producing ethanol from softwood: comparison of SSF and SHF and identification of bottlenecks.

The aim of the study was to evaluate, from a technical and economic standpoint, the enzymatic processes involved in the production of fuel ethanol from softwood. Two base case configurations, one based on simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) and one based on separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), were evaluated and compared. The process conditions selected were based mainly on laboratory data, and the processes were simulated by use of Aspen plus. The capital costs were estimated using the Icarus Process Evaluator. The ethanol production costs for the SSF and SHF base cases were 4.81 and 5.32 SEK/L or 0.57 and 0.63 USD/L (1 USD = 8.5SEK), respectively. The main reason for SSF being lower was that the capital cost was lower and the overall ethanol yield was higher. A major drawback of the SSF process is the problem with recirculation of yeast following the SSF step. Major economic improvements in both SSF and SHF could be achieved by increasing the income from the solid fuel coproduct. This is done by lowering the energy consumption in the process through running the enzymatic hydrolysis or the SSF step at a higher substrate concentration and by recycling the process streams. Running SSF with use of 8% rather than 5% nonsoluble solid material would result in a 19% decrease in production cost. If after distillation 60% of the stillage stream was recycled back to the SSF step, the production cost would be reduced by 14%. The cumulative effect of these various improvements was found to result in a production cost of 3.58 SEK/L (0.42 USD/L) for the SSF process.