Economic Analysis of an Organosolv Process for Bioethanol Production

In a previous paper, conceptual process design, simulation, and mass and energy balances were presented for an organosolv process with a hardwood feed of 2350 metric tons (MT) per day and ethanol, lignin, furfural, and acetic acid production rates of 459, 310, 6.6, and 30.3 MT/day, respectively. In...

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Main Authors: Jesse Kautto, Matthew J. Realff, Arthur J. Ragauskas, Tuomo Kässi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: North Carolina State University 2014-08-01
Series:BioResources
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ojs.cnr.ncsu.edu/index.php/BioRes/article/view/BioRes_09_4_6041_Kautto_Economic_Analysis_Organosolv
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author Jesse Kautto
Matthew J. Realff
Arthur J. Ragauskas
Tuomo Kässi
author_facet Jesse Kautto
Matthew J. Realff
Arthur J. Ragauskas
Tuomo Kässi
author_sort Jesse Kautto
collection DOAJ
description In a previous paper, conceptual process design, simulation, and mass and energy balances were presented for an organosolv process with a hardwood feed of 2350 metric tons (MT) per day and ethanol, lignin, furfural, and acetic acid production rates of 459, 310, 6.6, and 30.3 MT/day, respectively. In this paper, the investment and operating costs of the process and the minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) to make the process economically feasible were estimated. The total capital investment of the plant was approximately 720 million USD. Lignin price was found to affect the MESP considerably. With a base case lignin price of 450 USD/MT, the MESP was approximately 3.1 USD per gallon (gal). Higher lignin price of 1000 USD/MT was required to equal the MESP with the December 2013 ethanol market price (2.0 USD/gal). In addition to lignin price, the MESP was found to be strongly affected by feedstock, enzyme, and investment costs. Variations in feedstock and investment costs affected the MESP by approximately 0.2 and 0.5 USD/gal, respectively. Changing the enzyme dosage and price from base case estimate of 5270 USD/MT and 0.02 g/g cellulose to more conservative 3700 USD/MT and 0.06 g/g cellulose, respectively, increased the MESP by 0.59 USD/gal.
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spelling doaj.art-041645b89cfb432096449e3c25b419272022-12-22T01:44:35ZengNorth Carolina State UniversityBioResources1930-21261930-21262014-08-01946041607210.15376/biores.9.4.6041-6072Economic Analysis of an Organosolv Process for Bioethanol ProductionJesse Kautto0Matthew J. Realff1Arthur J. Ragauskas2Tuomo Kässi3Lappeenranta University of Technology, School of Industrial Engineering and Management, Department of lnnovation ManagementGeorgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringGeorgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Institute of Paper Science and TechnologyLappeenranta University of Technology, School of Industrial Engineering and Management, Department of lnnovation ManagementIn a previous paper, conceptual process design, simulation, and mass and energy balances were presented for an organosolv process with a hardwood feed of 2350 metric tons (MT) per day and ethanol, lignin, furfural, and acetic acid production rates of 459, 310, 6.6, and 30.3 MT/day, respectively. In this paper, the investment and operating costs of the process and the minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) to make the process economically feasible were estimated. The total capital investment of the plant was approximately 720 million USD. Lignin price was found to affect the MESP considerably. With a base case lignin price of 450 USD/MT, the MESP was approximately 3.1 USD per gallon (gal). Higher lignin price of 1000 USD/MT was required to equal the MESP with the December 2013 ethanol market price (2.0 USD/gal). In addition to lignin price, the MESP was found to be strongly affected by feedstock, enzyme, and investment costs. Variations in feedstock and investment costs affected the MESP by approximately 0.2 and 0.5 USD/gal, respectively. Changing the enzyme dosage and price from base case estimate of 5270 USD/MT and 0.02 g/g cellulose to more conservative 3700 USD/MT and 0.06 g/g cellulose, respectively, increased the MESP by 0.59 USD/gal.http://ojs.cnr.ncsu.edu/index.php/BioRes/article/view/BioRes_09_4_6041_Kautto_Economic_Analysis_OrganosolvOrganosolvEconomic assessmentPretreatmentBioethanolLigninSimulation
spellingShingle Jesse Kautto
Matthew J. Realff
Arthur J. Ragauskas
Tuomo Kässi
Economic Analysis of an Organosolv Process for Bioethanol Production
BioResources
Organosolv
Economic assessment
Pretreatment
Bioethanol
Lignin
Simulation
title Economic Analysis of an Organosolv Process for Bioethanol Production
title_full Economic Analysis of an Organosolv Process for Bioethanol Production
title_fullStr Economic Analysis of an Organosolv Process for Bioethanol Production
title_full_unstemmed Economic Analysis of an Organosolv Process for Bioethanol Production
title_short Economic Analysis of an Organosolv Process for Bioethanol Production
title_sort economic analysis of an organosolv process for bioethanol production
topic Organosolv
Economic assessment
Pretreatment
Bioethanol
Lignin
Simulation
url http://ojs.cnr.ncsu.edu/index.php/BioRes/article/view/BioRes_09_4_6041_Kautto_Economic_Analysis_Organosolv
work_keys_str_mv AT jessekautto economicanalysisofanorganosolvprocessforbioethanolproduction
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AT arthurjragauskas economicanalysisofanorganosolvprocessforbioethanolproduction
AT tuomokassi economicanalysisofanorganosolvprocessforbioethanolproduction