Techno-Economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of Waste Lignin Fractionation and Valorization Using the ALPHA Process
Techno-Economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of Waste Lignin Fractionation and Valorization Using the ALPHA Process
复制标题
DOI：
10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c00267
复制
发表时间：
2021-04-08
影响因子：
8.4
通讯作者：
Shonnard, David R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kulas, Daniel G.;Thies, Mark C.;Shonnard, David R.
对热剂水溶液木质素提纯工艺进行了技术经济分析(TEA)和生命周期评价(LCA)，该工艺正在研究从纤维素乙醇生物精炼厂或硫酸盐纸浆厂回收的粗木质素的分离和提纯。在这里，阿尔法被建议用于从玉米秸秆制取乙醇装置中分离木质素为纯化的低、中、高相对分子质量(MW)组分，分别用于生产聚氨酯泡沫、活性碳和碳纤维。进行了情景分析，以确定阿尔法溶剂选择对工艺经济性和环境性能的影响。溶剂的选择被发现对阿尔法有重大影响，使用醋酸的最低售价为838美元/吨，而使用乙醇的最低售价为463美元/吨。将用乙醇溶剂加工的木质素转化为高价值产品，每年可产生1.51亿美元的利润，30年来总净现值为5.33亿美元。进行了生命周期评估，以确定与基于化石的等价物相比，基于木质素的产品的“门到门”温室气体排放和能源消耗。进行了价值分配方案，确定使用阿尔法乙醇工艺生产的产品的温室气体排放量与来自化石原料的相同产品相似或更低。
Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) were performed on the Aqueous Lignin Purification with Hot Agents (ALPHA) process, which is being investigated for the fractionation and purification of raw, bulk lignins recovered from cellulosic ethanol biorefineries or Kraft pulp mills. Here, ALPHA is proposed for the isolation of lignin from a corn stover-to-ethanol plant into purified low, medium, and high molecular weight (MW) fractions for producing polyurethane foam, activated carbon, and carbon fiber, respectively. A scenario analysis was conducted to determine the effect of ALPHA solvent choice on process economics and environmental performance. Solvent choice was found to have a significant impact on ALPHA, with a minimum selling price of $838/tonne with use of acetic acid vs $463/tonne with ethanol. Conversion of the lignin, processed with ethanol solvent, to high-value products yields $151 million/year in profit, which over 30 years results in a total net present value of $533 million. A life cycle assessment was conducted to determine the "gate-to-gate" greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption of the lignin-based products compared to fossil-based equivalents. A value allocation scenario was conducted and it was determined that products generated using the ALPHA process with ethanol have similar or lower greenhouse gas emissions than the same products from fossil feedstocks.