Luis E. Rincón

Design and analysis of biorefineries based on raw glycerol: Addressing the glycerol problem

Glycerol as a low-cost by-product of the biodiesel industry can be considered a renewable building block for biorefineries. In this work, the conversion of raw glycerol to nine added-value products obtained by chemical (syn-gas, acrolein, and 1,2-propanediol) or bio-chemical (ethanol, 1,3-propanediol, d-lactic acid, succinic acid, propionic acid, and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate) routes were considered. The technological schemes for these synthesis routes were designed, simulated, and economically assessed using Aspen Plus and Aspen Icarus Process Evaluator, respectively. The techno-economic potential of a glycerol-based biorefinery system for the production of fuels, chemicals, and plastics was analyzed using the commercial Commercial Sale Price/Production Cost ratio criteria, under different production scenarios. More income can be earned from 1,3-propanediol and 1,2-propanediol production, while less income would be obtained from hydrogen and succinic acid. This analysis may be useful mainly for biodiesel producers since several profitable alternatives are presented and discussed.

Production of Bioethanol from Agroindustrial Residues as Feedstocks

Publisher Summary Modern biomass utilization technologies, makes possible to add value to agroindustrial residues, using them as industrial energy source, by means of its combustion or gasification conversion, with less SO2 and NOx content. Sources of biomass residues can be wood processing industry (sawdust, cut-offs, bark), agricultural industry (sugar cane bagasse, coconut shells, rice hulls, coffee husks, corn stover, oilseed cakes, wheat straw), food processing industry (organic waste animal manure and residues), wastewater and landfill municipal sewage residues from the biomass agroindustry can be successfully used in the energy industry due to their high availability and acceptable heating value. There is need of process optimization for detoxification and maximize conversion of agroindustrial residues feedstocks for production of ethanol as a cheaper substrate like molasses and other directly fermentable materials. In order to increase competitiveness of production of bioethanol from agroindustrial residues, integrated use of biomass-fired cogeneration is valuable alternative addressed to increase project incoming and viability.

Design and analysis of a second and third generation biorefinery: The case of castorbean and microalgae

In this work, a biorefinery system including castor bean seeds and microalgae is used as a case study to evaluate the integration of second and third generation biorefineries. A biorefinery concept was applied for the combined production of polyol, ethylene-glycol, omega-3 acid, biodiesel, methanol and heat and power from castor bean and microalgae. Castor bean cake and microalgae paste were used to feed a biomass-fired system (BIGCC), where part of CO2 produced in flue gas is captured and employed as substrate for microalgae growth. To evaluate the performance of this biorefinery concept three scenarios based on different levels of mass and energy integration were modeled and assessed from techno-economic and environmental points of view. The scenario with the best economic and environmental performances was the one including full mass integration, full heat integration, and cogeneration scheme.