Process flowsheet optimization of chemicals production from biomass derived glucose solutions

• Surrogate-based flowsheet optimization is applied on the production of HMF, LA and FA from biomass-derived glucose.
• Two production alternatives have been studied including reactive extraction and reactive adsorption.
• The products from reactive extraction are slightly cheaper but the process is with higher capital investment.
• Higher glucose concentration, higher reaction temperature and lower residence time are favorable to decrease the minimum production cost.
• Reactive extraction is more economical in terms of HMF production.

A general framework of process flowsheet optimization is presented that is based on the implementation of surrogate-based models to represent the detailed units. The approach is applied on the production of hydroxymethylfufural (HMF), levulic Acid (LA) and formic Acic (FA) from biomass derived glucose solutions. Two production alternatives are considered and compared including reactive extraction and reactive adsorption. It is found that the products produced from reactive extraction are slightly cheaper than that from reactive adsorption while the capital investment of reactive adsorption is much lower than reactive extraction. Reactive extraction is more economical in terms of HMF production. In both cases, the dominant cost is from glucose feedstock and utility consumption. Higher concentration of biomass feedstock, higher reaction temperature and lower residence time is favored to decrease the minimum production cost.