Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
10682827 | Energy | 2010 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
Three configurations for fuel ethanol production from raw glycerol using Escherichia coli were simulated and economically assessed using Aspen Plus and Aspen Icarus, respectively. These assessments considered raw glycerol (60Â wt%) purification to both crude glycerol (88Â wt%) and pure glycerol (98Â wt%). The highest purification cost (PC) was obtained using pure glycerol due to its higher energy consumption in the distillation stage. In addition, the remaining methanol in the raw glycerol stream was recovered and recycled, decreasing the purification costs. The E. coli strain is able to convert crude glycerol (at 10Â g/L or 20Â g/L), or pure glycerol (at 10Â g/L) to ethanol. Among these three glycerol concentrations, the lowest bioconversion cost was obtained when crude glycerol was diluted at 20Â g/L. Purification and global production costs were compared with the commercial prices of glycerol and fuel ethanol from corn and sugarcane. Purification costs of raw glycerol were lower than previously reported values due to the methanol recovery. Global production costs for fuel ethanol from glycerol were lower than the reported values for corn-based production and higher than those for cane-based production.
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Authors
J.A. Posada, C.A. Cardona,