Multi-objective optimization of intensified processes for the purification of levulinic acid involving economic and environmental objectives

Publication date: Available online 15 January 2019Source: Chemical Engineering and Processing - Process IntensificationAuthor(s): Heriberto Alcocer-García, Juan Gabriel Segovia-Hernández, Oscar Andrés Prado-Rubio, Eduardo Sánchez-Ramírez, Juan José Quiroz-RamírezAbstractLevulinic acid obtained from acid hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass is considered within the twelve main chemicals from biomass in terms of economic potential due to its large number of applications. As product of hydrolysis is obtained a quite diluted stream which contains a lot of water. Consequently, the processing cost is high and it has limitations for further scaling up at industrial level using conventional separation schemes. In the downstream process proposed in this work, initially the water content is removed using a liquid-liquid extractive column, then it is purified by means of a distillation columns-based process. Recently, a set of separation designs has been implemented, including the use of decanters and intensified columns, which has reduced the cost of the process. However, these studies have only focused on optimizing the total annual cost, losing sight of the environmental impact of the process. In addition, some improvements may be applied from the process intensification point of view either by thermally couplings or considering a single or multiple walls in a column. Therefore, in this work four LA purification designs are studied, a conventional distillation sequence, a div...
Source: Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research