Overview of Biomass Conversion Pathway
The overall processing strategy for biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals assessed in this work is presented in Fig. 2. The two-stage alkaline pre-extraction followed by alkaline-oxidative pretreatment method is used to fractionate lignocellulose biomass into various lignin and sugar streams for downstream conversion. As shown in Fig. 2, this approach provides the flexibility to accommodate shifting market conditions. It does this by yielding several lignin products that can target multiple markets, altering the properties of the lignin, and varying the partitioning of lignin into the three intermediate product pools, or target molecules. One key set of target molecules includes phenolic acid and aldehyde monomers (vanillin, vanillic acid, syringaldehyde, syringic acid, and others) that can be directed towards high-value, low-volume markets (e.g., flavor and fragrance compounds) as well as towards medium-value, high-volume bulk aromatic chemical markets with applications that could include bio-based polymers [33–35]. A second class of target molecules is highly functionalized oligomeric lignins that have potential in resin formulations for bio-based polyurethane coatings.
Unlike hydrogenation/reductive approaches to lignin depolymerization or conversion whereby alcohols, aldehydes, carboxylates, and aromatics are reduced and deoxygenated, oxidations can preserve and generate oxygen-containing functional groups (i.e., vanillin, vanillic acid, syringaldehyde, syringic acid, acetosyringone, acetovallinone). While the oxygen content of biomass-derived compounds is a negative for fuels applications, oxygen-containing groups are useful for providing chemical functionality and reactivity for use as platform chemicals or as reactive aromatic polymers that can be incorporated into polyurethane resin formulations to increase their bio-based content.
Capital and Operating Costs
Table 4 shows the material balance for the eight pretreatment conditions assessed in this study based on our prior experimental study [23]. As shown, varying the pretreatment conditions impacted both the monomeric sugar (glucose and xylose) yields and the extent of delignification, thereby affecting the yields of biofuels and lignin-based products (polyols and aromatic monomers). With increasing pretreatment severity (i.e., temperature and oxidant loading), the yields of products (monomeric sugars and lignin) were increased (Additional file 1: Table S3). However, increasing the pretreatment severity also resulted in increased capital and operating costs. Therefore, an optimum balance between the process costs and the product yields needed to be identified with the technoeconomic model.
Table 4
Material balance of the studied conditions (feedstock: 2000 MT per day)
Experimental Reaction Conditionsa
|
|
Product Generation (MT/day)
|
Glucose
|
Xylose
|
Total Solubilized Lignin
|
Total Precipitated Lignin
|
120°C – Cu-AHP 8% H2O2
|
822.1
|
320.1
|
225.1
|
135.2
|
120°C – Cu(bpy) + O2
|
808.0
|
309.9
|
222.4
|
133.8
|
120°C – Cu-AHP 8% H2O2 + O2
|
984.8
|
359.1
|
333.5
|
160.8
|
120°C – Cu-AHP 6% H2O2 + O2
|
975.6
|
359.1
|
323.9
|
160.4
|
120°C – Cu-AHP 4% H2O2 +O2
|
959.8
|
359.1
|
307.4
|
158.2
|
120°C – Cu-AHP 2% H2O2 + O2
|
946.9
|
359.1
|
297.8
|
156.1
|
90°C – Cu-AHP 8% H2O2
|
653.6
|
256.0
|
167.5
|
85.9
|
90°C – Cu-AHP 4% H2O2 + O2
|
778.0
|
289.4
|
216.9
|
98.0
|
MT: metric ton |
a120°C and 90°C: alkaline pre-extraction step conducted at 120°C and 90°C, respectively. Cu-AHP H2O2: Cu-AHP pretreatment performed at 80°C; Cu(bpy) + O2: Cu(bpy)-catalyzed alkaline-oxidative pretreatment with 50 psig O2 as the only oxidant; Cu-AHP H2O2 + O2: O2-enhanced Cu-AHP pretreatment (50 psig O2). Values are expressed as average ± standard deviation of triplicate experiments |
Figure 3a shows the total capital costs for all eight pretreatment conditions modeled in this study. The use of both H2O2 and O2 as co-oxidants during the alkaline-oxidative pretreatment stage increased the capital cost compared to the alkaline-oxidative pretreatment with H2O2 only. Moreover, the case with alkaline pre-extraction performed at 90°C and alkaline-oxidative pretreatment performed with only 8% H2O2 had the lowest total capital cost ($20.1 million), while the case with alkaline pre-extraction performed at 120°C and the alkaline-oxidative pretreatment with 8% H2O2 and 50 psig O2 had the highest total capital cost ($42.2 million). This could be attributed to the higher cost reactor; the addition of 50 psig O2 requires a much thicker vessel than the case without using O2.
Figure 3b displays the operating costs for the eight pretreatment conditions. As shown, under the same alkaline pre-extraction temperature (120°C), using O2 in addition to H2O2 during the alkaline-oxidative pretreatment stage only slightly increases operating costs. O2 was assumed to be recovered from air on site, during which only the electricity was used as a contributor to the operating cost. In contrast, reducing H2O2 utilization from 8–2% reduced operating costs by $42 million/year due to the relatively high cost of purchasing H2O2 ($1/kg); this could lead to a considerable decrease in MFSP. To probe further the operating cost, the individual contributors to the operating cost were also investigated (Additional file 1: Table S4). Moreover, when using the solubilized lignin for high-value products instead of burning for energy, the required electricity increased for the cases that solubilized more lignin during the pretreatment process; this also increased the operating cost.
Minimum Fuel Selling Price (MFSP)
Figure 4 shows the MFSP ($/L) for the eight pretreatment conditions considered in this study. Two scenarios are presented for the MFSP. In the first scenario, the soluble lignin that is not precipitated is burned for energy, while in the second scenario, the soluble lignin in the Cu-AHP extract that is not precipitated is assumed to be recoverable and sold at the same price as the precipitated lignin ($0.80/kg). The cost of pretreatment chemicals had a large influence on the MFSP, accounting for 40% of the total operating costs for the base case of a 120°C alkaline pre-extraction followed by an alkaline oxidative Cu-AHP pretreatment with 8% H2O2 (120°C – Cu-AHP 8% H2O2). If we assumed that the acid-soluble lignin was not recoverable, the MFSP using H2O2 as the only oxidant [(120°C – Cu-AHP 8% H2O2) and (90°C – Cu-AHP 8% H2O2)]) was between $1.32/L and $1.08/L depending on the temperature of the alkaline pre-extraction stage. Conversely, when O2 was used as a co-oxidant and the H2O2 loading was reduced from 8–2%, the MFSP decreased to between $0.94/L to $0.85/L. This is because this sizable reduction in pretreatment chemical usage did not result in a corresponding large reduction in sugar yields (Table 2; [23]). Eliminating the H2O2 entirely led to slight increase in MFSP due to an appreciable reduction in both the sugar and lignin yields (Table 2; [23]). Importantly, if the acid-soluble lignin can be recovered for value-added products, then the MFSP can be reduced by an additional $0.10/L (down to $0.77/L) if O2 is employed as a co-oxidant during the Cu-AHP process (120°C – Cu-AHP 2% H2O2 + O2). The use of O2 as a co-oxidant increased the amount of lignin solubilized during pretreatment, but a larger proportion of this lignin was acid soluble. Thus, the difference in MFSP between the two assumptions (all solubilized lignin is recoverable versus only precipitated lignin) was greater when O2 was employed as a co-oxidant.
The TEA indicates that the overall MFSP can be reduced by nearly 40% by using O2 as a co-oxidant in the Cu-AHP process relative to the Cu-AHP pretreatment using H2O2 only. This is due both to a decrease in pretreatment operating cost (due to a reduction in H2O2 loading) and to an increase in both glucose and lignin yield. The primary tradeoff for oxygen utilization is a modest increase in electricity usage to generate the oxygen as well as an increase in capital costs (the oxygen production unit is assumed to cost $9.7 million, while the cost of increasing the pressure rating of the pretreatment vessel is $12.4 million). Despite these costs, the added capital cost only increased ~6% (Fig. 2) and therefore did not greatly impact the MFSP. From the results in Fig. 3, pretreatment conditions of alkaline pre-extraction (120°C) and alkaline-oxidative pretreatment (2% H2O2 and O2) were selected as the base case for further analysis. Moreover, a detailed list of contributors to the MFSP of the selected base case (2% H2O2 and O2) was also provided (Additional file 1: Table S4).
Effect of Lignin Valorization on MFSP
The above analysis assumed only lignin that was solubilized and recoverable by acid precipitation could be utilized as a polyol substitute. Multiple other scenarios were also considered: (1) no lignin was recovered for additional value as a worst case scenario, (2) 16% of the recovered lignin (based on results obtained from lignin depolymerization following the method of sequential Bobbitt’s salt oxidation followed by formic-acid catalyzed depolymerization process [23]) could be sold as monomers, increasing its value to $2.00/kg, while the remainder of the precipitated lignin was sold as a polyol substitute, (3) the solubilized but not precipitated lignin could also be recovered and sold as a polyol substitute ($0.80/kg), (4) 16% of all solubilized lignin (including the non-precipitated portion) was sold as monomers (with the remainder as a polyol substitute), and (5) the precipitated lignin was sold as a polyol substitute, while 48% of the non-precipitated lignin was sold as monomers (Fig. 5).
Importantly, if the acid-soluble lignin can be recovered for value-added products, then the MFSP can be reduced by an additional $0.07/L (down to $0.78/L) if O2 is employed as a co-oxidant during the Cu-AHP process (120°C – Cu-AHP 2% H2O2 + O2). As noted above, the use of O2 as a co-oxidant increased the amount of lignin solubilized during pretreatment, but a larger proportion of this lignin was acid soluble. Thus, a strategy to recovery this soluble lignin will be important to further optimize this process due to the presence of oxygen. Likewise, if the value of the lignin can be increased by conversion to aromatic monomers, the MFSP can be reduced further to $0.73/L. This is due solely to increased value of lignin, as it increases from 12–26% of the total revenue of the biorefinery. An intermediate approach, in which 48% of the soluble lignin can be recovered and sold as high value monomers, also significantly reduces the cost to $0.74/L. If lignin is not recovered as a co-product, the MFSP is $1.03/L, indicating the importance of lignin recovery during Cu-AHP pretreatment.
Significant advances have been made to reduce the input costs of copper-catalyzed alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment while simultaneously maintaining high sugar yields [23, 36, 37]. Despite this, the operating costs for pretreatment were still high at approximately $71 million/year for a 2000 ton/day facility (Fig. 4) or $97/ton biomass, resulting in a $1.03/L MFSP if no lignin was recovered as a value-added product. This decreased to $0.85/L if precipitated lignin was recovered as a polyol substitute and $0.78/L if all soluble lignin could be recovered as a polyol substitute. While the technology to produce polyurethane products from lignin is relatively well understood, the possibility of producing monomers can reduce the selling price further down to $0.73/L. While challenges currently remain to commercializing this technology, it demonstrates that further selling price reductions are possible as improvements in lignin valorization continue. Thus, the combination of reduced pretreatment inputs while maintaining high sugar and lignin solubilization and improved usage of recovered lignin is instrumental in obtaining economically competitive biofuels.
Sensitivity Analysis
Understanding the impact of key parameters on the MFSP is of great importance to developing this technology further. Sensitivity of the MFSP with the sequential two-stage alkaline pre-extraction and alkaline-oxidative pretreatment of hybrid poplar (the selected base case) is summarized in Figure 6, in which the capital and operating costs were also included. Yield of both sugar and lignin had the highest impact on the final biofuel selling price, indicating the importance of recovering all of the solubilized material. Likewise, the value of the lignin, used either in polyurethane applications or as lignin monomers, also resulted in large changes in the biofuel selling price. This indicates that revenue, rather than the individual costs of the refinery, drives the economics of the process. Each of the cost drivers selected, namely hydrogen peroxide cost, pretreatment capital cost, oxidation pressure, and total oxygen usage had relatively minimal impact on the final selling price of the fuel. This analysis provides evidence that, if the high yields and potentially high value for lignin can be maintained as the process is scaled to more industrially relevant conditions, the potential for economic value will remain even if costs are greater than initially anticipated.
The results further indicate that it is of great importance to include the lignin properties and valorization strategies when establishing TEA models for biorefinery. This is because the lignin value has a significant impact on the MFSP (based on the scenarios we studied). To include the lignin value in the model, there are several methods to be considered: (1) Purifying lignin for the various applications in order to design downstream separations, (2) recycling or treating any waste streams generated from these separations, and (3) drying and packaging of the final lignin product. Synergies may be found if the final product (such as polyurethane) is produced at the same location. Further laboratory optimization of lignin separations and purification would also be required.