A novel integrated biorefinery process configuration for the production of furfural has been proposed. It comprises prehydrolysate concentration using nanofiltration membranes prior to sugars conversion and furfural purification. A simulation model for the process was developed and applied to a heat exchanger network design and the implementation of an absorption heat pump for energy upgrade. The minimization of the heating and cooling requirements led to a highly energy efficient process. The integration of the biorefinery in an operating Canadian receptor pulp mill was evaluated and it was demonstrated that the energy, water and chemicals requirement of the furfural process can be supplied by the mill. Economic analysis confirmed that the feasibility of the biorefinery is enhanced by the low thermal energy consumption for the added furfural process, which is 13.4 GJ/ton, and represents only 31% of the energy requirement in existing processes for furfural production. Also, concentration of the prehydrolysate prior to conversion makes it possible to reduce the dimensions of the process units; this also translates into cost saving for the biorefinery. It was shown that the biorefinery is economically feasible even at low furfural prices. Such a biorefinery can be a first step towards the production of sustainable biochemicals and increased revenues for dissolving pulp mills.
0 % 900 ($/t) 50 $/t 20 M$ 500 $/m2 25.42 20 % 1650 $/t 500 S/t 5 M$ 100 $/m2 36.5 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Additional pulp production Furfural price ($) Pulp margin ($) Mill modification cost (M$) Membrane Investmen Cost ($/m2) Interest rate (%)
5.7 Acknowledgment
The authors acknowledge the support provided by University and College Idea to Innovation (I2I) program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada program and by BioFuelNet Canada. The authors are grateful to Mr. Hassan Chadjaa and Mohamed Rahni of CNETE for their help during the experiments on nanofiltration membranes and Mr. Raynald Labrecque of Hydro-Quebec for reviewing the techno-economic evaluation of the prehydrolysate concentration step.
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