Process Design and Economic Analysis of Renewable Isoprene from Biomass via Mesaconic Acid
2019
Lundberg, Daniel J. | Lundberg, David J. | Zhang, Kechun | Dauenhauer, Paul J.
Combined fermentation and thermocatalytic conversion of biomass to isoprene comprises a hybrid process to provide the key monomer in the manufacturing of renewable synthetic rubber. In this work, design and economic evaluation of a chemical process considers the three-step process chemistry: (a) fermentation of glucose to either mesaconic or itaconic acid, (b) catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of mesaconic or itaconic acid to 3-methyl-tetrahydrofuran, and (c) catalytic dehydra-decyclization of 3-methyl-tetrahydrofuran to isoprene. Detailed reaction and separation systems were designed to maximize catalytic yield to isoprene and recover it with high purity. An economic sensitivity analysis identified hydrodeoxygenation and dehydra-decyclization catalytic selectivity as the critical opportunities for improving process economics. The process based on existing catalytic performance achieves a minimum sale price of isoprene (defined as the price which results in a project net present value of zero) of $4.07 kg–¹ ($1.85 lbₘ–¹) at a scale of 100,000 t yr–¹ of mesaconic acid purchased at $1.00 kg–¹. Six process enhancements based on improved future catalytic technology are considered, with several scenarios achieving a minimum sale price of isoprene below $2.50 kg–¹ ($1.13 lbₘ–¹).
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