Abstract
It is energy-intensive to separate dilute 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) (<10 wt %) from the aqueous phase of fermentation broth for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using conventional distillation. Liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) using oleyl alcohol as a solvent in a membrane extractor to extract BDO from water can significantly reduce the energy cost and minimize the potential emulsion. In an Aspen Plus model simulation, 95.2% BDO recovery and 97.1% BDO purity have been achieved using this LLE method with solvent recovery and heat integration. The thermal energy cost was estimated to be 4.57 MJ/kg BDO, which is only about 16.8% of the lower heating value (LHV) of the BDO. This method consumes 81% less energy than the cascade distillation and reduces about $0.46/GGE (gasoline gallon equivalent) to the minimal fuel selling price. Meanwhile, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission is 62% lower than petroleum-based jet fuel production and 34% less than using the cascade distillation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 5511-5521 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 12 2025 |
Funding
The authors gratefully acknowledge funding for this research, provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) through the Bioprocessing Separations Consortium. The authors also would like to thank Lauren Valentino at the Argonne National Laboratory for helping with coordination activities in the analysis team and Gayle Bentley at BETO for providing guidance from DOE. This work was authored in part by Battelle, the manager and operator of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DEAC06-76RL0183. This work was also partially authored by Argonne National Laboratory, which is managed by UChicago Argonne, for the U.S. DOE under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. The Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by Triad National Security, LLC, for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy (Contract No. 89233218CNA000001). The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is operated by Alliance for Sustained Energy, LLC, of the U.S. Department of Energy (Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308). The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is operated by UT-Battelle for the U.S. DOE under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.