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Comprehensive Evaluation of Biofuels from the Fermentation of Poplar Wood and the Gasification of Fermentation Residue

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Abstract

In the process of poplar fermentation for ethanol, different methods are adopted to achieve efficient treatment and resource utilization of fermentation residues, which meets the current demand for green energy and carbon neutrality. Therefore, this work aims to establish an evaluation method on energy consumption, pollutant emissions, and cost expenditures in the production process for biofuels from poplar wood and residue. The process was simulated with commercial software (Aspen Plus for chemical production simulation and cost estimation and eBalance for LCA). Results showed that compared to FCE, it made a higher conversion efficiency of CFG because of the biojet fuel and gasoline from the gasification and conversion of residual lignin. And the flash evaporator, hydrolysis reactor, and fermentation reactor were components with the highest exergy loss. The economic cost of CFG was 9.63% less than that of FCE, and cellulase enzymes and poplar wood in variable costs were main factors in the total cost. Comparing environmental impacts from four perspectives, it was found that the total comprehensive impact of FCE was higher than that of CFG under each weight. The degree of influence of the first level indicator layer was energy consumption, environmental impact, and economic cost in descending order.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

AP:

Acidizing potential

AHP:

Analytic hierarchy process

CEPCI:

Chemical Engineering Equipment Cost Index

CF:

Clinker fermentation

CFG:

Coupled fermentation-gasification for liquid fuel system

CLCD:

Chinese life cycle database

CML:

Centrum voor Milieukunde Leiden

COD:

Chemical oxygen demand

EP:

Eutrophication potential

ERs:

Equivalence ratios

FCE:

Fermentation of cellulosic biomass for ethanol system

FDP:

Fossil depletion potential

FP-H:

Fast pyrolysis and hydrogenation upgrading system

FT:

Fischer-Tropsch

G-FT:

Gasification Fischer–Tropsch synthesis system

GSA:

Gasification synthesis for aviation fuel system

GWP:

Global warming potential

HC:

Hydrocarbons

HTP:

Human toxicity potential

LCA:

Life cycle assessment

NTotal :

Total nitrogen

PM10 :

Particle matter (< 10 μm)

POCP:

Photochemical oxidation potential

POF:

Photochemical ozone formation

RK-SOAVE:

Redlik Kwong-Soave equation of state

RMF:

Raw material fermentation

SHF:

Sequential hydrolysis fermentation

SSCF:

Simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation

SSF:

Simultaneous saccharification fermentation

SW:

Solid waste potential

TPEC:

Total purchase equipment cost

TPI:

Total purchase investment

VOC:

Volatile organic compounds

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China No. 2018YFB1501405. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Energy Thermal Conversion and Control of Ministry of Education School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nan**g, 210096, China

    Wei Wang, Zhao** Zhong, **aotian Pan, **ang Zheng, Yuxuan Yang & Zhaocheng Shen

  2. College of Bioengineering, State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Key Laboratory of Shandong Microbial Engineering, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, **an, 250353, China

    **aoming Bao

Authors
  1. Wei Wang
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  2. Zhao** Zhong
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  3. **aoming Bao
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  4. **aotian Pan
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  5. **ang Zheng
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  6. Yuxuan Yang
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  7. Zhaocheng Shen
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Software simulation, formal analysis, and writing—original draft: Wei Wang; methodology, project administration, funding acquisition, and writing—review and editing: Zhao** Zhong; supervision and resources: **aoming Bao; validation and conceptualization: **aotian Pan; investigation and data analysis: **ang Zheng; writing—review and editing: Yuxuan Yang; data curation and data analysis: Zhaocheng Shen. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhao** Zhong.

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Highlights

Comprehensive evaluation method was established on exergy analysis, LCA, and economic cost.

Biojet fuel and gasoline were produced by gasification from fermentation residue in CFG.

Environment impact was significantly related with the utilization of fermentation residue.

By-products covered a portion of economic costs in the production of biofuels.

Total comprehensive impact of FCE was higher than that of CFG under each weight.

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Wang, W., Zhong, Z., Bao, X. et al. Comprehensive Evaluation of Biofuels from the Fermentation of Poplar Wood and the Gasification of Fermentation Residue. Bioenerg. Res. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-024-10760-5

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