TY - JOUR
T1 - Techno-economic assessment of the production of bio-based chemicals from glutamic acid
AU - Lammens, T.M.
AU - Gangarapu, S.
AU - Franssen, M.C.R.
AU - Scott, E.L.
AU - Sanders, J.P.M.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - In this review, possible process steps for the production of bio-based industrial chemicals from glutamic acid are described, including a techno-economic assessment of all processes. The products under investigation were those that were shown to be synthesized from glutamic acid on lab-scale, namely N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP), succinonitrile, and acrylonitrile. The goal was not only to assess the economic feasibility at this stage, but mainly to discover where is the most potential for improvements in these processes, in order to direct future research. The techno-economic assessment leads to the conclusion that the production of NMP and NVP is the most feasible both in terms of technology and economy. Bio-based acrylonitrile and succinonitrile do not seem very profitable under the current process configurations. Especially the acrylonitrile process shows very high costs in relation to the possible gains. Further optimization is necessary, but a clear direction where the optimization should be aimed could be derived from the assessment, and was provided in the discussion of the processes. The main point to optimize was the reaction of glutamic acid with sodium hypochlorite, a bottleneck in both the acrylonitrile and the succinonitrile process.
AB - In this review, possible process steps for the production of bio-based industrial chemicals from glutamic acid are described, including a techno-economic assessment of all processes. The products under investigation were those that were shown to be synthesized from glutamic acid on lab-scale, namely N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP), succinonitrile, and acrylonitrile. The goal was not only to assess the economic feasibility at this stage, but mainly to discover where is the most potential for improvements in these processes, in order to direct future research. The techno-economic assessment leads to the conclusion that the production of NMP and NVP is the most feasible both in terms of technology and economy. Bio-based acrylonitrile and succinonitrile do not seem very profitable under the current process configurations. Especially the acrylonitrile process shows very high costs in relation to the possible gains. Further optimization is necessary, but a clear direction where the optimization should be aimed could be derived from the assessment, and was provided in the discussion of the processes. The main point to optimize was the reaction of glutamic acid with sodium hypochlorite, a bottleneck in both the acrylonitrile and the succinonitrile process.
KW - amino-acids
U2 - 10.1002/bbb.349
DO - 10.1002/bbb.349
M3 - Article
SN - 1932-104X
VL - 6
SP - 177
EP - 187
JO - Biofuels Bioproducts and Biorefining
JF - Biofuels Bioproducts and Biorefining
IS - 2
ER -