RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2015 www.PosterPresentations.com PROBLEM STATEMENT & SCOPE OF PROJECT TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Table 1: Feed Composition and Conditions Figure 1: Bioconversion Process Overview The Bioconversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Fatty Alcohols Rose Holbrook, Michael Buckner, Matthew Cackovic, James McCall, Michael Stein Advisor: Jennifer Markham Figure 3: Piping & Instrumentation Diagram Figure 4: Gantt Chart for Bioconversion Process & Reactor Schedule SUMMARY SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS The purpose of this project is to minimize the production cost of fatty alcohols using a biological synthesis pathway. Solubilized Hydrolysate 356000 Insoluble Solids (IS) <0.05% Soluble Solids (SS) 15% 43 Pressure [atm] 1 Vapor Fraction 0 Free Fatty Acids (FFA) 0 Water 303000 Glucose (SS) 29300 Xylose (SS) 16100 Other sugars (SS) 4000 Figure 5: Object Oriented Code Reactor Effluent Dodecanol (C 12 H 26 O) 5,120 Tetradecanol (C 14 H 30 O) 5,120 Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) 27,400 Water (H 2 O) 70,600 Cellular Solids (C 5 H 7 O 2 N) 20,800 Bicarbonate (HCO 3 - ) 935 Ammonium (NH 4 + ) 276 Glucose (C 6 H 12 O 6 ) 2,430 Oxygen (O 2 ) 144 Total 133,000 Table 2: Feed Composition and Conditions Figure 2: Dodecanol (Fatty Alcohol) Chemical Structure • Mechanical vapor recompression evaporators (x4) • Agitated, aerated bioreactors (x20) • Incremental seed reactors (x5) • Centrifuge (x16) • Filter Equipment Used Global Selling Price: $2.50/kg Required Minimum Selling Price: $4.25/kg* * Best case scenario Figure 6: Cost Contributors 3 C 6 H 12 O 6 →6 CO 2 + 5 H 2 O + C 12 H 26 O 7 C 6 H 12 O 6 → 14 CO 2 + 12 H 2 O + 2 C 14 H 30 O 0.0125 O 2 + 0.03748 C 6 H 12 O 6 + 0.0425 HCO 3 - + 0.0425 NH 4 + →0.1825 H 2 O + 0.055 CO 2 + 0.0425 C 5 H 7 O 2 N PROCESS SIMULATION & DESIGN RESULTS Reactor Specifications Reactor Q (m 3 /hr) 97.2 Min. Volume (m 3 ) 11,539 Turnaround Time (hr) 10 Accumulated Vol. over turnaround time (m 3 ) 972 Total Volume (m 3 ) 12,500 Total # of reactors 20 Reaction time (hr) 129 Residence time (hr) 119 • Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant and mostly underutilized source for fermentable sugars produced via hydrolytic conversion. • Fatty alcohols can be used as detergents, industrial solvents, emulsifiers, and may be further refined into biofuels. • Currently, most fatty alcohols are derived from palm kernel oil, coconut oil, or petrochemical sources (sustainability issues). • Process: lignocellulosic hydrolysate → (genetically modified microorganism) → fatty alcohols • Economic sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the factors affecting the selling price and production costs Table 3: Reactor Specifications Purchase Cost Operating Cost Utilities Cost MSP vs Feed Cost Y=5.3x+2 .4 MSP vs Productivity vs Yield (gal) MSP vs Productivity vs Yield (kg) Number of Reactors vs Productivity vs Yield Yiel d Yie l d Yiel d Productiv ity Productiv ity Produ ctiv ity MSP ($) MSP ($) MSP ($) MSP ($) Feed Cost Compressor Evaporator Heat X Reactors Reactor Aeration Seed Reactors Centrifuge Reactors Compressor Centrifuge Seed Reactors Feed Cost / Year General Admin Expenses Solids Treatment Tax / Insurance Overhead Maintenance Labor Utilities