Design and analysis of biorefineries based on raw glycerol: Addressing the glycerol problem
Abstract
Glycerol as a low-cost by-product of the biodiesel industry can be considered a renewable building block for biorefineries. In this work, the conversion of raw glycerol to nine added-value products obtained by chemical (syn-gas, acrolein, and 1,2-propanediol) or bio-chemical (ethanol, 1,3-propanediol, d-lactic acid, succinic acid, propionic acid, and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate) routes were considered. The technological schemes for these synthesis routes were designed, simulated, and economically assessed using Aspen Plus and Aspen Icarus Process Evaluator, respectively. The techno-economic potential of a glycerol-based biorefinery system for the production of fuels, chemicals, and plastics was analyzed using the commercial Commercial Sale Price/Production Cost ratio criteria, under different production scenarios. More income can be earned from 1,3-propanediol and 1,2-propanediol production, while less income would be obtained from hydrogen and succinic acid. This analysis may be useful mainly for biodiesel producers since several profitable alternatives are presented and discussed.
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Glycerol is a building block suitable for a multitude of transformations to produce many valuable chemical compounds.
“It is not only a byproduct but also a building block suitable of a multitude of transformations to produce many valuable chemical compounds (Posada et al., 2012) (D’Angelo et al., 2018).”
From Biorefineries: Achievements and challenges for a bio-based economy (2022) · cites this paper as Posada et al., 2012
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- Authors
- Posada, J. A., Rincón, L. E., & Cardona, C. A.
- Affiliations
- Universidad Nacional de Colombia (CO)
- Venue
- Bioresource Technology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-05
- Volume
- 111
- Pages
- 282-293
- ISSN
- 0960-8524 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2053341681
- Cited by
- 149
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 12.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Bioresource Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Universidad Nacional de Colombia
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Catalysis for Biomass Conversion
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Biofuel production and bioconversion
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
- Keywords
- crude glycerol, biodiesel by-product valorization, 1,3-propanediol, propylene glycol, acrolein, succinic acid, polyhydroxybutyrate, D-lactate, ethanol, hydrogen production, techno-economic analysis, process design, renewable chemicals, bioplastics
- MeSH terms
- Glycerol, Biofuels
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