Techno-economic analysis of a glycerol biorefinery
Abstract
Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels, which is experiencing a steep growth in market size. Because the most common biodiesel production technology is based on the transesterification of triglycerides, a burgeoning amount of glycerol byproduct is obtained. In order to address this economic and ecologic drawback, several chemocatalytic technologies have been developed to exploit this compound to feed the market with added-value products. Lactic acid, acrylic acid, allyl alcohol, propanediols, and glycerol carbonate have emerged as the most relevant candidates for this purpose. In previous studies, an environmental and economic assessment of a glycerol biorefinery built on these valorization pathways has been performed, taking into account only the operating costs in relation to the economic aspects. This study evaluates for the first time the investment required by these glycerol valorization processes, based on the Guthrie, Taylor, and Aspen capital cost estimation methods, and then assesses the potential of a heat-integrated glycerol biorefinery. Glycerol carbonate stands out as the dominant product to maximize the profitability with respect to the glycerol utilized, while 1,2-propanediol and allyl alcohol are determined as target compounds to be included in the glycerol biorefinery product mix if further reductions of the environmental impact are sought after. This early stage techno-economic analysis provides a sounder basis toward the practical realization of an integrated facility sustainably upgrading waste streams from the processing of renewables into commodities, thus promoting the concept of circular economy.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
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 D’Angelo et al., 2018
Cites
Systematic Methods of Chemical Process Design
Biegler, L. T., Grossmann, I. E., & Westerberg, A. W. (1997) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,388 · see citing works
Recent advancement in biodiesel production methodologies using various feedstock: A review
Ambat, I., Srivastava, V., & Sillanpää, M. E. T. (2018) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2018.03.069 · Cited by 682 · see citing works
Is Cumulative Fossil Energy Demand a Useful Indicator for the Environmental Performance of Products?
Huijbregts, M. A. J., Rombouts, L. J. A., Hellweg, S., Frischknecht, R., Hendriks, A. J., van de Meent, D., Ragas, A. M. J., Reijnders, L., & Struijś, J. (2005) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es051689g · Cited by 452 · see citing works
Comparison of Three Different LCIA Methods: EDIP97, CML2001 and Eco-indicator 99
Dreyer, L. C., Niemann, A. L., & Hauschild, M. Z. (2003) · The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment · doi:10.1007/bf02978471 · Cited by 445 · see citing works
Cumulative energy demand in LCA: the energy harvested approach
Frischknecht, R., Wyss, F., Knöpfel, S. B., et al. (2015) · The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment · doi:10.1007/s11367-015-0897-4 · Cited by 379 · see citing works
A hierarchical decision procedure for process synthesis
Douglas, J. M. (1985) · AIChE Journal · doi:10.1002/aic.690310302 · Cited by 369 · see citing works
Environmental and economical perspectives of a glycerol biorefinery
Lari, G. M., Pastore, G., Haus, M. O., Ding, Y., Papadokonstantakis, S., Mondelli, C., & Pérez‐Ramírez, J. (2018) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c7ee03116e · Cited by 231 · see citing works
Self-citationOptimal design of a multi-product biorefinery system
Zondervan, E., Nawaz, M., de Haan, A. B., Woodley, J. M., & Rafiqul Gani, A. (2011) · Computers & Chemical Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.compchemeng.2011.01.042 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Morales, M., Dapsens, P. Y., Giovinazzo, I., Witte, J., Mondelli, C., Papadokonstantakis, S., Hungerbühler, K., & Pérez‐Ramírez, J. (2014) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c4ee03352c · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Self-citationCatalytic glycerol conversion into 1,2-propanediol in absence of added hydrogen
D’Hondt, E., de Vyver, S. V., Sels, B. F., et al. (2008) · Chemical Communications · doi:10.1039/b812886c · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Laser, M. S., Larson, E. D., Dale, B. E., Wang, M., Greene, N., & Lynd, L. R. (2009) · Biofuels Bioproducts and Biorefining · doi:10.1002/bbb.136 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Tsagkari, M., Couturier, J., Kokossis, A. C., & Dubois, J. (2016) · ChemSusChem · doi:10.1002/cssc.201600309 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
An overview of transesterification methods for producing biodiesel from waste vegetable oils
Kayode, B., & Hart, A. (2017) · Biofuels · doi:10.1080/17597269.2017.1306683 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Continuous flow transformations of glycerol to valuable products: an overview
Len, C., & Luque, R. (2014) · Sustainable Chemical Processes · doi:10.1186/2043-7129-2-1 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
(2012) · CRC Press eBooks · doi:10.1201/b13048 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Patel, M. K. (2003) · Energy · doi:10.1016/s0360-5442(02)00166-4 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Advances in biodiesel production
Luque, R., & Melero, J. A. (2012) · Woodhead Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1533/9780857095862 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Continuous Flow Conversion of Glycerol into Chemicals: An Overview
Len, C., Delbecq, F., Cara, C., & Ramos, E. R. (2017) · Synthesis · doi:10.1055/s-0036-1591857 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Economic Risk Assessment of Early Stage Designs for Glycerol Valorization in Biorefinery Concepts
Gargalo, C. L., Cheali, P., Posada, J. A., et al. (2016) · Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research · doi:10.1021/acs.iecr.5b04593 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
The ‘process step scoring’ method for making quick capital estimates
Taylor, J. H. (1977) · Engineering and Process Economics · doi:10.1016/0377-841x(77)90004-3 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Lari, G. M., Mondelli, C., Papadokonstantakis, S., et al. (2015) · Reaction Chemistry & Engineering · doi:10.1039/c5re00090d · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Self-citationThe glycerol biorefinery: a purpose for Brazilian biodiesel production
Schultz, E. L., de Souza, D. T., & Damaso, M. C. T. (2014) · Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture · doi:10.1186/s40538-014-0007-z · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Optimal Design and Planning of Glycerol-Based Biorefinery Supply Chains under Uncertainty
Gargalo, C. L., Carvalho, A. I. C. D. S. G., Gernaey, K. V., & Sin, G. (2017) · Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research · doi:10.1021/acs.iecr.7b02882 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
DeMeester, S., Callewaert, C., Mol, E. D., Langenhove, H. V., & Dewulf, J. (2011) · Biofuels Bioproducts and Biorefining · doi:10.1002/bbb.304 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Integrated biodiesel facilities: review of glycerol-based production of fuels and chemicals
Almena, A., Bueno, L., Díez, M., et al. (2017) · Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy · doi:10.1007/s10098-017-1424-z · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Mellichamp, D. A. (2012) · Computers & Chemical Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.compchemeng.2012.08.012 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Catalytic Transformation of Glycerol
Sels, B. F., D’Hondt, E., & Jacobs, P. A. (2007) · doi:10.1002/9783527621118.ch11 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Gargalo, C. L., Carvalho, A. I. C. D. S. G., Gernaey, K. V., et al. (2017) · Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research · doi:10.1021/acs.iecr.7b00908 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Limitations in using Euler's formula in the design of heat exchanger networks with Pinch Technology
Gu, K., & Vassiliadis, V. S. (2014) · Computers & Chemical Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.compchemeng.2014.05.015 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Pushkar, S. (2015) · Journal of Architectural Engineering · doi:10.1061/(asce)ae.1943-5568.0000178 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Reisch, M. S. (2018) · C&EN Global Enterprise · doi:10.1021/cen-09606-buscon5 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Biorefineries: Achievements and challenges for a bio-based economy
Calvo-Flores, F. G., & Martin-Martinez, F. J. (2022) · Frontiers in Chemistry · doi:10.3389/fchem.2022.973417 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
- Authors
- D’Angelo, S. C., Dall’Ara, A., Mondelli, C., Pérez-Ramírez, J., & Papadokonstantakis, S.
- Affiliations
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Chalmers University of Technology (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Mondelli, Cecilia
- Papadokonstantakis, Stavros
- Venue
- ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2018-10-26
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 16563-16572
- ISSN
- 2168-0485 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2898128717
- Cited by
- 94
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 8
- FWCI
- 3.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (publishedVersion)
- Chalmers Research (Chalmers University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Catalysis for Biomass Conversion
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Biofuel production and bioconversion
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Control and Systems Engineering › Process Optimization and Integration
- Keywords
- glycerol valorization, biodiesel by-products, capital cost estimation, heat integration, glycerol carbonate, propylene glycol, allyl alcohol, lactic acid, acrylic acid, circular economy, techno-economic analysis
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
