Design and optimization of multi-effect-evaporation-assisted distillation configuration for recovery of 2,3-butanediol from fermentation broth

2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) is a precious chemical owing to its extensive industry applications. In addition to the traditional chemical synthesis, the production of 2,3-BDO from biomass-based feedstock is an attractive alternative. Nevertheless, this production way consumes considerable energy because the concentration of product from the conversion of biomass is low. In this study, several novel multi-effect-evaporation-assisted distillation (MEED) configurations are proposed to improve the energy efficiency of 2,3-BDO production from a fermentation broth. The binary interaction parameters between 2,3-BDO and water were determined through regression using experimental data. All configurations were designed and optimized using the sequential quadratic programming methodology. The results indicate that the proposed MEED configurations can create the synergistic effect by combining the multi-effect evaporator and distillation processes, which is able to increase substantial energy efficiency as compared the conventional distillation column. Notably, the total annual cost (TAC) of the MEED configurations with double effect, triple effect, quadruple effect, quintuple effect, and sextuple effect can be reduced by up to 12.3%, 16.9%, 20.1%, 21.7%, and 17.5%, respectively. The proposed MEED configuration with heat integration significantly reduced the TAC by up to 38.9%. Furthermore, CO2 emissions were estimated and compared between a conventional column and the suggested configurations.