Techno-economic analysis of organosolv pretreatment process from lignocellulosic biomass

Lignocellulosic ethanol is a promising alternative to replace liquid fossil fuels for the transportation sector in the near future. Organosolv pretreatment has been tested as a method for separating lignin from the biomass and commercializing it as a biopolymer. Based on published laboratory scale data, we propose a feasible process flowsheet for organosolv pretreatment. Simulation of the pretreatment process provided mass and energy balances for a techno-economic analysis, and the values were compared with the most prevalent and mature pretreatment method: diluted acid. Organosolv pretreatment required more energy, 578.1 versus 213.8 MW for diluted acid pretreatment, but resulted in a higher ethanol concentration after the biomass fermentation, 11.1% compared to 5.4%. Total annual costs (TACs) calculations showed advantages for diluted acid pretreatment, but future improvements explored in the sensitivity analysis turned into possible savings of 42.8% in the minimum ethanol selling price for organosolv pretreatment.