Design and optimization of intensified biorefinery process for furfural production through a systematic procedure

Furfural, which is used as a precursor for the production of many other industrial chemicals, has been identified as one of the major bio-based platform chemicals that can compete with petroleum based chemicals. On the other hand, the current commercial furfural process has a low yield and is energy-intensive. Therefore, this study develops the biorefinery production process of furfural from lignocellulosic biomass using process heat integration and process intensification. In particular, a distillation unit of the furfural production process requires considerable energy, highlighting the need to improve energy efficiency, which is the motivation of this work. An integrated and intensified distillation sequence, including an innovative bottom dividing wall column with a decanter configuration (BDWC-D) was suggested to enhance the energy and cost efficiency of the furfural production process through a comprehensive and systematic procedure that combines process intensification with heat integration. The structures of the complex columns in all sequences were optimized using the optimization method response surface methodology (RSM). All simulations were conducted using Aspen HYSYS. The results show the proposed sequence can reduce total annual cost and carbon footprint by 10.1% and 11.6%, respectively compared to the conventional sequence. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.