Process Economics of Renewable Biorefineries: Butanol and Ethanol Production in Integrated Bioprocesses from Lignocellulosics and Other Industrial By-Products. Butanol and Ethanol Production in Integrated Bioprocesses from Lignocellulosics and Other Industrial By-Products.

This chapter considers the economics of producing butanol biofuel from lignocellulosic biomass and glycerol using integrated bioreactors that combine numerous unit operations. In order to compare these various processes, the authors performed evaluations using SuperPro Designer Software (version 9.0, built 8, special built 2012; Intelligen, Scotch Plains, NJ, USA). The results of these evaluations indicate that the integration of unit operations benefits the economics of butanol production from corn stover (a feedstock or substrate that is economically available in the American Midwest) and other lignocellulosic biomass. In the evaluation, the selling price of butanol obtained from the microbial fermentation of corn stover was projected to be $1.10/kg ($3.42/gal). On the other hand, when glycerol was used as a substrate for butanol production via integrated technologies, the selling price was projected to be $0.23/kg. In the United States, the current selling price of gasoline is $3.57-3.69/gal ($1.15-1.19/kg). The authors also evaluated the process economics of ethanol production from corn stover using integrated and consolidated process technologies, and the projected selling prices for ethanol produced by these processes ranged from $0.71-0.75/kg.