Meramo-Hurtado Samir I, Ojeda Karina A, Sanchez-Tuiran Eduardo
Bussines Management and Productivity Research Group, Industrial Engineering Program, Fundación Universitaria Colombo International, Av. Pedro Heredia Sector Cuatro Vientos #31-50. Cartagena 130000, Colombia.
Process Design and Biomass Utilization Research Group (IDAB), Chemical Engineering Program, University of Cartagena, Campus Piedra de Bolívar. Street 30 # 48-152, Cartagena 130000, Colombia.
ACS Omega. 2019 Dec 20;4(27):22302-22312. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b02231. eCollection 2019 Dec 31.
These days, there is a need to develop novel and emerging processing pathways that permit production of value-added substances and fuels considering sustainability aspects. In this sense, levulinic acid (LA) is one of the most promising biorefinery products. This paper presents environmental and safety assessments of LA production via acid-catalyzed dehydration (ACD) of biomass. The process was modeled by using Aspen Plus process simulation software based on a capacity of 132 000 tons per annum of banana rachis (main raw material). Likewise, environmental and safety assessments were developed. Parameters such as heats of reaction, explosivity, toxicity of substances, and operational conditions along with extended mass and energy balances were used to perform safety and environmental analyses. In this regard, the modeled topology showed an inherent safety index (ISI) score of 24 with an equal contribution of 12 points for both chemical inherent safety index (CIS) and process inherent safety index (PIS). ACD showed a good safety performance, with moderate concerns related to the handling of formic acid. Moreover, the waste reduction algorithm (WAR) was used to assess environmental performance and estimate potential environmental impacts (PEIs) of the simulated topology. It was performed considering four case studies to determine the influence of mass streams (case 1), product streams (case 2), energy streams (case 3), and simultaneous products and energy contribution (case 4). This analysis showed that for this process, the total inletting flow of impacts that enter was less than the amount of these that leave the system according to a generation rate of the PEI for case 1 (-1.89 × 10 PEI/h) and case 3 (-1.83 × 10 PEI/h). From the environmental viewpoint, the major concern is associated with the photochemical oxidation potential category because of the handling of volatile organic compounds through the process.
如今，考虑到可持续性因素，需要开发新颖且新兴的加工途径，以实现增值物质和燃料的生产。从这个意义上讲，乙酰丙酸（LA）是最有前途的生物炼制产品之一。本文介绍了通过生物质酸催化脱水（ACD）生产LA的环境和安全评估。该过程使用Aspen Plus过程模拟软件进行建模，基于每年13.2万吨香蕉轴（主要原料）的产能。同样，也开展了环境和安全评估。诸如反应热、爆炸性、物质毒性以及操作条件等参数，连同扩展的质量和能量平衡，被用于进行安全和环境分析。在这方面，所建模的拓扑结构显示固有安全指数（ISI）得分为24，化学固有安全指数（CIS）和过程固有安全指数（PIS）各贡献12分。ACD显示出良好的安全性能，不过对甲酸的处理存在一定程度的担忧。此外，废物减少算法（WAR）被用于评估环境性能并估计模拟拓扑结构的潜在环境影响（PEIs）。考虑了四个案例研究来进行此项分析，以确定质量流（案例1）、产品流（案例2）、能量流（案例3）以及产品和能量的同时贡献（案例4）的影响。该分析表明，对于此过程，根据案例1（-1.89×10 PEI/h）和案例3（-1.83×10 PEI/h）的PEI生成速率，进入系统的总输入影响流小于离开系统的影响流。从环境角度来看，主要担忧与光化学氧化潜力类别相关，这是由于在整个过程中对挥发性有机化合物的处理所致。
