scholarly journals Techno-Economic Analysis of a Process for the Aqueous Conversion of Corn Stover into Lactic and Levulinic Acid through Sn-Beta Catalysis

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 436
Author(s):  
Andrew Kohler ◽  
Wayne Seames ◽  
Cassandra Shaffer ◽  
Cara Bjerke ◽  
Jacob Dahl
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Corn Stover ◽  
Levulinic Acid ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Operating Costs ◽  
Corn Plant ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
Fuels And Chemicals ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Acetic Acids

A readily available source for renewable fuels and chemicals is corn stover, which consists of the leftover stalks, leaves, husks, and cobs from the corn plant and makes up nearly half of the yield of a corn crop. Common practice is to pretreat it with sulfuric acid to break down the hemicellulose, releasing xylose, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis to convert the cellulose into glucose. Using a Sn-Beta catalyst, it is possible to convert these monomeric sugars into lactic, levulinic, formic, and acetic acids. This paper presents the results of a techno-economic analysis (TEA) of the commercial feasibility of producing these acids from corn stover. Two preliminary process designs were evaluated which represent two separate reaction yields: a balanced yield of both lactic and levulinic acids and the yields from a co-catalysis with CaSO4 to produce primarily lactic acid. Both process designs are scaled to process 230,000 MT/y of corn stover. An AACS Class 4 factored broad capital cost estimate and comparable estimates of operating costs and revenues were used to generate cash flow sheets to evaluate the economic feasibility of both options. The balanced product process has an estimated NPV@20% = 3.3 million USD ± 40%, while the CaSO4-facilited process has an NPV@20% = 110 million USD ± 40% (January 2019 basis). A major hurdle for both processes is the demand for levulinic acid. The balanced product process will produce 135% of the expected global demand and the CaSO4-facilitated alternative will meet 31% of the demand. For the demand to meet production, advances in levulinic acid applications are needed. However, the attractive economics suggest that these technologies warrant further development towards commercialization.

scholarly journals Optimization and technical-economic analysis of the production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from glucose / Otimização e análise técnico-econômica da produção de 5-hidroximetilfurfural a partir da glicose

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 120240-120262
Author(s):  
Damázio Borba Sant’Ana Júnior ◽  
Fábio de Ávila Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Computer Program ◽  
Lignocellulosic Biomass ◽  
Annual Cost ◽  
Levulinic Acid ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Operating Costs ◽  
Total Annual Cost ◽  
Distillation Columns ◽  
Wide Applicability

In this study, the optimization of four processing schemes were developed for the production of 5 hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a chemical platform compound obtained from lignocellulosic biomass and used to make the connection with products from fossil resources. Despite its wide applicability, problems associated with its synthesis hindered its greater use. In this scenario the use of a computer program stands out, as the optimization of processes can be used, evaluating the factors and finding parameters that minimize the costs associated with its production. The optimization of these systems was made from the minimization of the total annual cost of the process carried out through the  Aspen Plus® v.11 software, in addition, the economic feasibility of the process was analyzed and it was possible to obtain the HMF at 1.00$ .kg-1 and the co-product levulinic acid between 1.92 and 3.08 $.kg-1. It was also possible to note that among the operating costs, those from glucose had the greatest effect on its value, whereas in relation to equipment costs, reactors and distillation columns were the ones that had the greatest influence.

scholarly journals Quantitative indicators of economic reliability analysis press-granulator with a fixed matrix

2019 ◽  
pp. 197-205
Author(s):  
N. Boltyanska ◽  
A. Komar
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Economic Effect ◽  
Payback Period ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Operating Costs ◽  
Machine Reliability ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Fixed Matrix ◽  
Quantitative Indicators

Purpose. Determine the main quantitative indicators for the economic analysis of the reliability of the pellet mill with a fixed matrix. Methods. Methods of grouping, system analysis, synthesis, scientific generalizations and the method of argumentation were used. Results. It is indicated that the main quantitative indicators for the economic analysis of machine reliability are: the cost of measures to increase reliability, the economic effect of increasing reliability and the payback period of measures to increase reliability. Equations are given for determining the payback period of measures to increase reliability and operating costs with increasing reliability. The conditions of economic feasibility of work to increase the level of reliability are determined. Conclusions. The calculations show that the annual economic effect of increasing the reliability of the pelletizer is 175.82 thousand UAH/year. Reliability enhancement measures reduce operating costs by 18.7% and payback periods are 2.55 years. Keywords: livestock, pellet press, reliability, efficient use, economic feasibility.

scholarly journals Resources, Production Scales and Time Required for Producing RNA Vaccines for the Global Pandemic Demand

Vaccines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Zoltán Kis ◽  
Cleo Kontoravdi ◽  
Robin Shattock ◽  
Nilay Shah
Keyword(s):  
Production Process ◽  
Messenger Rna ◽  
Vaccination Campaign ◽  
Vaccine Dose ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Production Scale ◽  
Working Volume ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
The Impact

To overcome pandemics, such as COVID-19, vaccines are urgently needed at very high volumes. Here we assess the techno-economic feasibility of producing RNA vaccines for the demand associated with a global vaccination campaign. Production process performance is assessed for three messenger RNA (mRNA) and one self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) vaccines, all currently under clinical development, as well as for a hypothetical next-generation saRNA vaccine. The impact of key process design and operation uncertainties on the performance of the production process was assessed. The RNA vaccine drug substance (DS) production rates, volumes and costs are mostly impacted by the RNA amount per vaccine dose and to a lesser extent by the scale and titre in the production process. The resources, production scale and speed required to meet global demand vary substantially in function of the RNA amount per dose. For lower dose saRNA vaccines, global demand can be met using a production process at a scale of below 10 L bioreactor working volume. Consequently, these small-scale processes require a low amount of resources to set up and operate. RNA DS production can be faster than fill-to-finish into multidose vials; hence the latter may constitute a bottleneck.

scholarly journals Solar Integrated Anaerobic Digester: Energy Savings and Economics

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 4292
Author(s):  
Lidia Lombardi ◽  
Barbara Mendecka ◽  
Simone Fabrizi
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Economic Sustainability ◽  
Solar Thermal Energy ◽  
Solar Integration

Industrial anaerobic digestion requires low temperature thermal energy to heat the feedstock and maintain temperature conditions inside the reactor. In some cases, the thermal requirements are satisfied by burning part of the produced biogas in devoted boilers. However, part of the biogas can be saved by integrating thermal solar energy into the anaerobic digestion plant. We study the possibility of integrating solar thermal energy in biowaste mesophilic/thermophilic anaerobic digestion, with the aim of reducing the amount of biogas burnt for internal heating and increasing the amount of biogas, further upgraded to biomethane and injected into the natural gas grid. With respect to previously available studies that evaluated the possibility of integrating solar thermal energy in anaerobic digestion, we introduce the topic of economic sustainability by performing a preliminary and simplified economic analysis of the solar system, based only on the additional costs/revenues. The case of Italian economic incentives for biomethane injection into the natural gas grid—that are particularly favourable—is considered as reference case. The amount of saved biogas/biomethane, on an annual basis, is about 4–55% of the heat required by the gas boiler in the base case, without solar integration, depending on the different considered variables (mesophilic/thermophilic, solar field area, storage time, latitude, type of collector). Results of the economic analysis show that the economic sustainability can be reached only for some of the analysed conditions, using the less expensive collector, even if its efficiency allows lower biomethane savings. Future reduction of solar collector costs might improve the economic feasibility. However, when the payback time is calculated, excluding the Italian incentives and considering selling the biomethane at the natural gas price, its value is always higher than 10 years. Therefore, incentives mechanism is of great importance to support the economic sustainability of solar integration in biowaste anaerobic digestion producing biomethane.

Techno-economic analysis of corn stover fungal fermentation to ethanol

2013 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 657-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pimphan A. Meyer ◽  
Iva J. Tews ◽  
Jon K. Magnuson ◽  
Sue A. Karagiosis ◽  
Susanne B. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Corn Stover ◽  
Fungal Fermentation

scholarly journals Multi-Band Heterogeneous Wireless Network Architecture for Industrial Automation: A Techno-Economic Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koushik Araseethota Manjunatha ◽  
Vivek Agarwal
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Wireless Network ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Heterogeneous Wireless Network ◽  
Technical Feasibility ◽  
Wireless Technologies ◽  
Multi Band

Abstract To attain automation across different applications, industries are beginning to leverage advancements in wireless communication technologies. A "one-size-fits-all" solution cannot be applied since wireless technologies are selected according to application needs, quality of service requirements, and economic restrictions. To balance the trade-off between technical and economic requirements, a multi-band heterogeneous wireless network architecture is presented and discussed in this paper. Wireless local area network (WLAN) and distributed antenna system (DAS) with Long Term Evolution (LTE) are considered as the backbone for the multi-band heterogeneous network into which other wireless technologies can be integrated. The technical and economic feasibility of the network are evaluated through a techno-economic analysis (TEA). The economic feasibility of the proposed network is measured in terms of net present value while the technical feasibility is measured in terms of network throughput and latency. Finally, network performance for DAS with LTE and WLAN are verified using an NS3 simulator for machine-to-machine, real-time video, and high-definition video data transmissions. The TEA analysis showed that the number of DAS units required to achieve technical feasibility is less than WLAN units, but the overall cost of DAS units are higher compared to WLAN units, even without taking into consideration industrial, scientific, and medical band technologies.

scholarly journals Current State and Development Prospects of Autonomous Haulage at Surface Mines

2020 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 01028
Author(s):  
Yuri Voronov ◽  
Artyom Voronov ◽  
Daulet Makhambayev
Keyword(s):  
Human Factor ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Operating Costs ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Surface Mines ◽  
Current State ◽  
Constituent Elements ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Development Prospects

Autonomous (or unmanned) haulage systems have been used in surface mining for more than 10 years. Most of the equipment at such mines is remotely controlled by electronics, for which they are sometimes called “smart mines”. The elimination of the “human factor” from the pro- duction process should theoretically increase its safety and productivity, as well as reduce the operating costs of its implementation. However, despite the obvious advantages of this technology, it is not spreading as fast as ex- pected. This suggests that there are a number of problems that limit its de- velopment. In this paper, a review and analysis of the experience in the in- dustrial implementation of autonomous haulage in surface mining is car- ried out in order to identify existing problems and possible directions for their further development. The prerequisites, a brief history and some im- portant results of the introduction of autonomous haulage systems in sur- face mining, their main types and constituent elements are outlined, as well as the existing problems and expected directions of their development are highlighted.

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