Techniques for Evaluating and Guiding Development of Renewable Chemical Technologies for Sustainable Products
Author | : Sampath Reddy Gunukula |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 0 |
Release | : 2016 |
Genre | : |
ISBN | : |
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The bulk chemical industry has long been dominated by products made from the petroleum feedstock. Increasing concerns over the volatility of petroleum feedstock prices and the environmental impact of petroleum extraction and processing have driven interest in bulk chemical production from sugars. Innovation in bio-catalytic and chemical catalytic technologies is enabling researchers to develop efficient conversion technologies for the production of biorenewable chemicals from sugars. In a resource constrained world, it is critical to develop these new biorenewable chemical technologies in a sustainable manner. This study addressed some of the problems related to the sustainability assessment of new biorenewable chemical technologies. A new approach was introduced by combining the methods of feasible space, techno-economic analysis, and life cycle assessment to evaluate and guide the development of new biorenewable chemical technologies. Generalities in the area of biorenewable chemical production were found from the analysis of multiple biorenewable chemical processes. The risk analysis has shown that economic and market risks to biorenewable chemical investments can be reduced and profitability of investments can be increased with platform technologies. Comparative economic analysis of multiple biobased adipic acid routes has shown that the significant weaknesses of the purely chemical route to a target biorenewable chemical can be overcome by deriving an intermediate from sugars using a biocatalyst and then converting this biological intermediate to the target biorenewable chemical using a chemical catalyst.