Comparative life cycle assessment of glycerol valorization routes to 1,2- and 1,3-propanediol based on process modeling

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dc.contributor.authorVanapalli, Kumar Raja
dc.contributor.authorNongdren, Lourembam
dc.contributor.authorMaity, Sunil K
dc.contributor.authorKumar, Vinod
dc.date.accessioned2024-10-30T14:13:36Z
dc.date.available2024-10-30T14:13:36Z
dc.date.freetoread2024-10-30
dc.date.issued2024-10-07
dc.date.pubOnline2024-09-20
dc.description.abstractCrude glycerol, a high-volume byproduct of the biodiesel industry, has seen a significant surplus due to the industry’s rapid growth. It can be a promising feedstock for a range of high-value products via chemical and biochemical routes. This study thus elucidates the relative environmental performance of two prominent glycerol valorization technologies, i.e., catalytic hydrogenolysis to 1,2-propanediol and microbial fermentation (batch and fed-batch) to 1,3-propanediol, using a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA). The LCA was performed using an experimental data-driven comprehensive process model to represent an industrial-scale biorefinery, handling 20 833 kg/h of glycerol. The LCA results identified cooling water (18-35.5%) and steam (15.2-33.7%) consumption in the distillation and glycerol sourcing (33.3-68.1%) as the critical environmental hotspots, which should be focused on while designing the process. The fed-batch fermentation process was environmentally more benign, with significantly lower environmental impacts than hydrogenolysis (by 35.2%) and batch fermentation (by 48.2%). Integrating effective process heat recovery using pinch technology reduced the overall environmental impacts by 4.9-11.2%. The environmental performance of the overall processes varied substantially (2.4-62.1%) with changes in glycerol sourcing and production methods. Therefore, energy and material recycling with sustainable water and glycerol sourcing can improve the sustainability of the overall process.
dc.description.journalNameACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
dc.format.extent14716-14731
dc.identifier.citationVanapalli KR, Nongdren L, Maity SK, Kumar V. (2024) Comparative life cycle assessment of glycerol valorization routes to 1,2- and 1,3-propanediol based on process modeling. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Volume 12, Issue 40, October 2024, pp. 14716-14731
dc.identifier.eissn2168-0485
dc.identifier.elementsID554052
dc.identifier.issn2168-0485
dc.identifier.issueNo40
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c04691
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/23132
dc.identifier.volumeNo12
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherAmerican Chemical Society
dc.publisher.urihttps://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c04691
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectBiorefinery
dc.subjectGlycerol
dc.subjectLife Cycle Assessment
dc.subjectPropanediols
dc.subjectSensitivity
dc.subject4004 Chemical Engineering
dc.subject3401 Analytical Chemistry
dc.subject40 Engineering
dc.subject34 Chemical Sciences
dc.subject12 Responsible Consumption and Production
dc.subject3401 Analytical chemistry
dc.subject4004 Chemical engineering
dc.titleComparative life cycle assessment of glycerol valorization routes to 1,2- and 1,3-propanediol based on process modeling
dc.typeArticle
dc.type.subtypeJournal Article
dcterms.dateAccepted2024-09-03

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