The rapidly growing global market of surfactants is expected to grow from 14.3 billion to 20.9 billion by the year 2026 [1]. Increasing greenhouse gas emissions and environmental concerns are driving policymakers to impose stricter regulations on synthetic surfactant production [2]. Because biosurfactants have lower carbon footprints, they have been gaining interest both in industry and academia [3]. However, the key challenge for the biosurfactant market remains economic feasibility, given that the current price of synthetic surfactant is approximately $2/kg [4]. Traditional surfactant processes use distinct process equipment for reaction and separation; however, combining the reactive and distillation processes into a single reactive distillation column (RDC) lowers capital investment [5]. In this study, we have designed and modeled a novel packed bed reactive distillation column for producing renewable biosurfactants using Lauric acid and Methyl furan as feed. The reactive section produces furan compounds and water; the distillation section separates the furan compound and water. By introducing a control scheme in the RDC model to maintain the distillate purity of water after separation in the condenser, we were able to demonstrate in simulation the technical advantages of reactive distillation columns over traditional reactive separation, especially energy integration in the combined system and prevention of reverse reaction by product removal. Our economic analysis shows that producing biosurfactants using reactive distillation can potentially reduce the biosurfactant plant's overall operational capital cost by 12% and 20%, respectively, compared to the traditional process. Furthermore, the economic study estimated the market selling price (MSP) of biosurfactant to be $1.58/kg, which is 20% lower than the corresponding current value for synthetic surfactant. These results show that biosurfactant produced using RDC technology has the potential to achieve significantly lower carbon footprint with attractive economics.
Reference:
[1] “Natural Surfactants Market Size 2021, Sales, Key Raw Materials Price Trend, Description, Business Overview, Top Countries Records, Future Growth by 2026 - MarketWatch.†https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/natural-surfactants-market-siz... (accessed Apr. 01, 2021).
[2] K. Rashid, “DESIGN, ECONOMICS, AND REAL-TIME OPTIMIZATION OF A SOLAR/NATURAL GAS HYBRID POWER PLANT,†2019.
[3] Q. Shu, H. Lou, T. Wei, X. Liu, Q. Chen, and G. Fricker, “pharmaceutics Contributions of Glycolipid Biosurfactants and Glycolipid-Modified Materials to Antimicrobial Strategy: A Review Academic Editors: Barbara Luppi and,†Pharmaceutics, vol. 13, p. 227, 2021, doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13020227.
[4] P. Singh, Y. Patil, and V. Rale, “Biosurfactant production: emerging trends and promising strategies,†Journal of Applied Microbiology, vol. 126, no. 1. 2019, doi: 10.1111/jam.14057.
[5] J. G. Segovia-Hernández, S. Hernández, and A. Bonilla Petriciolet, “Reactive distillation: A review of optimal design using deterministic and stochastic techniques,†Chem. Eng. Process. Process Intensif., vol. 97, pp. 134–143, Nov. 2015, doi: 10.1016/J.CEP.2015.09.004.
