(573e) Techno-Economic Analysis of Itaconic Acid Production Using a Biorefinery Approach

The pursuit of eco-friendly industrial methods and a reduction in our reliance on fossil fuels has prompted research into green or biobased chemicals. These biochemicals are usually produced from renewable biomass, and several researchers have proposed increased product titres using affordable and alternative lignocellulosic feedstocks as viable strategies for effective IA production and can replace their fossil-based equivalents [1]. One such biochemical is itaconic acid. The year 2004 saw the introduction of twelve bio-based building blocks, including itaconic acid (IA), as Top Value-Added Chemicals from Biomass by the US Department of Energy. Only IA offers options for replacing methacrylic and acrylic acids among the others [2]. Itaconic acid (IA) has numerous uses in the pharmaceutical, medicinal, and agricultural industries, making it a promising commodity biochemical. Currently, the industrial biomanufacturing of IA is done using Aspergillus terreus, microbial biomanufacturing is a viable method for producing high-value chemicals with minimal environmental impact and significant economic benefits. We propose an alternative production mechanism to the conventional method described above, which involves utilizing a different microbial fermentation process as depicted in Fig 1.

The BIOSTEAM simulation software was used to design the Itaconic Acid biorefinery. According to Nieder et al [1], It was assumed that findings reported at the laboratory scale could be applied to an industrial setting. Therefore, the findings are sufficient for a conceptual level of study and could be validated and optimized using a pilot plant prior to implementation. The combined feedstock is made up of 70% sugarcane bagasse and 30% trash (by weight), comprising of 40.7% cellulose, 27.1% hemicellulose, 21.9% lignin, 6.7% extractives, and 3.5% ash. The block flow diagram (BFD) of the biorefinery with the major operating units is shown in Fig. 2, the simulation results were validated with experimental data from the published studies. Given that the sugars found in lignocellulosic biomass are in the form of complex carbohydrates, pretreatment, and enzymatic hydrolysis are necessary to hydrolyze the carbohydrates to simpler forms. Stoichiometric reactions were used for the pretreatment reactor, enzymatic hydrolysis reactor, and fermentation tanks [4]. The simple sugars from the reactor are mixed with an aqueous stream containing water and nutrients for microbial fermentation. Following fermentation, the bio-based chemicals are recovered through the downstream process.

The downstream process is based on an industrial process, using two evaporation and crystallization steps, followed by discoloration, final crystallization, and drying [5]. The volume of the stream is reduced by 75% using the first evaporator, which has a threefold impact. Following the initial phase of crystallization, the crystals are taken out of the liquid and put through a basket filter before moving on to the decolorization stage. Another phase of single-effect evaporation and crystallization is applied to the permeate fraction. With 2% (w/v) activated carbon, the crystals are decolorized [1]. The overall recovery of IA from the fermentation product stream to the dried crystals is 69.14 % as shown in Figure 3. The economic evaluation of the biorefinery would be carried out by estimating the capital cost, operating costs, and profitability. Equipment purchase costs are estimated using the BIOSTEAM software. The estimation of the capital cost considered direct and indirect costs would be calculated based on literature data. The economic assumptions are based on work from previous researchers, using a 25-year operation period, a minimum return rate of 10%, income tax of 5%, and operating at 310 days. The goal of this TEA study is to obtain a competitive minimum product selling price comparable to the current market price of 1800 US$/t [3].

Acknowledgments: The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding for the project from the National Science Foundation (NSF) with NSF Award number 2242763. We thank our collaborators- Dr. Zengyi Shao, and her students, for performing the experimental work for the project.

References

1. Mieke Nieder-Heitmann, Kathleen F. Haigh, Johann F. Görgens. 2018. “Process design and economic analysis of a biorefinery co-producing itaconic acid and electricity from sugarcane bagasse and trash lignocelluloses.

2. Nisha Devi, Shubhangi Singh, Shivakumar Manickam, Natália Cruz-Martins, Vinod Kumar, Rachna Verma, and Dinesh Kumar, October 2022. “Itaconic Acid and Its Applications for Textile, Pharma and Agro-Industrial Purposes”.

3. Richa Bafana and R. A. Pandey 2017. “New approaches for itaconic acid production: bottlenecks and possible remedies”.

4. Andrés Suazo, Fidel Tapia 1, Germán Aroca 1 and Julián Quintero. 2023. “Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment of a Small-Scale Integrated Biorefinery for Butyric-Acid Production in Chile”.

5. V. F. PFEIFER, CHARLES VOJNOVICH, AND E. N. HEGER. 1952. “Itaconic Acid by Fermentation with Aspergillus Terreus”.