(421an) Developing Process Simulation and Optimization Models for Region Specific Sustainable Biorefining

Use of foreign fossil fuel for transportation and producing energy has led to energy dependence and growing environmental concerns. Among the various choices of renewable energy resources, biomass intrigues many researchers due to its widespread availability, cost effectiveness and its applicability as a sustainable energy source. Integrated biorefining is one such idea which combines all possible processes involving various feedstocks to produce electricity, fuels and other useful products. Widespread availability and various types of biomass make it challenging to develop process optimization model for converting it into fuel. This poster shows how various aspects of process systems engineering can be used to create, optimize and analyze a model consisting of various processes involved in producing biofuel from biomass and other potential feedstock. Gasification and fermentation of biomass to produce hydrogen, ethanol and other hydrocarbon fuels are the two major processes optimized for this model. Many other biomass and dedicated energy crops that are found in abundance such as switch grass, miscanthus grass, wood chips and forest residue are also considered as potential feedstock for the above processes. Aspen plus V-7.2 process engineering suite is the process simulation software used for this purpose. Various feedstocks are characterized on the basis of proximate and ultimate analysis data obtained from literature. This model consists of various processes starting from preprocessing of biomass feedstock to the final biofuel production that are integrated together under one model to estimate the total processing cost. Utilities usage is optimized for the processes and the detailed composition of ash is determined to study the environmental effect. This model will be further tested for its viability by a case study in the Jackson Purchase region of Western Kentucky which is not only rich in coal and  biomass but also has many of poultry farms. Hence, chicken litter can be a potential feedstock for integrated biorefinery in this region. Many simulation runs are performed on various combinations of feedstock including chicken litter available in the Jackson Purchase region to study the utility consumption and environmental impacts. Also, it will give the best possible combination of feedstocks that can be used to produce biofuels and other marketable products. Finally this process simulation model is combined with GIS and supply chain optimization to estimate total production cost of biofuel in any particular region. Thus, the results obtained from these models will not only determine the location and number of biorefineries required to sustain a given region, but will also estimate the adequate monetary investment on sustainable biorefining required for that specific region.