A systematic design of integrated palm-oil biorefinery networks: Identifying sustainable solutions

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive and systematic analysis of synthesis and design of sustainable palm oil integrated biorefinery networks involving multiple platforms of bioresources for sharing materials, energy, and facilities to obtain a more sustainable solution. There are three main processing platforms consisting of palm oil, palm biomass, and biogas from palm oil mill effluent (POME-biogas). The alternatives are generated from a superstructure of each platform representing different products that can be made and their established processing routes. Utilizations of glycerol, bio-syngas, and CO2, which are by-products of the palm oil, palm biomass, and POME-biogas platforms, respectively, are also considered as three other platforms. Different scenarios of materials, energy, and facility integration among the platforms are analyzed by considering economic benefits together with CO2 emissions, as well as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which includes climate change impact and other environmental impact categories. Analyses of the design of the palm oil integrated biorefinery network with multiple process networks and heat integration point to the achievement of more sustainable solutions for production and consumption compared to the scenario of business as usual (BAU). The sustainable palm oil integrated biorefinery network corresponds to economic improvement and CO2 reduction potential as well as satisfying environmental impacts. The analysis results show that the palm oil integrated biorefinery network alternatives can provide high economic potential and less environmental impacts compared to without any integration. The best non-tradeoff solution proposes the integration of palm biomass and POME-biogas platforms for bio-methanol production and the integration of palm oil platform with glycerol production to produce 1,2propanediol as an additional product. It offers 23.5 million dollars per year of economic value-added benefit with 2.9 years of payback period while also reducing the environmental impacts. Wind power and river water are selected to maximize profitability options for electricity and freshwater supplies, respectively.