| Xanthoceras sorbifolia has the advantages for both bioenergy production and environmental protection as a specific woody oil plant in China. Recently, Xanthoceras sorbifolia has attracted more and more attention around the world. Xanthoceras sorbifolia has a great potential values in economic, for example, its seed kernel oil can produce biodiesel and the by-product glycerol can be converted into 1,3-propanediol by microorganism, the lignocellulose in the husk and seed coat can produce cellulosic ethanol. In addition, the seed kernel oil and husk are rich in saponin, protein, starch and other active ingredients. To achieve an efficient and low-cost Xanthoceras sorbifolia bioconversion process, in this study, the process was modeled by the process simulation software Aspen Plus. The biorefinery process was described as the technical and energy integration. Future more, the economic analysis was carried out, which would provide accurate and effective information for Xanthoceras sorbifolia biorefinery industrialization. The research mainly includes three parts.Firstly, the integrated process of the Xanthoceras sorbifolia biorefinery was designed and simulated by the chemical simulation software Aspen Plus. The simulated models of integrated process were set up individually, and the simulation was based on the previous research on cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel and 1,3-propanediol. Then the integrated process of the Xanthoceras sorbifolia biorefinery was carried out based on the accurate calculation of the mass and energy balance. The production cost of the biorefinery process was calculated. The results showed that if 300,000 tons of Xanthoceras sorbifolia was processed by biorefinery annually,12,960 tons of cellulosic ethanol,37,417 tons of biodiesel and 1,504 tons of 1, 3-propanediol were produced. The total annual production cost of the Xanthoceras sorbifolia biorefinery process was 293.69 million yuan, in which the raw materials and utility's costs accounted for 78% and 15% of the total costs, respectively. The economy benefit evaluation showed that the total sales of the Xanthoceras sorbifolia biorefinery were 538.41 yuan annually, and the total profits were 163.96 million yuan annually.Secondly, the energy consumption analysis of the biorefinery process was carried out by pinch technology, and the heat-exchange happened between cold and hot steam. The energy consumption of the biorefinery process was reduced significantly by this heat integration scheme. When the heat integration process was applied, the results showed that compared with the original process,52.8% of the cooling and 67.4% of the heating engineering quantities were saved. The unit steam energy cost of cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel and 1,3-propanediol were down to 1.30,0.28 and 22.70 ton, respectively. As a result, the total annual production cost of the integrated process was 265.92 million yuan, which decreased 9.2% comparing with that of the original process.Finally, the processes simulation and the tech-economic properties were conducted by the process simulation software ProⅡin terms of three separation processes (aqueous two-phase extraction, alcohol precipitation and electrodialysis) for bioconversion of glycerol for 1,3-propanediol, and the annual production capacity was 1,000 tons. The results indicated that the total production cost of alcohol precipitation, aqueous two-phase extraction and electrodialysis were 14,793,14,201 and 14,345 yuan/ton, respectively. The economic sensitivity showed that the price of glycerol was the most important factor influencing the unit production cost. Besides the price, the concentration and conversion rate of 1,3-propanediol were key factors, by increasing which, the production costs would be reduced and the economic performance would be improved. |
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