Development and validation of a technoeconomic analysis tool for early-stage evaluation of bio-based chemical production processes

An end-to-end pipeline for succinic acid production at an industrially relevant scale using Issatchenkia orientalis

Microbial production of succinic acid (SA) at an industrially relevant scale has been hindered by high downstream processing costs arising from neutral pH fermentation for over three decades. Here, we metabolically engineer the acid-tolerant yeast Issatchenkia orientalis for SA production, attaining the highest titers in sugar-based media at low pH (pH 3) in fed-batch fermentations, i.e. 109.5 g/L in minimal medium and 104.6 g/L in sugarcane juice medium. We further perform batch fermentation using sugarcane juice medium in a pilot-scale fermenter (300×) and achieve 63.1 g/L of SA, which can be directly crystallized with a yield of 64.0%. Finally, we simulate an end-to-end low-pH SA production pipeline, and techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment indicate our process is financially viable and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 34-90% relative to fossil-based production processes. We expect I. orientalis can serve as a general industrial platform for production of organic acids.

Fully biological production of adipic acid analogs from branched catechols

Microbial production of adipic acid from lignin-derived monomers, such as catechol, is a greener alternative to the petrochemical-based process. Here, we produced adipic acid from catechol using catechol 1,2-dioxygenase (CatA) and a muconic acid reductase (MAR) in Escherichia coli. As the reaction progressed, the pH of the media dropped from 7 to 4-5 and the muconic acid isomerized from the cis,cis (ccMA) to the cis,trans (ctMA) isomer. Feeding experiments suggested that cells preferentially uptook ctMA and that MAR efficiently reduced all muconic isomers to adipic acid. Intrigued by the substrate promiscuity of MAR, we probed its utility to produce branched chiral diacids. Using branched catechols likely found in pretreated lignin, we found that while MAR fully reduced 2-methyl-muconic acid to 2-methyl-adipic acid, MAR reduced only one double bond in 3-substituted muconic acids. In the future, MAR's substrate promiscuity could be leveraged to produce chiral-branched adipic acid analogs to generate branched, nylon-like polymers with reduced crystallinity.

Bioprivileged Molecules: Integrating Biological and Chemical Catalysis for Biomass Conversion

Further development of biomass conversions to viable chemicals and fuels will require improved atom utilization, process efficiency, and synergistic allocation of carbon feedstock into diverse products, as is the case in the well-developed petroleum industry. The integration of biological and chemical processes, which harnesses the strength of each type of process, can lead to advantaged processes over processes limited to one or the other. This synergy can be achieved through bioprivileged molecules that can be leveraged to produce a diversity of products, including both replacement molecules and novel molecules with enhanced performance properties. However, important challenges arise in the development of bioprivileged molecules. This review discusses the integration of biological and chemical processes and its use in the development of bioprivileged molecules, with a further focus on key hurdles that must be overcome for successful implementation.

A Technoeconomic Platform for Early-Stage Process Design and Cost Estimation of Joint Fermentative‒Catalytic Bioprocessing

Technoeconomic analyses using established tools such as SuperPro Designer® require a level of detail that is typically unavailable at the early stage of process evaluation. To facilitate this, members of our group previously created a spreadsheet-based process modeling and technoeconomic platform explicitly aimed at joint fermentative‒catalytic biorefinery processes. In this work, we detail the reorganization and expansion of this model—ESTEA2 (Early State Technoeconomic Analysis, version 2), including detailed design and cost calculations for new unit operations. Furthermore, we describe ESTEA2 validation using ethanol and sorbic acid process. The results were compared with estimates from the literature, SuperPro Designer® (Version 8.5, Intelligen Inc., Scotch Plains, NJ, 2013), and other third-party process models. ESTEA2 can perform a technoeconomic analysis for a joint fermentative‒catalytic process with just 12 user-supplied inputs, which, when modeled in SuperPro Designer®, required approximately eight additional inputs such as equipment design configurations. With a reduced amount of user information, ESTEA2 provides results similar to those in the literature, and more sophisticated models (ca. 7%–11% different).

Performance-advantaged ether diesel bioblendstock production by a priori design

Lignocellulosic biomass offers a renewable carbon source which can be anaerobically digested to produce short-chain carboxylic acids. Here, we assess fuel properties of oxygenates accessible from catalytic upgrading of these acids a priori for their potential to serve as diesel bioblendstocks. Ethers derived from C₂ and C₄ carboxylic acids are identified as advantaged fuel candidates with significantly improved ignition quality (>56% cetane number increase) and reduced sooting (>86% yield sooting index reduction) when compared to commercial petrodiesel. The prescreening process informed conversion pathway selection toward a C₁₁ branched ether, 4-butoxyheptane, which showed promise for fuel performance and health- and safety-related attributes. A continuous, solvent-free production process was then developed using metal oxide acidic catalysts to provide improved thermal stability, water tolerance, and yields. Liter-scale production of 4-butoxyheptane enabled fuel property testing to confirm predicted fuel properties, while incorporation into petrodiesel at 20 vol % demonstrated 10% improvement in ignition quality and 20% reduction in intrinsic sooting tendency. Storage stability of the pure bioblendstock and 20 vol % blend was confirmed with a common fuel antioxidant, as was compatibility with elastomeric components within existing engine and fueling infrastructure. Technoeconomic analysis of the conversion process identified major cost drivers to guide further research and development. Life-cycle analysis determined the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 271% relative to petrodiesel, depending on treatment of coproducts.

Early-Stage Capital Cost Estimation of Biorefinery Processes: A Comparative Study of Heuristic Techniques

Biorefineries offer a promising alternative to fossil-based processing industries and have undergone rapid development in recent years. Limited financial resources and stringent company budgets necessitate quick capital estimation of pioneering biorefinery projects at the early stages of their conception to screen process alternatives, decide on project viability, and allocate resources to the most promising cases. Biorefineries are capital-intensive projects that involve state-of-the-art technologies for which there is no prior experience or sufficient historical data. This work reviews existing rapid cost estimation practices, which can be used by researchers with no previous cost estimating experience. It also comprises a comparative study of six cost methods on three well-documented biorefinery processes to evaluate their accuracy and precision. The results illustrate discrepancies among the methods because their extrapolation on biorefinery data often violates inherent assumptions. This study recommends the most appropriate rapid cost methods and urges the development of an improved early-stage capital cost estimation tool suitable for biorefinery processes.

Opportunities and prospects of biorefinery-based valorisation of pulp and paper sludge

The paper and pulp industry is one of the major industries that generate large amount of solid waste with high moisture content. Numerous opportunities exist for valorisation of waste paper sludge, although this review focuses on primary sludge with high cellulose content. The most mature options for paper sludge valorisation are fermentation, anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis. In this review, biochemical and thermal processes are considered individually and also as integrated biorefinery. The objective of integrated biorefinery is to reduce or avoid paper sludge disposal by landfilling, water reclamation and value addition. Assessment of selected processes for biorefinery varies from a detailed analysis of a single process to high level optimisation and integration of the processes, which allow the initial assessment and comparison of technologies. This data can be used to provide key stakeholders with a roadmap of technologies that can generate economic benefits, and reduce carbon wastage and pollution load.

Styrene production from a biomass-derived carbon source using a coculture system of phenylalanine ammonia lyase and phenylacrylic acid decarboxylase-expressing Streptomyces lividans transformants

To produce styrene from a biomass-derived carbon source, Streptomyces lividans was adopted as a host strain. The gene encoding ferulic acid decarboxylase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (FDC1) was introduced into S. lividans, and the resulting S. lividans transformant successfully expressed FDC1 and converted trans-cinnamic acid (CA) to styrene. A key factor in styrene production using microbes is the recovery of volatile styrene. In the present study, we selected polystyrene resin beads XRD-4 as the absorbent agent to recover styrene produced using S. lividans transformants, which enabled recovery of styrene from the culture broth. For styrene production from biomass-derived carbon sources, S. lividans/FDC1 was cultured together with S. lividans/p-encP, which we previously reported as a CA-producing S. lividans strain. This coculture system combined with the recovery of styrene using XAD-4 allowed the production of styrene from glucose, cellobiose, or xylo-oligosaccharide, respectively.

Scaling up of renewable chemicals

The transition of promising technologies for production of renewable chemicals from a laboratory scale to commercial scale is often difficult and expensive. As a result the timeframe estimated for commercialization is typically underestimated resulting in much slower penetration of these promising new methods and products into the chemical industries. The theme of 'sugar is the next oil' connects biological, chemical, and thermochemical conversions of renewable feedstocks to products that are drop-in replacements for petroleum derived chemicals or are new to market chemicals/materials. The latter typically offer a functionality advantage and can command higher prices that result in less severe scale-up challenges. However, for drop-in replacements, price is of paramount importance and competitive capital and operating expenditures are a prerequisite for success. Hence, scale-up of relevant technologies must be interfaced with effective and efficient management of both cell and steel factories. Details involved in all aspects of manufacturing, such as utilities, sterility, product recovery and purification, regulatory requirements, and emissions must be managed successfully.

Technoeconomic evaluation of bio-based styrene production by engineered Escherichia coli

Styrene is an important commodity chemical used in polymers and resins, and is typically produced from the petrochemical feedstocks benzene and ethylene. Styrene has recently been produced biosynthetically for the first time using engineered Escherichia coli, and this bio-based route may represent a lower energy and renewable alternative to petroleum-derived styrene. However, the economics of such an approach has not yet been investigated. Using an early-stage technoeconomic evaluation tool, a preliminary economic analysis of bio-based styrene from C6-sugar feedstock has been conducted. Owing to styrene’s limited water solubility, it was assumed that the resulting fermentation broth would spontaneously form two immiscible liquid phases that could subsequently be decanted. Assuming current C6 sugar prices and industrially achievable biokinetic parameter values (e.g., product yield, specific growth rate), commercial-scale bio-based styrene has a minimum estimated selling price (MESP) of 1.90 USD kg−1 which is in the range of current styrene prices. A Monte Carlo analysis revealed a potentially large (0.45 USD kg−1) standard deviation in the MESP, while a sensitivity analysis showed feedstock price and overall yield as primary drivers of MESP.