Evaluation of Dimethyl Carbonate and Ethylene Glycol Production from Biomass

Abstract

Abstract In this study, an integrated process of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and ethylene glycol (EG) production from biomass was proposed. The process was started from biomass gasification, CO 2 separation and CO 2 conversion to ethylene carbonate. DMC and EG were produced via transesterification using reactive distillation and extractive reaction. A variety of key parameters of each part was examined to optimize operating condition, which is focused on heat consumption. DMC and EG can achieve 99.5 % mole of purity. The overall production can sustain itself without any external heat sources by using biomass combustion, and all performance indicators were considered under the energy self-sufficient conditions. The ratio of biomass fed to the gasifier and the combustor was found to be 0.34:0.66 (under energy self-sufficient conditions) where the C, H and O atom efficiencies of the process achieved were 32.87, 48.96 and 37.72%, respectively. Since all energy was supplied by biomass itself, the process was considered as carbon neutral with a fraction of carbon dioxide fixation from biomass into chemicals of 0.24.