Lignin valorization from birch and pine wood for production of ethylene and propylene in Mexico: Conceptual design, life cycle assessment, and energy optimization

Abstract

Biorefineries require lignin valorization for replacing the largest petrochemicals worldwide produced. However, the lignin biorefinery needs further investigation to determine its feasibility. This work aims to develop the conceptual design, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and energy optimization of a lignin biorefinery based on birch and pine wood in Mexico. Propylene and ethylene were the main products. Two optimization approaches were used. The results revealed that the energy consumption was reduced by 59–78 % for the different optimized separation processes. Consequently, for the base case, the climate change impact was reduced from 557 to 462 kt CO2 eq/h (a 17 % reduction), non-renewable energy from 6800 TJ to 5240 TJ/h (23 %), photochemical oxidation from 22.7 to 17.9 t C2H4 eq/h (21 %), and fossil scarcity from 192 to 157 kt oil eq/h (18 %). Therefore, we demonstrate that the environmental performance is impacted by energy optimization, and this impact can be measured using the LCA.