The design and techno economic analysis of a succinic acid production facility

Abstract

Succinic acid is an industrially important commodity chemical that acts as a precursor to numerous other chemicals. This article explores an alternative biochemical route (as opposed to the traditional route from petroleum), by modeling a succinic acid production plant using Actinobacillus succinogenes, to convert the renewable sugars of corn stover feedstock. The model developed with SuperPro Designer v9.0 was used to evaluate the feasibility of this approach. This design is on par with the throughput of currentlarge scale manufacturers, by achieving an annual production rate of 11.5 US kilotons of succinic acid. The plant's economic standing is very attractive with a payback time of just under 5 years and return on investment of 20.4%. This article shows a facility design that maximizes profitability for a feasible and sustainable solution for bio-based succinic acid production.