Detailed Techno-economic Analysis Research Articles

Methanol and wet ethanol as interchangeable fuels for internal combustion engines: LCA, TEA, and experimental comparison

The future of the transportation sector is currently in flux as the world moves to reduce fossil fuel usage. Alternative fuels can have a faster technological ramp rate than alternative powertrains and therefore can help reduce fossil fuel usage rapidly, stretching out the carbon budget to allow more time for other technologies to mature. One set of renewable fuels that show great potential for internal combustion engines are the alcohol fuels. Separately, methanol can be produced as a low carbon intensity electro-fuel and ethanol can be produced as a low carbon intensity biofuel; however, the two fuels can be produced together synergistically. In a fully renewable scenario, conventional ethanol production can be combined with gas fermentation and CO2-to-hydrocarbon catalysis to co-produce ethanol and methanol with competitive pricing compared to the current cost of gasoline. In this work, a detailed lifecycle and technoeconomic analysis showed that by combining corn wet ethanol 80 (80% ethanol, 20% water, by mass) with corn stover gas fermentation wet ethanol 80 and fermentation CO2-to-methanol, a 113% increase in alcohol fuel energy production per hectare of crop can be achieved compared to corn ethanol. This process would co-produce wet ethanol 80 and methanol with a 77%/23% energy split. The total carbon intensity and cost is 14 gCO2e/MJ and $2.63/gallon of gasoline equivalent, respectively.The similar liquid and chemical properties of ethanol and methanol result in their similar behavior and performance in internal combustion engines. This work experimentally demonstrates the interchangeability between these two high cooling potential alcohol fuels in compression ignition. The results show that in compression ignition, a hybrid injection strategy including premixed, partially-premixed, and mixing-controlled injections produced the lowest engine-out NOx and the highest fuel conversion efficiencies compared to a conventional mixing-controlled injection strategy. The diluent effect of the water in wet ethanol 80 resulted in slightly lower engine-out NOx levels and fuel conversion efficiency compared to methanol.

Performance of Exergetic, Energetic and Techno-Economic Analyses on a Gas-Type Industrial Drying System of Black Tea

The purpose of this research work is to perform detailed exergetic, energetic and techno-economic analysis of the black tea drying process in the gas-type industrial dryer. Exergy–energy and techno-economic methodology was applied to investigate the heat loss, exergetic and energetic performance, exergy efficiency, improvement potential rate, sustainability index and techno-economic performance of a drying system. The results showed that the heat loss of exhaust air in the late drying process played a main contributing role in the heat loss and exergy loss of the whole drying system. Therefore, the exergy efficiency of the initial drying period and the redrying period varied from 38.08% to 65.09% and 24.76% to 26.97%, respectively. In addition, the improvement potential rate and sustainability index of the whole system varied from 6.93 kW to 12.94 kW and 1.33 to 2.86, respectively. The improvement potential obtained in the present work indicated that the drying operation is greatly in need of exergy performance improvement. Finally, the net present value and payback period obtained from techno-economic analysis were 179,442.03 USD and 5.3 years, the result is useful for investors or contractors to refer to and make investment decisions.

A Practical Methodology for Building a Municipality-Led Renewable Energy Community: A Photovoltaics-Based Case Study for the Municipality of Hersonissos in Crete, Greece

This paper presents a practical methodology to facilitate decision-making for the development of a renewable energy community (REC) in the municipality of Hersonissos in Crete, Greece. The impact of energy sharing produced from renewables through direct or indirect citizen participation presents an enormous opportunity to strengthen energy democracy and to alleviate energy poverty. Triggered by the latter being amongst the most essential goals for implementing policies towards low-carbon economies at the local level, the current study presents a step-by-step methodology to facilitate decision-making for building a municipality-led REC. Initially, potential sites and alternative sittings of photovoltaic (PV) plants are explored for detecting the optimal installation with respect to technical and possible legislative restrictions. The best REC business model is then selected based on a SWOT analysis, complemented with a detailed techno-economic analysis of the foreseen investments. According to the design calculations, the optimal PV plants/business-model option that emerged may achieve impressive environmental and economic benefits, i.e., reducing the municipality’s annual electricity-induced CO2 emissions and electricity expenses by at least 68.40% and 594,461.54 €, respectively.

Techno-economic assessment of novel hybrid energy storage control strategies for Dynamic Frequency Response

Frequency Response services are a key part of the operation of the Great Britain (GB) Electricity Grid system. One of the most prevalent areas for energy storage deployment is in providing dynamic frequency response services. Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs) are the most deployed storage medium for this application, but are vulnerable to high cycle rates and degradation. Flywheel Energy Storage Systems (FESSs) are far more resilient to cycle based degradation and by co-locating them with a BESS they can extend the life of the battery cells and improve the overall Net Present Value (NPV) of the system. This paper presents for the first time a detailed techno-economic analysis of 7 novel control strategies for hybrid systems and performs an in depth techno-economic analysis on the 3 strategies that show the most potential for real world deployment. Crucially, it produces novel and wide ranging results on the utilisation of FESSs for this application, giving a clear and detailed account of the price that flywheel manufacturers will need to achieve for their products to be viable in this field for the first time. It is demonstrated how these novel control strategies can be designed and refined to maximise the technical performance with a subsequent techno-economic analysis conducted to assess the most promising control strategies effectiveness, and a novel investigation carried out into the minimum total capital cost (TCC) that a FESS needs be priced at to achieve to a positive NPV change under these control strategies. Under general conditions, the threshold TCC below which a positive NPV change is achieved is between £550/kW and £5,855/kW for the various control strategies and FESS configurations, showing that a wide range of different FESSs can be economically viable under the correct control strategy.

Techno-Economic and Enviroeconomic Analysis Review of Distinct Passive and Active Solar Distillation Still

Water scarcity is an issue that stems from the overconsumption and misuse of fresh water supplies, which leads to shortages and decreased quality of life. It most affects developing countries that do not have the infrastructure in place to mitigate these factors. Solar still become most suitable method for water purification in these types of places due to its cheapness and easily made from locally available materials. Current paper concentrate on a detailed techno-economic and enviroeconomic analysis of distinct configurations of active and passive solar distillation stills. Distilled water production, cost per litres, environmental cost comparison has been done between different types of passive and active solar still. Active solar still has a higher system cost compared to passive solar due to the addition of thermal energy by different components and mechanisms. Based on the results, minimum cost per litre is obtained for passive conventional solar still with the spherical ball as heat storage material and in case of active solar still, with PV module, reflectors, air-cooling technique are 0.0136 $/l and 0.0092 $/l, respectively. On the basis of energy, the highest environmental cost was found for AMSSFS air-cooled with evacuated mode (1456.38 $), while the lowest was found for active solar stills with N - Flat Plate Collectors (44 $).

A Detailed Process and Techno-Economic Analysis of Methanol Synthesis from H2 and CO2 with Intermediate Condensation Steps

In order to increase the typically low equilibrium CO2 conversion to methanol using commercially proven technology, the addition of two intermediate condensation units between reaction steps is evaluated in this work. Detailed process simulations with heat integration and techno-economic analyses of methanol synthesis from green H2 and captured CO2 are presented here, comparing the proposed process with condensation steps with the conventional approach. In the new process, a CO2 single-pass conversion of 53.9% was achieved, which is significantly higher than the conversion of the conventional process (28.5%) and its equilibrium conversion (30.4%). Consequently, the total recycle stream flow was halved, which reduced reactant losses in the purge stream and the compression work of the recycle streams, lowering operating costs by 4.8% (61.2 M€·a−1). In spite of the additional number of heat exchangers and flash drums related to the intermediate condensation units, the fixed investment costs of the improved process decreased by 22.7% (94.5 M€). This was a consequence of the increased reaction rates and lower recycle flows, reducing the required size of the main equipment. Therefore, intermediate condensation steps are beneficial for methanol synthesis from H2/CO2, significantly boosting CO2 single-pass conversion, which consequently reduces both the investment and operating costs.

Comparing in planta accumulation with microbial routes to set targets for a cost-competitive bioeconomy

Plants and microbes share common metabolic pathways for producing a range of bioproducts that are potentially foundational to the future bioeconomy. However, in planta accumulation and microbial production of bioproducts have never been systematically compared on an economic basis to identify optimal routes of production. A detailed technoeconomic analysis of four exemplar compounds (4-hydroxybenzoic acid [4-HBA], catechol, muconic acid, and 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid [PDC]) is conducted with the highest reported yields and accumulation rates to identify economically advantaged platforms and breakeven targets for plants and microbes. The results indicate that in planta mass accumulation ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 dry weight % (dwt%) can achieve costs comparable to microbial routes operating at 40 to 55% of maximum theoretical yields. These yields and accumulation rates are sufficient to be cost competitive if the products are sold at market prices consistent with specialty chemicals ($20 to $50/kg). Prices consistent with commodity chemicals will require an order-of-magnitude-greater accumulation rate for plants and/or yields nearing theoretical maxima for microbial production platforms. This comparative analysis revealed that the demonstrated accumulation rates of 4-HBA (3.2 dwt%) and PDC (3.0 dwt%) in engineered plants vastly outperform microbial routes, even if microbial platforms were to reach theoretical maximum yields. Their recovery and sale as part of a lignocellulosic biorefinery could enable biofuel prices to be competitive with petroleum. Muconic acid and catechol, in contrast, are currently more attractive when produced microbially using a sugar feedstock. Ultimately, both platforms can play an important role in replacing fossil-derived products.

Dynamic simulation, optimisation and economic analysis of fed-batch vs. perfusion bioreactors for advanced mAb manufacturing

The variation of antigen binding sites on monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) enables manufacturing of the latter for targeted treatment of a variety of ailments, including cancer types and autoimmune diseases. Fed-batch operation of biochemical reactors used to manufacture mAbs grants the ability to manipulate cell dynamics via intermittent feeding of nutrients/substrates. Regulatory authority agendas (e.g. the U.S. Food & Drug Administration) consider the development of continuous technologies (e.g. perfusion reactors) as essential towards improved technoeconomic potential and biopharmaceuticals quality control. This paper presents dynamic simulations for multiple operational scenaria of a fed-batch and a perfusion reactor, in which a hybridoma cell culture is used to secrete mAb glycoforms. A novel dynamic optimisation of the fed-batch as well as perfusion reactors has also been conducted towards maximising the total mAb mass produced. Nonlinear Programming (NLP) formulations with the use of APOPT and IPOPT solvers have been employed to derive the manipulation, state and controlled variable trajectories, to achieve the mAb production maximisation objective. The detailed technoeconomic analysis clearly highlights strong benefits for the fed-batch bioreactor (especially over a plant-life time horizon), but also showcases a definite cost-related promise of perfusion bioreactor technologies, given the higher mAb yield.

A feasibility study on the application of mesh grids for heliostat wind load reduction

This study examines the effectiveness of mesh grids in heliostat field perimeter fences and edge-mounted devices for heliostat wind load reduction. Two experimental studies were conducted: (1) the effect of mesh porosity and non-dimensional longitudinal distance of a perimeter fence upstream on the forces on a heliostat, and (2) the effect of mesh porosity and non-dimensional height-chord ratio of a heliostat edge-mounted mesh device on the heliostat loads. The experiments were conducted using an instrumented heliostat model positioned in the atmospheric test section of the Adelaide Wind Tunnel. It was found that perimeter mesh fences reduce peak loads by up to 50% and edge-mounted porous mesh devices reduce peak loads by up to 30% at the expense of increasing loads at different elevation angles. The porosity and height-chord ratio of an edge-mounted mesh were found to be important parameters influencing the maximum drag and lift reductions in operating and stow positions. The results of this work show the potential of mesh grids for reducing wind load on heliostats, and the importance of conducting a detailed techno-economic analysis on mesh grids throughout a heliostat field. The application of mesh grids on commercial-scale heliostats requires a further evaluation of the reduction of heliostat wind loads and thus cost of a field through mitigation of the incoming ABL turbulence and wake-induced turbulence from upstream heliostats.

Techno – Economic analysis of activated carbon production from spent coffee grounds: Comparative evaluation of different production routes

• This study examines the potential of spent coffee grounds as precursors for activated carbon (AC) production. • Detailed techno-economic and sensitivity analysis were performed for different production routes. • Monte- Carlo simulation was performed to determine the uncertainty analysis. • The price of pristine AC and functionalized AC were lower than the commercially available activated carbon (USD $0.45/kg). • The minimum selling price of AC ranged between USD $0.15/kg - $0.28/kg. Activated carbon (AC) has gained immense popularity owing to its excellent physicochemical properties and its ability to remove carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from flue gas stream. This study examines the potential of spent coffee grounds (SCG) as a precursor for activated carbon (AC) production via prominent thermochemical conversion technologies. Different production routes, such as slow pyrolysis, activation, and deep eutectic solvent (DES) functionalization were compared in terms of their economic viability. Three scenarios (Scenario 1–3) involving combinations of the technologies and production routes were evaluated. Scenario 1 comprises of slow pyrolysis, CO 2 activation and flue gas recycling for activation. Scenario 2 includes flue gas combustion while the third scenario comprise of flue gas combustion and DES impregnation. All processes were simulated with Aspen plus, while a detailed cash flow analysis was used to estimate the profitability parameters. The price of AC was found to be the most crucial determinant of an AC production plant’s viability and feasibility. The minimum selling price (MSP) of AC samples produced from scenarios 1,2 and 3 are U.S $0.15/kg, $0.21/kg, $0.28/kg respectively. The price of pristine AC and DES treated AC were lower than the commercially available activated carbon (U.S $0.45/kg).

Ramp-rate limiting strategies to alleviate the impact of PV power ramping on voltage fluctuations using energy storage systems

With the increasing adoption of solar photovoltaics (PVs) in the power grid, the grid authorities are faced with significant challenges in managing PV intermittency, variability and uncertainty. The inherent ramping behaviour of the PVs results in short-term PV power fluctuations which in-turn affects the grid voltage regulation. This has resulted in implementation of new grid codes to limit the ramp-rate (RR) behaviour of PVs allowing the grid resources to curb the power fluctuations. Energy storage system (ESS) is one such fast acting resource that helps in limiting and smoothing PV power fluctuations when coordinated by RR control algorithms. This paper proposes an ESS-based RR control strategy to smoothen and limit PV power fluctuations in the power grid. The proposed RR control strategy has been implemented for two types of smoothing namely, aggregated smoothing that considers the overall PV output, and individual node-level smoothing that considers the individual PV output. The technical feasibility of this RR control strategy to limit the PV power fluctuations is analysed using a standard IEEE test network with both centralized and distributed ESS placements at various PV penetration levels. The effectiveness of the proposed RR control strategy in reducing voltage fluctuations in the power network is also studied. Moreover, cost optimization is carried out with various PV penetration levels to ensure optimal ESS operation at the lowest possible cost while adhering to the optimization and network constraints. The paper further provides detailed techno-economic analysis for various case scenarios.

Levulinic acid production from furfural: process development and techno-economics

In this work, we developed a process to convert furfural/xylose to levulinic acid via a hydroxymethylation route in an energy effective microwave reactor. Detailed plant flow model, Sankey diagram and techno-economic analyses were performed.

Techno-Economic Analysis of 5G Non-Public Network Architectures

The adoption of private 5G networks or Non-Public Networks (NPN) by industry verticals is igniting a digital transformation across various sectors and also leading to industry 4.0. This impetus comes from the integration of private wireless networks with 5G capabilities. Currently, a range of innovative applications and use cases are emerging and resulting in improved enterprise performance and solutions. The potential to boost revenue, stimulate cost reduction, and accelerate Return Of Investment (ROI) makes 5G NPN adoption attractive to industry verticals, network operators and other third-party stakeholders. However, a significant infrastructure upgrade is required, which demands understanding of the complexities of 5G NPN deployment scenarios and their economic implications. This paper addresses these needs by conducting a detailed techno-economic analysis on 5G NPN deployment. The study formulates a techno-economic model that focuses on; (i) Cost savings in support of ROI achieved by enabling Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology and Neutral Host (NH) concept; (ii) The trade-off study between enterprise goals (cost vs deployment technologies) with a multi-objective sensitive analysis; And (iii) the trends of 5G NPN adoption worldwide. Analytical results confirm savings of up to 53% in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) reflecting a significant reduction in Capital and Operation Expenditures (Capex and Opex). Simulation analysis identifies a ranking order of deployment parameters, which prioritise the use of Cost saving strategies and Deployment type. And finally, it offers a prediction of a starting annual average worldwide adoption rate of 82.2% with an expected height by 2026.

Battery Size Optimization With Customer PV Installations and Domestic Load Profile

Photovoltaic (PV) is a highly feasible solution for modern renewable energy-powered residential buildings in terms of deployment and cost reduction of utility bills. The installation of solar PV systems along with optimal battery energy storage systems (BESS) size is the most popular energy cost minimization solution and will continue to increase rapidly in the coming years considering the European Union (EU) framework for nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs). The current methods lack BESS size optimization and a comprehensive solution to charge/discharge BESS from PV and the grid. The main goal is to be self-sufficient and sustainable while having minimal dependence on the electrical grid. Therefore, this paper presents an efficient energy management model and optimal size of the BESS as two key factors to effectively minimize the total energy consumption cost of the nZEBs while having a minimum dependence on the grid. The energy management system is developed using linear programming and solved using simplex and interior-point methods. In addition, a heuristic algorithm is presented to determine the optimized charging and discharging schedule for nZEBs. A detailed techno-economic analysis of the proposed system is conducted for the whole year (covering all four seasons summer, winter, spring, and autumn) considering three common residential building cases and three different electricity pricing methods. We determined that seasonal electricity pricing is the favorable and economical option to schedule charging and discharging of BESS from the grid in several terms such as, minimum total hours of grid usage, the maximum number of charging hours of BESS from the solar PV system, maximum BESS discharging hours to sell energy, the minimum number of BESS charging hours from the grid, maximum number of discharging hours for energy usage within nZEBs, maximum revenue earned, and peak electrical load reduction for the grid.

Techno-economic Analysis of Direct Air Carbon Capture with CO2 Utilisation

Carbon capture technologies are crucial for mitigating climate change and play an important role in the net zero roadmap. Recently the greenhouse gas removal (GGR) technology has come under scrutiny as a negative emission solution which will remove CO2 from the atmosphere, either capturing it directly from the air or indirectly via biomass. This study proposed and designed a novel direct air carbon capture process integrated with a solid oxide electrolysis unit for the chemical utilisation of the captured CO2. A detailed techno-economic analysis is performed to determine if the addition of CO2 utilisation is able to offset the high cost of carbon capture. An initial net present value (NPV) and levelised cost of -$4.6B and $382 tCO2−1 were calculated, indicating the unfavourable techo-economics. However, a scenario analysis suggested that in the near future (i.e., in 4-5 years) the NPV could be positive and the levelised cost could be neutral with the advances of technology maturity and the net zero economy. A carbon emissions assessment calculated that during plant operation over 24.2B kg of carbon dioxide would be removed, and hence the real term carbon removal would be approximately 97% of the theoretical maximum.

Electroreduction of CO2/CO to C2 Products: Process Modeling, Downstream Separation, System Integration, and Economic Analysis.

Direct electrochemical reduction of CO2 to C2 products such as ethylene is more efficient in alkaline media, but it suffers from parasitic loss of reactants due to (bi)carbonate formation. A two-step process where the CO2 is first electrochemically reduced to CO and subsequently converted to desired C2 products has the potential to overcome the limitations posed by direct CO2 electroreduction. In this study, we investigated the technical and economic feasibility of the direct and indirect CO2 conversion routes to C2 products. For the indirect route, CO2 to CO conversion in a high temperature solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) or a low temperature electrolyzer has been considered. The product distribution, conversion, selectivities, current densities, and cell potentials are different for both CO2 conversion routes, which affects the downstream processing and the economics. A detailed process design and techno-economic analysis of both CO2 conversion pathways are presented, which includes CO2 capture, CO2 (and CO) conversion, CO2 (and CO) recycling, and product separation. Our economic analysis shows that both conversion routes are not profitable under the base case scenario, but the economics can be improved significantly by reducing the cell voltage, the capital cost of the electrolyzers, and the electricity price. For both routes, a cell voltage of 2.5 V, a capital cost of $10,000/m2, and an electricity price of <$20/MWh will yield a positive net present value and payback times of less than 15 years. Overall, the high temperature (SOEC-based) two-step conversion process has a greater potential for scale-up than the direct electrochemical conversion route. Strategies for integrating the electrochemical CO2/CO conversion process into the existing gas and oil infrastructure are outlined. Current barriers for industrialization of CO2 electrolyzers and possible solutions are discussed as well.

Comparative Study on Quality of Fuel Pellets from Switchgrass Treated with Different White-Rot Fungi

Fungal pretreatment of switchgrass using Phanerochaete chrysosporium (PC), Trametes versicolor 52J (TV52J), and the Trametes versicolor mutant strain (m4D) under solid-state fermentation was conducted to improve its pellet quality. For all three fungal strains, the fermentation temperature had a significant effect (p &lt; 0.05) on pellet unit density and tensile strength. The p-values of the quadratic models for all the response variables showed highly significant regression models (p &lt; 0.01) except for dimensional stability. In addition, 3.1-fold and 2.8-fold increase in pellet tensile strength were obtained from P. chrysosporium- and T. versicolor 52J-treated materials, respectively. Microstructural examination showed that fungal pretreatment reduced pores in the pellets and enhanced pellet particle bonding. Among the fungal strains, PC had the shortest optimum fermentation time (21 d) and most positive impact on the pellet tensile strength and hydrophobicity. Therefore, switchgrass pretreatment using PC has the potential for resolving the challenges of switchgrass pellet transportation and storage and reducing the overall pelletization cost. However, a detailed comparative technoeconomic analysis would be required to make definitive cost comparisons.

Experimental and techno-economic analysis of transcritical CO2 heat pump water heater with fin-and-tube and microchannel heat exchanger

• The CO 2 heat pump with fin-and-tube and microchannel heat exchangers is compared. • Coefficient of performance is raised by 16.32–22.62% with microchannel heat exchanger. • The frosting performance of heat pump with two different heat exchangers is discussed. • The primary energy consumption and enviroeconomic cost are reduced with microchannel. • The life cycle cost and sensitivity analysis with unit electricity price is presented. Previously, the conventional fin-and-tube heat exchanger is usually chosen as the evaporator in the air source heat pump. Recently, with the higher heat transfer efficiency, the microchannel heat exchanger is increasingly recognized. Nevertheless, information available in the contrastive analysis of the two heat exchanger types is scarce. Therefore, the effect of the mentioned evaporator type on the air source transcritical CO 2 heat pump was experimentally studied in this paper. Then, with the detailed techno-economic analysis methods, the heat pump with different heat exchangers is evaluated from multiple perspectives. Results showed the heating capacity and coefficient of performance of the microchannel system were increased by 16.5%-37.3% and 16.3%–22.6%, compared with the baseline fin-and-tube system. However, the attenuation degree of heating capacity was more obvious in the fin-and-tube system under the frosting condition. The primary energy consumption, CO 2 emission and corresponding cost of microchannel system are declined by 6.28 tce, 14.4 tons and 77.6 dollars for the comparison with the fin-and-tube system. The maximum values are all presented by direct electric heater whereas the minimum life cycle cost is achieved by coal-fired boiler. The life cycle cost and sensitivity analysis with unit electricity price are also conducted in the economic analysis.

Techno-economic analysis of energy supply to personal rapid transit (PRT) systems

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is an innovative form of urban transportation which might provide an alternative to car use. PRT is conceptualized by an array of autonomous pods, providing shared riding service to a small number of travelers per vehicle, on a dedicated guideway. PRT is considered by many to be a travel mode that reduces energy use and emissions levels, compared with traditional cars. To evaluate the cost effectiveness and benefits associated with the energy consumed by a typical urban PRT system, a detailed techno-economic analysis of two energy supply alternatives is presented. The technologies considered are: battery storage and third-rail conductors. This paper demonstrates a methodological approach to evaluate PRT energy costs, illustrated by a case study: the city of Herzliya (ISR). First, a PRT system model was developed, including both infrastructure design and operational characteristics, with a total track length of 12.5 km. Then, vehicles tractive and grid energy requirements were derived from the case study data using rigid body mechanics and lumped powertrain properties. Following, an economic evaluation was carried out taking into account capital costs as well as operating costs based on tractive, auxiliary and parasitic energy requirements. In both cases, the energy consumption is about 0.08 [kWh/p-km], while the energy costs are 0.031 and 0.100 [$/p-km] for the battery and third rail, respectively. Future research is discussed in the directions of further modeling development and extending the scope of alternatives.

Creating Synergies Between Microbial and Electrochemical Conversions for the Production of Performance-Advantaged Monomers from Biomass

Electrochemistry was investigated for the hydrogenation of cis,cis-muconic acid (ccMA), a biobased platform intermediate obtained by fermentation using metabolically-engineered microorganisms. We showed that this route offers unprecedented selectivity to trans-3-hexenedioic acid (t3HDA), a novel monomer that is central to the synthesis of performance-advantaged polyamides. In addition, while conventional precious metal hydrogenation catalysts require high-purity feedstocks, the electrochemical hydrogenation (ECH) can proceed directly in the fermentation broth and in the absence of a catalyst, offering substantial cost savings and new opportunities for process intensification. However, scale up of the ECH has so far been hampered by low productivities, typically in the order of milligrams/hour/cm2, making it unpractical for industrial production. Here, we will discuss the role of broth composition on electrochemical performance and present a simple strategy to enhance the productivity by over 30 times under industrially-relevant current densities (200-400 mA/cm2) and without compromising on selectivity. The experimental results served as input parameters for a detailed technoeconomic analysis and the blueprint of an electrobiochemical process for t3HDA production.