A NEW MILP-BASED SUPERSTRUCTURE FOR BIOREFINERY OPTIMIZATION CONSIDERING HEAT INTEGRATION – A SUGARCANE BIOREFINERY CASE STUDY

Abstract

In this work, a new MILP-based superstructure formulation is presented to determine an optimal biorefinery configuration, which, in addition to process selection and scale-up, simultaneously considers utility selection and process heat cascade integration. A study was carried out considering the sugarcane biorefinery, whose configuration was determined for different biofuels production routes. As result, the ethanol production by sugarcane distillery, showed the lowest payback value, while the methanol production by bagasse gasification the lowest total annualized cost, therefore, the most advantageous. It was also verified the positive impact of the energy integration between cascades for the energy efficiency of the processes, and the unfeasibility of methanol production by the carbon dioxide catalytic hydrogenation due to the high costs associated with the hydrogen production, thus suggesting that the reduction of its cost can bring economic and energetic advantages for the biorefinery.