Efficiency improvements by geothermal heat integration in a lignocellulosic biorefinery.
In an integrated geothermal biorefinery, low-grade geothermal heat is used as process heat to allow the co-products of biofuel production to become available for higher-value uses. In this paper we consider integrating geothermal heat into a biochemical lignocellulosic biorefinery so that the lignin-enriched residue can be used either as a feedstock for chemicals and materials or for on-site electricity generation. Depending on the relative economic value of these two uses, we can maximize revenue of a biorefinery by judicious distribution of the lignin-enriched residue between these two options. We quantify the performance improvement from integrating geothermal energy for an optimized system. We then use a thermodynamic argument to show that integrating geothermal heat into a biorefinery represents an improvement in overall resource utilization efficiency in all cases considered. Finally, possible future technologies for electricity generation are considered which could improve this efficiency further.
Sohel
M Imroz
MI
Scion, 49 Sala St, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua, New Zealand. mohammed.sohel@scionresearch.com
Jack
Michael
M
D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D004560:Electricity; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry*
D056804:Biofuels; C036909:lignocellulose; D008031:Lignin