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Abstract: In theory, biosugar for conversion to bioproducts can be produced economically from a variety of biomass types in many different technological, co‐production, and biorefinery siting contexts. In this paper, process modeling and financial analysis were conducted for all permutations of biochemical conversion pathways, global biomass types, co‐product options, and biorefinery siting contexts for biosugar production. Minimum sugar revenue (MSR) required to achieve a 15% internal rate of return values for scenarios examined ranged from $150–$748 per tonne. The scenarios with the lowest MSRs were sugarcane in South America and Asia, assuming hot water cook and co‐location or repurpose siting contexts. Another financially optimized scenario is corn grain, also assuming hot water cook, co‐producing distiller’s dry grains and solubles (DDGS), in a repurpose siting context. Against a benchmark sugar price of $408 per metric tonne, an internal rate of return on investment of >15% can typically only be achieved via previously demonstrated conversion pathways using sugar cane and corn grain. Major cost drivers were feedstock cost per metric tonne of carbohydrate, sugar yield, capital investment per annual metric tonne of sugar produced, residue value, and siting context. Near‐term promising technologies include autohydrolysis and dilute acid pathways. Generally, scenarios are financially enhanced by co‐location or repurposing, reducing capital expenditure (CAPEX) by about 33% and 50%, respectively, with negligible impact on cash cost. Conversion process complexity drives capital investment, making some scenarios infeasible despite high sugar yields. Any of the five major cost drivers can impact the order of financial attraction of scenarios, with the outcome of the analysis typically not obvious in advance. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemicellulose is a polymer found abundantly in lignocellulosic feedstocks, with many potential market applications. However, there has yet to be a large‐scale commercial process to isolate hemicellulose from lignocellulosic biomass. A techno‐economic assessment for hemicellulose extraction from sugarcane bagasse, switchgrass, and poplar was made. Two isolation processes after alkaline extraction were considered: (1) producing total hemicellulose and (2) producing hemicellulose A (water‐insoluble fraction) only. In a greenfield scenario, a byproduct of the process is sugar, whereas in a co‐location scenario the biomass after hemicellulose extraction is returned to the pulp mill for its fiber value. Operating costs, capital investment, minimum hemicellulose selling price (MHSP), the effect of input material and product prices along with several other process parameters on the MHSP were determined for each scenario. Co‐location scenarios had a dramatically lower capital cost and MHSP relative to greenfield scenarios. This was due to co‐location scenarios utilizing existing biomass processing and utilities equipment and not requiring a sugar‐production process. Among the three biomasses, hemicellulose extraction from sugarcane bagasse had the lowest MHSP for all scenarios, mainly due to a higher hemicellulose extraction yield. Extraction of hemicellulose A from sugarcane bagasse in a co‐location scenario had a low capital cost of 56 million USD and had a reasonable MHSP of 274 USD/t (metric ton). This research indicates that there is reasonable economic potential for hemicellulose extraction from lignocellulosic biomass for applications to replace starch or as a starting material for the production of xylo‐oligomeric prebiotics. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis quantifies the impact of capital cost estimation methodologies and probability distributions on the 20-year net present values ( NPV) of six thermochemical cellulosic biofuel pathways. It reviews the methodologies and distributions employed in the open literature, and compares the latter with those reported for existing energy projects. A sensitivity analysis calculates the impact of methodology choice on the NPV of each pathway scenario and an uncertainty analysis calculates the impact of probability distribution choice on the same. The sensitivity analysis finds that the choice of pessimistic or optimistic estimation methodology changes NPV by up to $300 million. The uncertainty analysis finds that the representation of capital cost by asymmetrical probability distributions increases the standard deviations of the 20-year NPV cumulative distribution functions by up to 35% relative to symmetrical distributions. Finally, recommendations are given to improve capital cost calculations in cellulosic biofuel techno-economic analyses. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Techno-economic studies of four processes for production of adipic acid from glucose were used to compare the minimum cost of production by each route. We analyzed the purely biological production via reverse β-oxidation in E. coli; a purely chemical process using oxidation of glucose via chemical catalysis to glucaric acid that undergoes catalytic hydrodeoxygenation to adipic acid; and two hybrid routes that biologically convert glucose to either 6-hydroxyhexanoic acid or 1, 6-hexanediol, that are subsequently converted chemically to adipic acid using a metal catalyst. All analyses were based on adipic acid production capacity of 80 000 metric ton/year. Estimated total capital investments were US$157 million, $81 million, $166 million, and $177 million for the purely ­biological, chemical, and two integrated hybrid routes, respectively. Catalyst costs were estimated as $72 million, $36 million, and $37 million for the purely chemical and two integrated routes, respectively. The estimated adipic acid minimum selling prices were $1.36, $1.56, $1.48, and $1.70 per kg for the purely biological, purely chemical, and two integrated routes, respectively. Co-product revenue and the use of unpurified sugars improved the economics of adipic acid production in the purely biological and two integrated routes. Comparison of the economics of the chemical catalytic steps shows that catalyst yields, turnover frequency, and catalyst life must be greater than 40% of theoretical, 0.01 s-1, and 100 days to achieve economic viability of purely chemical and integrated routes to adipic acid. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]