Bioprocess Development for 2,3-Butanediol Production from Crude Glycerol and Conceptual Process Design for Aqueous Conversion into Methyl Ethyl Ketone
Sofia Maina, Endrit Dheskali, Harris Papapostolou, Aline Machado de Castro, Denise Maria Guimarães Freire, George‐John E. Nychas, Séraphim Papanikolaou, Ioannis K. Kookos, Apostolis Koutinas
Abstract
The transition to the circular economy era necessitates the sustainable production of chemicals using crude renewable resources via integrated biological and chemical conversion routes. Within this concept, this study combined experimental fermentation development with conceptual process design and technoeconomic evaluation to demonstrate the feasibility of bio-based methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) production from crude glycerol derived from industrial biodiesel production using soybean oil alone or mixed with tallow fat. 2,3-Butanediol (BDO) production via fermentation of crude glycerol was initially developed using a Klebsiella michiganensis strain leading to 76.1 g/L BDO concentration with a productivity of 1.38 g/(L h) at a volumetric mass transfer coefficient of 77 h–1. Direct aqueous BDO conversion into MEK followed by purification via pressure swing distillation was subsequently evaluated via conceptual process design. The bio-based MEK minimum selling price (MSP) is close to the 11 year average market price of petroleum-derived MEK ($1.8/kg) when the crude glycerol cost is up to $0.1/kg at annual MEK production capacities higher than ca. 20 000 t. Monte Carlo simulations showed ca. 30% probability of obtaining an MSP lower than $1.8/kg at a crude glycerol cost of $0.1/kg. This study demonstrated the feasibility of cost-competitive bio-based MEK production as an industrial solvent and an intermediate chemical.