초록
<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>The aim of this study is to analyze the techno-economic performance of process configurations for ethanol production involving solid-liquid separators and reactors in the saccharification and fermentation stage, a family of process configurations where few alternatives have been proposed. Since including these process alternatives creates a large number of possible process configurations, a framework for process synthesis and optimization is proposed. This approach is supported on kinetic models fed with experimental data and a plant-wide techno-economic model. Among 150 process configurations, 40 show an improved MESP compared to a well-documented base case (BC), almost all include solid separators and some show energy retrieved in products 32% higher compared to the BC. Moreover, 16 of them also show a lower capital investment per unit of ethanol produced per year. Several of the process configurations found in this work have not been reported in the literature.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> An optimization framework for process design of ethanol plants is presented. </LI> <LI> 150 different process configurations are compared and analyzed. </LI> <LI> New process configurations outperform the NRELs base case. </LI> <LI> Lower MESPs were found when solid-liquid separators are included. </LI> <LI> Energy in products ranges from 44% to 62.4% of the energy in corn stover. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>