Integrated production of biodiesel from palm oil using in situ produced bioethanol

Liquid biofuels as a source of renewable energy represents an important alternative to the fossil fuels. Currently, these biofuels (mainly biodiesel and bioethanol) are produced from oilseed crops and from sugar and starch containing materials. The integration of the production of these two biofuels using a single source of biomass as a raw material may allow the intensification of liquid biofuels production offering attractive alternatives for lowering production costs. In this work and using process simulation tools, the integrated production of biodiesel from palm oil including the in situ production of bioethanol is explored. Lignocellulosic residues obtained during the extraction of crude palm oil are utilized for ethanol production. For this, an integrated process involving the pretreatment of biomass by dilute acid and simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation is simulated. The oil extracted from Fresh Fruit Bunches was considered as the feedstock for biodiesel production taking into account an integrated process of extractive reaction using the ethyl alcohol produced from the lignocellulosic residues for the transesterification reaction. Overall process was simulated employing Aspen Plus. The integration of material flows between these two production lines allowed a 4.7% reduction in energy costs, whereas the material and energetic integration leaded to 21.3% decrease in these costs. This kind of integrated configuration will become an important option when the technology for ethanol production from biomass reaches such a degree of maturity that its production costs be comparable with those of the process from starch or sugars.