Systematic Sustainable Process Design and Analysis of Biodiesel Processes

Biodiesel is a promising fuel alternative compared to traditional diesel obtained from conventional sources such as fossil fuel. Many flowsheet alternatives exist for the production of biodiesel and therefore it is necessary to evaluate these alternatives using defined criteria and also from process intensification opportunities. This work focuses on three main aspects that have been incorporated into a systematic computer-aided framework for sustainable process design. First, the creation of a generic superstructure, which consists of all possible process alternatives based on available technology. Second, the evaluation of this superstructure for systematic screening to obtain an appropriate base case design. This is done by first reducing the search space using a sustainability analysis, which provides key indicators for process bottlenecks of different flowsheet configurations and then by further reducing the search space by using economic evaluation and life cycle assessment. Third, the determination of sustainable design with/without process intensification using a phenomena-based synthesis/design method. A detailed step by step application of the framework is highlighted through a biodiesel production case study.