The Impacts of Xylitol Production from Hemicellulose Residues: Process Design, Life Cycle, and Techno-economic Assessment
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Cellulosic ethanol is a promising low-carbon replacement for transportation fuels. The viability of commercial cellulosic ethanol production is restricted by high process costs. The inclusion of xylitol as a high-value co-product was investigated as a strategy to offset the high process costs and provide additional environmental benefits to the production of cellulosic ethanol. Two pathways for xylitol production are studied: chemical hydrogenation and biological fermentation. Additional scenarios based on process structure and performance are constructed for both pathways to assess the assumptions and limitations of the process designs. Results show that while xylitol hydrogenation can improve the environmental performance of cellulosic ethanol, fermentation may have the greater potential for improvements, pending the development of inhibitor tolerant organisms, though results are location dependent. Both hydrogenation and fermentation have the potential to improve the techno-economic performance of cellulosic ethanol, though hydrogenation may offer greater improvements in the near-term.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Kelsey Gerbrandt
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2885469820