Conceptual process design of an integrated bio-based acetic acid, glycolaldehyde, and acetol production in a pyrolysis oil-based biorefinery

This paper discusses the conceptual process design for the integrated production of bio-based acetic acid, glycolaldehyde, and acetol from forest residue- and pine-derived pyrolysisoils. Aspen Plus®and Aspen Process Economic Analyzer were used for process simulationand estimating the equipment cost, respectively. The process was designed at a capacity200 kt pyrolysis oil per year, operating 8000 h annually, and involving extraction, distillation,and evaporation. It can isolate more than 99% of the glycolaldehyde and acetic acid andabout two-thirds of the acetol present in the oils. In comparison with the forest residue-based process (21 MD ), the pine-based process requires a higher capital investment of 23MD and a slightly higher production cost of 49 MD /a versus 48 MD /a, but can provide ahigher revenue of 57 MD /a instead of 44 MD /a because pine-derived pyrolysis oil containsmore acetic acid, glycolaldehyde, and acetol, which also makes it less sensitive to marketprice. Pine-derived pyrolysis oil is a preferable feedstock over forest residue-derived pyrolysisoil for an integrated chemical recovery process, whereas forest residue-derived pyrolysis oilgenerates no profit at an annual capacity of 50¿600 kt oil. The economic feasibility of thedesigned process is highly dependent on the glycolaldehyde content of the pyrolysis oil.