Process design, simulation, and techno-economic analysis of integrated production of furfural and glucose derived from palm oil empty fruit bunches

Mohammed, Muhammad Zafran Raja; Ng, Zi Wei; Putranto, Aditya; Kong, Zong Yang; Sunarso, Jaka; Aziz, Muhammad; Zein, Sharif H.; Giwangkara, Jannata; Butar, Ivan

Abstract

This study aims to propose a new process design, simulation, and techno-economic analysis of an integrated process plant that produces glucose and furfural from palm oil empty fruit bunches (EFB). In this work, an Aspen Plus-based simulation has been established to develop a process flow diagram of co-production of glucose and furfural along with the mass and energy balances. The plant’s economics are analyzed by calculating the fixed capital income (FCI), operating costs, and working capital. In contrast, profitability is determined using cumulative cash flow (CCF), net present value (NPV), and internal rate of return (IRR). The findings show that the production capacity of 10 kilotons per year (ktpy) of glucose and 4.96 ktpy of furfural with a purity of 98.21 and 99.54%—weight, respectively, was achieved in this study. The FCI is calculated as United States Dollar (USD) 20.80 million, while the working and operating expenses are calculated as USD 3.74 million and USD 16.93 million, respectively. This project achieves USD 7.65 million NPV with a positive IRR of 14.25% and a return on investment (ROI) of 22.06%. The present work successfully develops a profitable integrated process plant that is established with future upscaling parameters and key cost drivers. The findings provided in this work offer a platform and motivation for future research on integrated plants in the food, environment, and energy nexus with the co-location principle.

Citation

Mohammed, M. Z. R., Ng, Z. W., Putranto, A., Kong, Z. Y., Sunarso, J., Aziz, M., …Butar, I. (2023). Process design, simulation, and techno-economic analysis of integrated production of furfural and glucose derived from palm oil empty fruit bunches. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-022-02454-3

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 2, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Jan 7, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 12, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 8, 2024
• Journal: Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy
• Print ISSN: 1618-954X
• Electronic ISSN: 1618-9558
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-022-02454-3
• Keywords: Process design; Palm oil empty fruit bunches; Simulation; Techno-economic; Glucose; Furfural
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4175494
• Additional Information: Received: 11 March 2022; Accepted: 2 December 2022; First Online: 7 January 2023; : ; : The authors have not disclosed any competing interests.; : The authors do not have any conflicting interests.; Free to read: This content has been made available to all.