Sustainable production of 1-octanol using biomass-derived acetone and furfural

Abstract

Biomass-derived chemical production processes are crucial for advancing sustainable manufacturing. Furfural and acetone, key platform biomass-derived chemicals, are valuable precursors for synthesizing high-value compounds. In this study, a plant-scale sustainable process for producing 1-octanol from furfural and biomass-derived acetone was developed based on lab-scale experimental data. Thereafter, the environmental impact of the process, expressed as global warming potential (GWP), was evaluated via life cycle assessment and its economic feasibility, expressed in terms of the minimum selling price (MSP), was evaluated via techno-economic analysis. To further ascertain the sustainability of the process, the use of bio-based acetone and fossil-based acetone were compared. The process achieved an overall 1-octanol yield of 71.0 % with 99.9 wt% purity and energy efficiency at 39.9 %. Further, the use of bio-based acetone reduced the GWP of the 1-octanol production process by 32.3 % from 4.34 to 2.94 kg CO2 eq., but increased its MSP by 29.8 %, from 3.02 to 3.92 USD/kg, highlighting a need for a balanced trade-off between GWP and MSP. Sensitivity analyses identified acetone, furfural, steam, and hydrogen as the key factors affecting the GWP and MSP of the process and suggested process optimization, feedstock selection, and the use of a hybrid model involving bio-based and fossil-based acetone as plausible strategies for achieving sustainable outcomes. Overall, these findings provide valuable insights into the trade-off between environmental and economic performance and may contribute to the development of sustainable chemical processes while facilitating alignment with the principles of green chemistry.