Ethanol Production by Enzymatic Hydrolysis: Parametric Analysis of a Base-Case Process

摘要

A base-case flowsheet for an enzymatic hydrolysis process is presented. Included is a parametric sensitivity analysis to identify key research issues and an assessment of this technology. The plant discussed is a large-scale facility, producing 50 million gallons of ethanol per year. The plant design is based on the process originally conceived by the US National Army Command and consists of these process steps: pretreatment; enzyme production; enzyme hydrolysis; fermentation; and distillation. The base-case design parameters are based on recent laboratory data from Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories and the University of California at Berkeley. The selling price of ethanol is used to compare variations in the base-case operating parameters, which include hydrolysis efficiencies, capital costs, enzyme production efficiencies, and enzyme recycle. 28 references, 38 figures, 8 tables. (ERA citation 10:000369)