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Enhanced isobutanol recovery from fermentation broth for sustainable biofuels production

Jankovic, T.J. (author), Straathof, Adrie J.J. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Isobutanol is a highly attractive renewable alternative to conventional fossil fuels, with superior fuel properties as compared to ethanol and 1-butanol. Even though the isobutanol production by fermentation has significant potential, complex downstream processing is limiting the wide-spreading of this technology. Accordingly, this original...

journal article 2024

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Process design and downstream optimization of the direct synthesis route for cleaner production of dimethyl ether from biogas

Fedeli, M. (author), Negri, F. (author), Bornazzini, A. (author), Montastruc, L. (author), Manenti, F. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

This study investigates an innovative method to produce dimethyl ether (DME) by direct synthesis from syngas derived from biogas. The proposed process was rigorously simulated in Aspen Plus, highlighting the main sections: (i) biogas tri-reforming, (ii) dimethyl-ether synthesis, and (iii) DME purification. The tri-reforming section has a CO...

journal article 2024

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Bioethanol separation by a new pass-through distillation process

Jankovic, T.J. (author), Straathof, Adrie J.J. (author), McGregor, Ian R. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Distillation is the most used separation technology at industrial-scale, but using distillation in bio-based processes (e.g. fermentation processes to produce bioethanol) is quite challenging when mild temperatures are needed to keep the microbes alive. Vacuum distillation can be used to perform evaporation at low temperatures, but setting a...

journal article 2024

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Thermally self-sufficient process for single-step coproduction of methanol and dimethyl ether by CO₂ hydrogenation

Vaquerizo, L. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Methanol and DME are highly efficient fuels and relevant building blocks that can be synthesized by CO₂ hydrogenation. While several alternatives for methanol production by CO₂ hydrogenation have already been developed at a commercial scale, DME production is still based on methanol dehydration. In this sense, the...

journal article 2024

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Challenges and opportunities for process intensification in Europe from a process systems engineering perspective

Li, Q. (author), Somoza Tornos, A. (author), Grievink, J. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Process Intensification (PI) is an effective way to enhance process efficiency and sustainability at affordable costs and efforts, attracting particular interest in the European area, as one of the most important chemical production areas in the world. PI primarily contributes by developing and testing new processing technologies that once...

journal article 2024

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Thermally self-sufficient heat pump-assisted azeotropic dividing-wall column for biofuels recovery from isopropanol-butanol-ethanol fermentation

Jankovic, T.J. (author), Straathof, Adrie J.J. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Isopropanol-butanol-ethanol (IBE) fermentation is a superior biofuel production technology as compared to acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation due to the better fuel properties of the obtained products. However, low product concentrations, thermodynamic constraints and the presence of microorganisms lead to complex downstream processing...

journal article 2024

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Challenges and opportunities for CO2 electroreduction from a process systems engineering perspective

Dal Mas, R. (author), Somoza Tornos, A. (author), Pérez-Fortes, Mar (author), Kortlever, R. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Despite the huge efforts devoted to the development of the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (ECO2R) in the past decade, still many challenges are present, hindering further approaches to industrial applications. This paper gives a perspective on these challenges from a Process Systems Engineering (PSE) standpoint, while at the same time...

journal article 2024

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Enhanced downstream processing of NGL using intensified fluid separation technologies

Bosman, Danforth Brandon (author), Li, Q. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Downstream processing of natural gas liquids (NGL) provides feedstock needed for plastic production, upgraded fuels and heating, but it is one of the largest high-pressure and energy intensive processes. This original study is the first to integrate novel process intensification options from a holistic viewpoint for the full process covering...

journal article 2024

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Process systems engineering perspectives on eco-efficient downstream processing of volatile biochemicals from fermentation

Jankovic, T.J. (author), Straathof, Adrie J.J. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Increasing concerns over environmental pollution, climate change and energy security are driving a necessary transition from fossil carbon sources to more sustainable alternatives. Due to lower environmental impact, biochemicals are rapidly gaining significance as a potential renewable solution, particularly of interest in Europe. In this...

journal article 2023

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The quest for a better solvent for the direct hydration of cyclohexene: From molecular screening to process design

Wang, Xiaoda (author), Zhao, Yuqing (author), Han, Lumin (author), Li, Ling (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Cylcohexanol is an essential bulk chemical that can be produced via cyclohexene hydration, a liquid-liquid two-phase reaction that is limited by the low reaction rate and the equilibrium conversion. Adding an appropriate solvent is the most promising method to break through these limitations. However, in previous works the solvent was almost...

journal article 2023

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Synthesis and optimization of energy integrated advanced distillation sequences

Li, Q. (author), Finn, Adrian J. (author), Doyle, Stephen J. (author), Smith, Robin (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

This paper explores the basis on which reliable screening of distillation sequences for energy-efficient separation of zeotropic multicomponent mixtures can be carried out. A case study for the separation of natural gas liquids is used to demonstrate the approach. To solve this generic problem, a screening algorithm has been developed using...

journal article 2023

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Advanced purification of isopropanol and acetone from syngas fermentation

Jankovic, T.J. (author), Straathof, Adrie J.J. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

BACKGROUND: Isopropanol and acetone production by syngas fermentation is a promising alternative to conventional fossil carbon-dependent production. However, this alternative technology has not yet been scaled up to an industrial level owing to the relatively low product concentrations (about 5 wt% in total). This original research aims to...

journal article 2023

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Thermally self-sufficient process for cleaner production of e-methanol by CO₂ hydrogenation

Vaquerizo, L. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

The hydrogenation of CO₂ to methanol is a technology that converts a greenhouse gas into a valuable chemical compound that efficiently stores energy. Several alternatives to perform this process have been proposed, but they are either not thermally self-sufficient and depend on using external fuel, or the power usage per ton of...

journal article 2023

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Advanced downstream processing of bioethanol from syngas fermentation

Jankovic, T.J. (author), Straathof, Adrie J.J. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Syngas fermentation is used industrially to produce diluted bioethanol (about 1–6 wt%). This research study proposes a novel downstream process that recovers bioethanol in an energy-efficient and cost-effective manner, improves fermentation yield by recycling all fermentation broth components (microbes, acetate and water), and is designed for...

journal article 2023

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Eco-efficiency improvements in the propylene-to-epichlorohydrin process

Madej, Łukasz (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

BACKGROUND: Epichlorohydrin (ECH) production is an important industrial process, owing to its importance in windmill blade manufacture, but it suffers from several drawbacks such as high energy use, large wastewater production and low atom efficiency. This original study investigates a novel chlorohydrin-free technology with an enhanced...

journal article 2023

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Turning waste into value: eco-efficient recovery of by-products from biomass pretreatment in lignocellulosic biorefineries

Jankovic, T.J. (author), Straathof, Adrie J.J. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

This original research contributes to enhancing the viability of biorefineries through recovering valuable by-products from the liquid remaining after the biomass pretreatment by hot liquid water. A novel downstream processing method is developed for the recovery of acetic acid, formic acid, furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) by...

journal article 2023

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Operating windows for early evaluation of the applicability of advanced reactive distillation technologies

Pazmiño-Mayorga, Isabel (author), Jobson, Megan (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Advanced reactive distillation technologies (ARDT) are often overlooked during process synthesis due to their complexity. This work proposes the use of operating windows with additional features to identify suitable operating limits for ARDT. Data needed to construct the operating windows are thermodynamic properties, kinetic parameters,...

journal article 2023

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Industrial experience in using cyclic distillation columns for food grade alcohol purification

Bedryk, Olesja (author), Shevchenko, Alexander (author), Mishchenko, O. S. (author), Maleta, Vladimir N. (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

This study provides novel details about the industrial use of cyclic distillation in the production of food-grade alcohol, which confirmed the theoretical predictions of increasing separation efficiency. Increasing the profitability of the production of ethanol food grade is primarily associated with an increase in product quality and...

journal article 2023

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Rethinking the design of a 2-methoxy-2-methyl-heptane process by unraveling the true thermodynamics and kinetics

Patraşcu, Iulian (author), Bîldea, Costin Sorin (author), Kiss, A.A. (author)

Among other fuel additives — such as MTBE, ETBE, or TAME — 2-methoxy-2-methyl heptane (MMH) can increase the fuel octane number and reduce the CO emission. MMH can be obtained through the exothermal etherification of 2-methyl-1-heptene and methanol. Lately, many researchers have developed more and more efficient processes considering the...

journal article 2022

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A new class of control structures for heterogeneous reactive distillation processes

Moraru, Mihai Daniel (author), Patrascu, Iulian (author), Kiss, A.A. (author), Bildea, Costin Sorin (author)

There are only a handful of process control structures applied to the neat operation of both homogeneous and heterogeneous reactive distillation, for two-reactants / two-products one-reaction systems. All of these control structures employ inferential temperature control (or concentration analyzers) at some location in the column to balance...

journal article 2022