Modelling the effect of water removal by reverse osmosis on the distillation of mixtures of short-chain organic acids from an-aerobic fermentation

Serena Simonetti; Davide Dionisi

doi:10.3390/pr11082362

Modelling the effect of water removal by reverse osmosis on the distillation of mixtures of short-chain organic acids from an-aerobic fermentation

Serena Simonetti, Davide Dionisi^* (Corresponding Author)

^*Corresponding author for this work

Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Anaerobic fermentation (AF) to produce sustainable short-chain organic acids (SCOAs) has found no commercial application so far. This is due to several limitations, including the high energy con-sumption of the SCOAs’ separation from water by distillation. This study used AspenPlus simula-tions to investigate the benefits of reverse osmosis (RO) to remove water and concentrate the SCOAs from AF before their separation by distillation. The effect of RO on distillation reflux ratio, heat energy requirements, column diameter and equipment costs was simulated for the processing of model SCOA-containing streams, representing AF effluents. A total of 90 simulations were carried out, investigating three different SCOA compositions, corresponding to different ratios of lactic, acetic and propionic acids, three different concentrations of the total SCOAs (10, 50, 100 g/kg in the stream entering RO) and different extents of water removal by RO. RO brought a reduction in the distillation reboilers’ duty of up to more than 90%, with a reduction of column diameter of up to more than 70%. The total energy consumption, equipment cost and NPV (net present value) of the RO plus distillation process were in all cases more favourable than for the process without mem-branes.

Original language	English
Journal	Processes
Volume	11
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11082362
Publication status	Published - 5 Aug 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding: This study was funded by LEVERHULME TRUST. Serena Simonetti, a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholar, is part of the 15 PhD scholarships of the “Leverhulme Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Production of Chemicals and Materials” at University of Aberdeen (Scotland, UK).
Acknowledgments: The authors wish to thank the company Membranology (Membranology LTD, C/O Azets, Ty Caer Wyr Charter Court, Phoenix Way, Enterprise Park, Swansea, United Kingdom, SA7 9FS, www.membranology.com) and in particular Dr Richard Phillips for carrying out the RO membrane filtration study reported in Supplementary Information, Figure S1.

Data Availability Statement

Data is contained within this article and in the Supplementary Materials.

Keywords

anaerobic fermentation
reverse osmosis
distillation
short-chain organic acids

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

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title = "Modelling the effect of water removal by reverse osmosis on the distillation of mixtures of short-chain organic acids from an-aerobic fermentation",

abstract = "Anaerobic fermentation (AF) to produce sustainable short-chain organic acids (SCOAs) has found no commercial application so far. This is due to several limitations, including the high energy con-sumption of the SCOAs{\textquoteright} separation from water by distillation. This study used AspenPlus simula-tions to investigate the benefits of reverse osmosis (RO) to remove water and concentrate the SCOAs from AF before their separation by distillation. The effect of RO on distillation reflux ratio, heat energy requirements, column diameter and equipment costs was simulated for the processing of model SCOA-containing streams, representing AF effluents. A total of 90 simulations were carried out, investigating three different SCOA compositions, corresponding to different ratios of lactic, acetic and propionic acids, three different concentrations of the total SCOAs (10, 50, 100 g/kg in the stream entering RO) and different extents of water removal by RO. RO brought a reduction in the distillation reboilers{\textquoteright} duty of up to more than 90%, with a reduction of column diameter of up to more than 70%. The total energy consumption, equipment cost and NPV (net present value) of the RO plus distillation process were in all cases more favourable than for the process without mem-branes.",

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author = "Serena Simonetti and Davide Dionisi",

note = "Funding: This study was funded by LEVERHULME TRUST. Serena Simonetti, a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholar, is part of the 15 PhD scholarships of the “Leverhulme Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Production of Chemicals and Materials” at University of Aberdeen (Scotland, UK). Acknowledgments: The authors wish to thank the company Membranology (Membranology LTD, C/O Azets, Ty Caer Wyr Charter Court, Phoenix Way, Enterprise Park, Swansea, United Kingdom, SA7 9FS, www.membranology.com) and in particular Dr Richard Phillips for carrying out the RO membrane filtration study reported in Supplementary Information, Figure S1. ",

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N2 - Anaerobic fermentation (AF) to produce sustainable short-chain organic acids (SCOAs) has found no commercial application so far. This is due to several limitations, including the high energy con-sumption of the SCOAs’ separation from water by distillation. This study used AspenPlus simula-tions to investigate the benefits of reverse osmosis (RO) to remove water and concentrate the SCOAs from AF before their separation by distillation. The effect of RO on distillation reflux ratio, heat energy requirements, column diameter and equipment costs was simulated for the processing of model SCOA-containing streams, representing AF effluents. A total of 90 simulations were carried out, investigating three different SCOA compositions, corresponding to different ratios of lactic, acetic and propionic acids, three different concentrations of the total SCOAs (10, 50, 100 g/kg in the stream entering RO) and different extents of water removal by RO. RO brought a reduction in the distillation reboilers’ duty of up to more than 90%, with a reduction of column diameter of up to more than 70%. The total energy consumption, equipment cost and NPV (net present value) of the RO plus distillation process were in all cases more favourable than for the process without mem-branes.

AB - Anaerobic fermentation (AF) to produce sustainable short-chain organic acids (SCOAs) has found no commercial application so far. This is due to several limitations, including the high energy con-sumption of the SCOAs’ separation from water by distillation. This study used AspenPlus simula-tions to investigate the benefits of reverse osmosis (RO) to remove water and concentrate the SCOAs from AF before their separation by distillation. The effect of RO on distillation reflux ratio, heat energy requirements, column diameter and equipment costs was simulated for the processing of model SCOA-containing streams, representing AF effluents. A total of 90 simulations were carried out, investigating three different SCOA compositions, corresponding to different ratios of lactic, acetic and propionic acids, three different concentrations of the total SCOAs (10, 50, 100 g/kg in the stream entering RO) and different extents of water removal by RO. RO brought a reduction in the distillation reboilers’ duty of up to more than 90%, with a reduction of column diameter of up to more than 70%. The total energy consumption, equipment cost and NPV (net present value) of the RO plus distillation process were in all cases more favourable than for the process without mem-branes.

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DO - 10.3390/pr11082362

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JO - Processes

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ER -

Modelling the effect of water removal by reverse osmosis on the distillation of mixtures of short-chain organic acids from an-aerobic fermentation

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Keywords

UN SDGs

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