Techno-economic assessment of bioenergy and biofuel production in integrated sugarcane biorefinery: Identification of technological bottlenecks and economic feasibility of dilute acid pretreatment

Abstract Techno-economic analysis of first- and second-generation (1G2G) integrated sugarcane biorefinery producing ethanol and electricity was performed, exploring the virtues and limitations of dilute acid pretreatment. Process variables such as solid content in the pretreatment reactor, enzymatic hydrolysis time, and the possibility of pentose fermentation were pondered using computational tools and simulation platforms to assess the impacts of the variables overall production chain. Previously published data reporting optimal pretreatment conditions applied to a leading sugarcane hybrid were considered in the simulation studies. Better economic returns were obtained using the lowest solids content in the pretreatment reactor, the shortest incubation time in the enzymatic hydrolysis step, as well as the use of the pentose stream to produce additional ethanol. Process profitability was mostly affected by sugarcane cost, followed by capital costs associated with investment, and input chemicals costs. Finally, this study indicates that the economic benefits do not only depend on achievement of high final product yields, but also on a set of industrial factors, demonstrating the suitability of process simulation to point out industrial bottlenecks deserving future research.