SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT FOR 2,3-BUTANEDIOL PRODUCTION USING XYLOSE RICH HYDROLYSATE FROM SUGARCANE BAGASSE

Abstract

2,3-Butanediol (BDO) is a versatile platform chemical used in fuel additives, solvents, food additives, and medicines. The global BDO market is thus anticipated to grow in the near future. The BDO can be produced biochemically from xylose-rich hydrolysate of sugarcane bagasse (SCB). A life cycle assessment (LCA) of producing BDO through the biochemical process has been performed in this study. The LCA of producing BDO from sugarcane bagasse was conducted utilizing the detoxifying step and comparing it with the conventional production method. Overliming and Activated charcoal detoxification methods were proposed to eliminate the inhibitory chemicals from the xylose-rich hydrolysate. This research aims to identify environmental hotspots to optimize processes. The data was collected throughout the research, and the LCA analysis was performed using SimaPro 9.0 software, with 1 kilogram of BDO serving as the functional unit. This study began with the transportation of sugarcane bagasse and continued until the fermentation stage, up till the production of BDO. The findings of the LCA indicated that the detoxification step significantly reduced the process's environmental impact. This step was responsible for the decrease in the global warming effect, with the fermentation stage accounting for most of the reduction. This significant reduction was achieved by reducing the number of material inputs and energy needed for the process through the process of BDO. The most significant environmental advantages of including the detoxifying phase into the process were; significant mitigation of environmental impact by the transportation of SCB and upstream processing, approximately 54% reduction in CO2 equivalent emissions, decreased contribution of the fermentation stage to global warming by about 26%.