Design, Simulation, and Techno-Economic Analysis of Biobutanol Production: A Review

Biobutanol has been introduced as an advanced renewable fuel. Some of the properties of butanol, e.g., complete miscibility with gasoline, high heating value, and immiscibility in water, are unique and superior to other biofuels such as ethanol and biomethane. Biobutanol has only been produced at the laboratory scale and its production on a commercial scale still faces many challenges. In the current study, recent research on the techno-economic analysis of biobutanol production, including process simulation and design, are reviewed. Extensive research has been conducted on the production of butanol from lignocellulose materials, a low-cost feedstock, that is not competing with food sources. However, the results show that the cost of butanol production from non-lignocellulosic materials is lower than that from lignocelluloses. Furthermore, it can be concluded that commercial butanol production is facilitated by changing some of the process parameters. These parameters include pretreatment conditions, fermentation mode of operation, enhancement of bacterial performance using genetic engineering, and recovery and purification of butanol from the fermentation broth.