ANL/ESD-14/9 Rev. Life-cycle Analysis of Bioproducts and Their Conventional Counterparts in GREET™ Energy Systems Division About Argonne National Laboratory Argonne is a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. The Laboratory’s main facility is outside Chicago, at 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439. For information about Argonne and its pioneering science and technology programs, see www.anl.gov. 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Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor UChicago Argonne, LLC, nor any of their employees or officers, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of document authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. ANL/ESD-14/9 Rev. Life-cycle Analysis of Bioproducts and Their Conventional Counterparts in GREET™ by Jennifer B. Dunn, Felix Adom, Norm Sather, Jeongwoo Han, and Seth Snyder Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory With contributions from Chang He, Jian Gong, Dajun Yue, and Fengqi You Northwestern University September 2015 LIFE-CYCLE ANALYSIS OF BIOPRODUCTS AND THEIR CONVENTIONAL COUNTERPARTS IN GREETTM Jennifer B. Dunn, Felix Adom, Norm Sather, Jeongwoo Han, Seth Snyder Argonne National Laboratory With contributions from Chang He, Jian Gong, Dajun Yue, and Fengqi You Northwestern University CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................6 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................7 1.1 Background .......................................................................................................................7 1.2 Study Description ..............................................................................................................8 2 SELECTION OF BIOPRODUCTS .............................................................................................9 2.1 Platform Chemicals ...........................................................................................................9 2.2 Bioproducts .......................................................................................................................9 2.3 Selection of Bioproducts for Analysis .............................................................................10 3 FEEDSTOCKS ..........................................................................................................................20 3.1 Corn Stover ......................................................................................................................20 3.2 Algae ...............................................................................................................................20 4 MATERIAL AND ENERGY FLOW DATA FOR BIOPRODUCTS ......................................21 4.1 Glycerol to Propylene Glycol ..........................................................................................22 4.2 Glycerol to 1,3-Propanediol (1,3-PDO) ..........................................................................24 4.3 Glycerol to 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid (3-HP) ................................................................26 4.4 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid to Acrylic Acid .....................................................................28 4.5 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid to 1,3-Propanediol .................................................................30 4.6 Corn Stover to Clean Sugars ...........................................................................................31 4.7 Clean Sugars to Ethylene ................................................................................................33 4.8 Clean Sugars to Succinic Acid ........................................................................................35 4.9 Clean Sugars to Isobutanol ..............................................................................................38 4.10 Succinic Acid to 1,4-Butanediol ...................................................................................40 4.11 Glucose or clean sugars to L-lactic Acid .......................................................................44 4.12 L-lactic Acid to Ethyl Lactate ........................................................................................56 5 MATERIAL AND ENERGY FLOW DATA FOR CONVENTIONAL PRODUCTS ............59 5.1 Propylene Glycol .............................................................................................................59 5.2 1,3-Propanediol ...............................................................................................................62 5.3 Acrylic Acid ....................................................................................................................65 5.4 Polyethylene ....................................................................................................................66 5.5 Isobutanol ........................................................................................................................66 5.6 1,4-Butanediol .................................................................................................................67 5.7 Adipic acid ......................................................................................................................69 1 5.8 Ethyl Acetate and N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone ....................................................................71 6 RESULTS FOR BIO-BASED AND CONVENTIONAL PRODUCTS ...................................73 7 REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................................77 FIGURES FIGURE 1 Platform Chemicals and Bioproducts Selected for Analysis ......................................19 FIGURE 2 Simplified Process Flow Diagram of Glycerol-to-PG Process ..................................22 FIGURE 3 Simplified Process Flow Diagram for Glycerol to 1,3-PDO ......................................25 FIGURE 4 Simplified Process Flow Diagram for Glycerol to 3-HP............................................27 FIGURE 5 Simplified Process Flow Diagram for 3-HP to Acrylic Acid .....................................29 FIGURE 6 Simplified Process Flow Diagram for 3-HP to 1,3-PDO ...........................................31 FIGURE 7 Simplified Process Flow Diagram for the Conversion of Corn Stover to Clean Sugars .............................................................................................................................................33 FIGURE 8 Simplified Process Flow Diagram for Clean Sugars to Succinic Acid ......................36 FIGURE 9 Simplified Process Flow Diagram for Clean Sugars to Isobutanol ............................39 FIGURE 10 Simplified Process Flow Diagram for Succinic Acid to 1,4-BDO ...........................41 Figure 11: Mass Composition (Dry basis) of Yeast Extract Assumed in this Study .....................44 Figure 12 Simplified Process Flow Diagram for Preparation of Fermenter Inoculum .................47 Figure 13 Simplified Process Flow Diagram of Fermentation Process ........................................50 Figure 14 Simplified Diagram of the Product Separation and Purification Process .....................53 Figure 15 Simplified Process Flow Diagram for Ethyl Lactate Reversible Esterification Process ...........................................................................................................................................57 FIGURE 16 Conventional Production of Propylene Glycol.........................................................59 FIGURE 17 Process Flow Diagram for the Production of Propylene Glycol from the Hydration of Propylene Oxide .......................................................................................................60 FIGURE 18 Conventional Production of 1,3-Propanediol ...........................................................64 FIGURE 19 Conventional Production of Acrylic