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BSE 480 BIORESOURCE CAPSTONE DESIGN
First Report Requirements
Literature Review and Critical Issues
The first task in the project is reviewing the literature on the subject, acquiring whatever data are
necessary for the design and laying out a design plan. For your first progress report (due
January 19th) you are to provide a report on what information is available in the literature (or
from other sources) for your design, and a list of critical issues that you think will need to be
addressed to complete this design exercise. We will discuss the literature review and the critical
issues when we meet on the 19th. In addition, we will discuss how each of these issues may be
resolved. A thorough understanding of what data are available will be needed to discuss
resolution of the questions. It is imperative that your literature review be complete. Finally, as a
group, we will come up with an overall problem statement and a list of critical issues that apply
to the entire design exercise.
For this 1st review you should be focusing on the following questions:
1. What technologies are used to produce ethanol/glycols from sugars?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these technologies?
3. What are the raw material (e.g. purity) requirements for these technologies?
a. Fermentation inhibitors, catalyst poison
4. What are the product purity requirements?
5. How are the raw materials and product streams cleaned up (fractionated) to meet purity
requirements?
6. What are the potential impacts of removing sugars from the red liquor stream (issue for
“ethanol” group)?
7. What are the markets for ethanol and glycols?
a. How much is sold and for how much $$.
Planning Report
In addition to defining the problem, you will need to begin mapping out how you will do the
project. In this first report, you should outline what you will be doing over the quarter, and how
you will be doing it. The following expands into more details the kind of information that is
expected in the planning report.
General Information:
There are two parts to the planning report. The first part of the report deals with group goals
(milestones) through the balance of the project. A time line should identify when goals or
milestones are to be completed. Milestones and goals can be considered significant steps toward
completion of the project. As an example, you might indicate at what point your group will have
determined all the process or product alternatives to be considered. Another goal might be when
the first flow sheet is to be completed. A third goal might be when the preliminary capitol cost
estimates will be complete and conveyed to the others in the class. A fourth goal might be when
your group finishes with the first draft of the final report.
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The second part of the planning report will focus on the group assignments for the project. The
group time line will provide more detail on the work to be done. Here group assignments are
made indicating at what point group projects will be completed throughout the balance of the
project. This part of the report needs to be especially detailed. It is unsatisfactory to indicate
over the next two weeks that some group is going to work on the reactor system. Instead, that
two-week period should be broken into segments with specific goals. For example, the
conversion processing conditions will be established and a report written to the group giving the
possible process conditions. A second goal would then to develop flow diagrams of various
process configurations. Each task should have a clear objective, who is responsible, and when it
will get done.
In preparing this group planning report, keep in mind the overall picture provided by the design
goals. Always strive to provide as much detail as possible. By doing so you not only provide
yourself and your other group members with an idea of what will be done when, you will also
give yourself an idea of the scope of the project and be better able to assign it an appropriate
amount of time in the project planning. By providing details of what is expected, you should not
have misunderstandings about missing information or using incorrect assumptions.
While we expect that these planning reports be made as accurate as possible, we also expect that
they will change and deadlines may turn out to be unrealistic. That does not mean, however, that
repeated missing of deadlines is satisfactory.
The planning report should be laid out in the form of a table with the columns representing time,
the rows should be major tasks and milestones within your part of the project. Examples below
show how the time line can be presented.
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Objective
7/2008
1/ 2009
7/2009
1/2010
7/2010
Task 1. Development of the
versatile and robust pretreatment
process for mixed feedstock
a) Source necessary biomass
b) Optimize steam pretreatment
conditions
c) Complete in-depth comparison of
SSF and SHF processes
Task 2. Hydrogenation of pentose
sugars and separation of mixed
glycols
a) Complete equipment set-up and
start-up trials
b) Decontamination of pentose rich,
post fermentation stream
c) Establish best catalysis and
process conditions for pentose
sugar streams containing hexoses
and other potential contaminants
d) Develop optimized separation
train for glycols and alcohols
Task 3. Aspen model and technoeconomic evaluation
a) Develop Aspen models for
primary unit operations and support
utilities
b) Assemble complete process
simulaitons from unit operations
models
c) Update and revise process
models based on experimental data
from tasks 1 and 2.
d) Optimize process based on final
data from tasks 1 and 2. Assess
technial and economic feasiblity
Figure 6. Project schedule broken down by tasks and major milestones.
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1/2011
7/2011
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Table 1. Project milestones with quantifiable measure of performance and deliverables.
Milestone
Task I: Biomass
decomposition and ethanol
production
a) Source necessary biomass
b) Optimize steam
pretreatment conditions
c) Complete in-depth
comparison of SSF and SHF
processes
Task II: Hydrogenation of
C5 sugars and separation
of mixed glycols
a) Complete equipment setup and start-up trials
b) Decontamination of
pentose rich, post
fermentation stream
c) Establish best catalysis
and process conditions for
pentose sugar streams
containing hexoses and other
potential contaminants
d) Develop optimized
separation train for glycols
and alcohols from actual
process streams
Task III: Aspen model and
techno-economic evaluation
a) Develop Aspen models for
primary unit operations and
support utilities
b) Assemble complete
process simulaitons from unit
operations models
c) Update and revise process
models based on
experimental data from tasks
1 and 2.
d) Optimize process based on
final data from tasks 1 and 2.
Assess technial and
economic feasiblity
Quantifiable performance measures
Adequate (~60kg) wheat straw and poplar are
obtained for the project
Process conditions that result in 90% recovery of
hexoses and pentoses, 90% of the theoretical
maximum ethanol yield from hexoses, have less
than 10% non-sugar organics in pentose streams
Operational data and product yields from both
processes to be used in modeling analysis
Deliverables
Definition of technology to generate
process with 90% recovery of hexoses and
pentoses, 90% of the theoretical maximum
ethanol yield from hexoses, have less than
10% non-sugar organics in pentose
streams
Recommendation of which process
technology to adopt and associated
optimal processing conditions
All equipment will be functional. Thorough safety
audit will be complete
Pentose stream will be clean enough to process
without significant catalytic degradation
Sufficiently clean pentose stream for
catalytic conversion to glycols
Catalysts and conditions that result in good glycol
yields will be determined
85% conversion of pentoses to glycols. Over 40%
of glycols produced will be propylene glycol
Appropriate catalyst and process and
reaction conditions to achieve 85%
conversion of sugars to glycols and
product mix that is over 40% glycol.
Separation methodology that yields glycols with
sufficient purity for commercial use; 98.6%
Separation process design that results in
98.6% purity for major final products.
Aspen plus models of all major process unit
operations
Working simulations of major biorefinery
unit operations
Complete biorefinery simulations
Complete simulation that is internally
consistent and matches results published
in the literature
Identification of key variables for
economic and environmental performance.
Quantification of acceptable range of these
variables for profitable operation
An optimized process that approaches
100% energy self sufficient and has an
ROI in the range of 20%
Complete assessment of sensitivity to key
economic and environmental factors
Optimized process configuration. Final technical
and economic assessment of proposed process.
Desired process needs to produce 100% of its
energy needs internally and has a return on
investment in the range of 20
%
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Specific items needed for Report #1:
A written report that reviews the pertinent literature and provides a project time line. The report
should also specifically say what will be accomplished in the next two weeks and who is
responsible for what. I also want to see a list critical issues you think need to be addressed.
Each group will also be responsible for making a PowerPoint presentation on the 19th.
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