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Process Systems Engineering for the systematic integration of biobased industries and renewables in the context of circular economy
Professor Antonis Kokossis, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece and Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professor at Imperial College, London
Abstract
The design of biorefineries from pilots and installed facilities bears tremendous social and economic benefits. By 2020, Bloomberg predicts that, only in Europe, there would be around 1,000 of such new units bringing €32.3 trillion revenues and 1 million new jobs. Process systems engineering has a pivotal and critical role in the development of biorefineries. The general view is increasingly supported by results and analysis that prove the significance of systems engineering in future developments. The design and synthesis of biorefineries constitutes a complex problem challenged to cope with the large and unknown product portfolios as they arise from different chemical itineraries and processing paths (value chain analysis) as well as process engineering options to select units and integrate them into a plant (process synthesis, process integration). In all cases, the designs are required to match maximum efficiencies in the use of materials/energy and to assess uncertainties in processing and economic parameters that may affect the selected designs and the level of integration. The presentation explains a systems framework tested on real-life applications. The work combines methods in process synthesis and integration, optimization and process modelling. At a conceptual level, process synthesis determines process and products to use, enabling a systematic screening with a simultaneous approach and the systematic use of optimization. Process integration, integrates for maximum efficiency in raw materials and energy, as well as for the maximum performance against environmental targets. Process flowsheeting validates with process simulation and enables improvements with parametric optimization. The coordinated use of the systems methods constitutes a significant advancement in the state of the art, currently relying on case-by-case analysis (flowsheeting) or the experimentation with commercial simulators.
The systematic methodology is already applied to several real-life biorefineries that include lignocellulosic and oleochemical biorefineries, halophytic algal biorefineries and, more recently, waste biorefineries. The lignocellulosic applications involve chemistry paths with 70-odd chemicals that include basic intermediates (sugars, lignin, ethylene, oils), bulk chemicals (ethanol, butanol, propanol, isopropanol), bio-based polymers (PVC, resins, polyamides, PEIF, polyacrylates, PUs), and a wide range of chemicals (xylitol, xylonic acid, itaconic acid, sorbitol, isosorbide, hydrogel etc.). Preliminary results are often impressive. Other than systematically screening and scoping integrated paths for the plant, the analysis reduces energy by 70% and the water use by 50-60%. Research is strongly coordinated with LCA. Results demonstrate that, unless fully integrated, biorefineries remain unsustainable. Instead, fully integrated biorefineries stand as viable and operational options, offering a strong promise to the development of sustainable industries in the future.
The development of the system framework relied on a new generation of methods that combine synthesis and process integration at different levels, further building high-throughput capacities using machine learning and ontology engineering. The applications are rich in opportunities to combine reaction and separation (in-situ product recovery for industrial biotechnology; additive manufacturing in CO2 valorization etc.). Semantics and ontology engineering are intended to compound the screening of engineering options with a parallel screening for materials, strains, resources, and chemistries (primarily synthetic biology with process engineering). Design work is being recently extended to address retrofit applications with a purpose to upgrade first generation plants into second (or higher generation) biorefineries. Work in progress includes data modelling to produce ex-ante LCA technology and the use of machine learning for multiclass classification and surrogate models. Biorefineries are also extended to address waste as resource. In this context the methodology is tested in applications of Industrial Symbiosis where the biorefineries are deployed to explore links (mass and energy exchanges) between industries and resources available at urban sites. Results and applications will be shared from recent work to evaluate the bioenergy potential at four different EU ports.
Biography
Professor Kokossis holds a Diploma in Chemical Engineering from NTUA and a PhD from Princeton University where he worked under the supervision of late Prof. Christodoulos Floudas. He returned to his alma mater in 2009 following an overseas academic career in UK, mainly at the University of Manchester (formerly UMIST). He holds expertise in process systems design and process integration, recently with a strong emphasis on renewable energy systems, process intensification and the design of biorefineries and industrial symbiosis networks. His research has addressed the design of multiphase reactors, complex separation and reactive-separation systems, energy and power networks, and environmental problems across a wide spectrum of applications (water reuse, recycle, and regeneration systems, wastewater management, gasification, waste to energy projects). He has established collaboration with several industrial companies (UOP, ICI, Bayer, Mitsubishi, Exxon, Eastman, MW Kellogg, BP Oil, Unilever, Chimar, BPF, CIMV, DSM, Arkema, Granherne, Linnhoff-March) and graduated over 30 PhD and 70 MSc students. He holds 142 communications in International conferences, 129 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and 70 invited lectures in conferences universities, and multinational companies. He is National Representative of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the National Representative of the IBISBA EU research infrastructure on Industrial Biotechnology, the Greek Secretary for Research and Technology in Climate Change (GSRT), and the Computer Aided Process Engineering (CAPE) Group of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE). Since 2020 he is the scientific director of Symbiolabs, a spin-off company that relies on AI and data technologies to promote renewable applications and social engagement in the context of circular economy. He is recently elected as an EFCE Charity Trustee and an EFCE Executive Board Member.