Life cycle assessment of bio-based levoglucosan production from cotton straw through fast pyrolysis

Wang, J., You, S. , Lu, Z., Chen, R. and Xu, F. (2020) Life cycle assessment of bio-based levoglucosan production from cotton straw through fast pyrolysis. Bioresource Technology, 307, 123179. (doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123179) (PMID:32222688)

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the environmental impacts (i.e. global warming potential (GWP) and resource depletion (RD)) of the bio-based levoglucosan production process through fast pyrolysis of cotton straw via life cycle assessment (LCA). An LCA model consisting of feedstock transportation, biomass pretreatment, fast pyrolysis, bio-oil transportation, bio-oil recovery and levoglucosan extraction was developed. Results indicated that GWP and RD of bio-based levoglucosan production were approximately 2 and 32.5 times less than that of the petroleum-based counterpart. Sensitivity analysis showed that the GWP and RD of levoglucosan production were highly sensitive to plant size, hydrochloric acid usage, cooling energy, levoglucosan yield and bio-oil yield. The results of this research could provide a framework for robust decision making at an industrial level, which is useful for the commercial-scale production of levoglucosan.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: You, Dr Siming
• Authors: Wang, J., You, S., Lu, Z., Chen, R., and Xu, F.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: Bioresource Technology
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0960-8524
• ISSN (Online): 1873-2976
• Published Online: 13 March 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 Elsevier
• First Published: First published in Bioresource Technology 307:123179
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher