Optimal Reconfiguration of a Sugar Cane Industry to Yield an Integrated Biorefinery

Optimal Reconfiguration of a Sugar Cane Industry to Yield an Integrated Biorefinery

Sergio I. Martínez-Guido1, J. Betzabe González-Campos2, José M. Ponce-Ortega1*, Fabricio Nápoles-Rivera1, Mahmoud M. El-Halwagi3,4

1 Chemical Engineering Department, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Edificio V1, Ciudad Universitaria, Morelia, Michoacán, México, 58030.

2 Institute for Chemical and Biological Researches, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Edificio B1, Ciudad Universitaria, Morelia, Michoacán, México, 58030.

3 Chemical Engineering Department, Texas A&M University, College Station TX, 77843, USA

4 Adjunct Faculty at the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

ELECTRONIC INFORMATION FILE

The next tables represent the life cycle analysis (Tables 1-8), and assess the environmental impact through the Eco-indicator-99 methodology of all the activities that are associated to the bioethanol and sugar cane production; The calculations were performed taking as basis the Scenario B (100% of sugar production and bioethanol production from all the residues).

Noticed that the quantity of each compound was measured per kg/ha, kg/y; and the activities associated to sugar cane farming are separated between the area that is currently cultivated and the area that can be used for this activity. These calculations were performed for all the cases.

In order to assess the life cycle of each activity associated to the supply chain it is necessary to consider the damages that the process generates through the fluxes of each compound multiplied by an individual factor that is proposed in the Eco-indicator-99 methodology (See Tables 9-11).

Table 1. Life cycle analysis of soil preparation.

Inputs / Quantity (kg/ha) / Quantity (kg/total production (y)) / New area / Current area
Calcium carbonate (from CaCO3) / 47.2 / 1,730,000 / 117,600 / 1,613,000
Diesel / 1.7 / 63,160 / 4,292 / 58,867
Crude oil (from diesel) / 0.2 / 7,138 / 485 / 6,653
A) Pesticides / 0.05 / 1,945 / 132 / 1,814
Renewable resources
Water (from diesel CaCO3) / 4,170 / 152,905,000 / 10,392,000 / 142,513,000
Energy consumption / Quantity (MJ/ha) / Quantity (MJ/total production (y)) / New Area / Current area
Unspecified energy (from diesel) / 4.720E-04 / 17 / 1.1 / 16.1
Outputs / Quantity (kg/ha) / Quantity (kg/total production(y)) / New area / Current area
Emissions to air
CO2 (from diesel CaCO3) / 1.1 / 74,189 / 37,094 / 37,094
Discharge to water
Cl- (from diesel CaCO3) / 4.543E-04 / 31 / 15.5 / 15.5
Pb (from diesel CaCO3) / 3.127E-04 / 21 / 10.6 / 10.6
SO4 (from diesel CaCO3) / 3.068E-04 / 21 / 10.4 / 10.4

Table 2. Life cycle analysis of sugar cane plantation.

Inputs / Quantity (kg/ha) / Quantity (kg/total production(y)) / New area / Current area
Nonrenewable resources
Diesel / 1.6 / 58,401 / 3,969 / 54,432
Crude oil IDEMATH (from diesel) / 0.13 / 4,758 / 323 / 4,435
Crude oil ETH (from diesel) / 6.490E-02 / 2,379 / 162 / 2,217
B) Pesticides / 2.950E-02 / 1,081 / 73 / 1,008
Renewable resources
Sugar cane (biomass) / 330 / 12,113,000 / 823,200 / 11,290,000
Water (from diesel) / 2.596E-02 / 951 / 64.6 / 887
Energy consumption / Quantity (MJ/ha) / Quantity (MJ/total production (y)) / New Area / Current area
Unspecified energy / 0.26 / 9,733 / 661 / 9,072
Outputs / Quantity (kg/ha) / Quantity (kg/total production(y)) / New area / Current area
Emissions to air
CO2 (from diesel) / 0.7 / 25,523 / 1,734 / 23,788
NOx (from diesel) / 8.850E-03 / 324 / 22 / 302
Discharge to water
Oil (from diesel) / 1.121E-05 / 0.40 / 0.03 / 0.4

Table 3. Life cycle analysis of the chemical application to the crop.

Inputs / Quantity (kg/ha) / Quantity (kg/total production(y)) / New area / Current area
Nonrenewable resources
Calcium carbonate / 28.3 / 1,038,000 / 70,560 / 967,680
Nitrogen Ntotal / 6.9 / 254,368 / 17,287 / 237,081
Phosphorus P2O5 / 3.3 / 121,993 / 8,290 / 113,702
Potassium K2O / 8.7 / 320,124 / 21,756 / 298,368
Diesel / 1.1 / 41,097 / 2,793 / 38,304
c) Pesticides / 0.4 / 14,708 / 999 / 13,708
Renewable resources / 0
Water (from diesel) / 280,564 / 10,285,778,790 / 699,034,000 / 9,586,745,000
Energy consumption / Quantity (MJ/ha) / Quantity (MJ/total production (y)) / New area / Current area
Electrical energy / 1.3 / 48,018 / 3,263 / 44,755
Unspecified energy (from diesel) / 0.4 / 14,275 / 970 / 13,305
Outputs / Quantity (kg/ha) / Quantity (kg/total production (y)) / New area / Current area
Emissions to air
CO2 (from diesel) / 1.5 / 56,021 / 3,807 / 52,214
Discharge to water
Des-liming emissions / 33 / 1,230,000 / 83,569 / 1,146,000
Demagnetization emissions / 27 / 1,006,000 / 68,355 / 937,440
Flotation emissions / 3.8 / 140,595 / 9,555 / 131,040
N / 1.4 / 50,830 / 3,454 / 47,376

Table 4. Life cycle for harvesting.

Inputs / Quantity (kg/ha) / Quantity (kg/total production (y)) / New area / Current area
Nonrenewable resources
Diesel / 18 / 677,884 / 46,069 / 631,814
Crude oil IDEMATH (from diesel) / 15 / 558,486 / 37,955 / 520,531
Crude oil ETH (from diesel) / 3.7 / 137,134 / 9,319 / 127,814
Renewable resources
Water (from diesel) / 0.8 / 27,902 / 1,896 / 26,006
Energy consumption / Quantity (MJ/ha) / Quantity (MJ/total production (y)) / New Area / Current area
Unspecified energy / 59 / 2,179,000 / 148,102 / 2,031,000
Outputs / Quantity (kg/ha) / Quantity (kg/total production(y)) / New area / Current area
Emissions to air
CO2 (from diesel) / 67 / 2,449,000 / 166,462 / 2,283,000
NOx (from diesel) / 5 / 201,375 / 13,685 / 187,689
CH4 / 2.5 / 92,143 / 6.262 / 85,881
CO / 0.4 / 13,626 / 926 / 12,700
NO2 / 0.2 / 6,272 / 426 / 5,846
Hydrocarbons no CH4 / 0.1 / 4,109 / 279 / 3,830

Table 5. Life cycle for bioethanol production.

Inputs / Quantity (kg/y)
Nonrenewable resources
Sulfuric acid / 48,849
Renewable resources
Water / 512,307,000
Steam / 11,878,000
Energy consumption / Quantity (MJ/y)
Electric energy / 5,349,000
Outputs / Quantity (kg/y)
Discharge to water
H2SO4 / 48,849

Table 6. Life cycle of electric energy cogeneration.

Inputs / Quantity (kg/y)
Renewable resources
Water / 63,169,000
Nonrenewable resources
Lubricant / 43
Emissions to air
Particulate matter / 7,601
NOx / 6,392
Energy production / Quantity (MJ/y)
Electrical energy / 10,538,000

Table 7. Life cycle of bioethanol distribution.

Inputs / Quantity (kg/y)
Nonrenewable resources
Diesel / 5,744
Energy consumption / Quantity (MJ/y)
Unspecified energy (from diesel) / 2,461
Outputs / Quantity (kg/y)
Emissions to air
CO2 (from diesel) / 2,245
NOx (from diesel) / 43

Table 8. Life cycle of bioethanol use.

Inputs / Quantity (kg/y)
Emissions to air
NOx / 47,078

Table 9. Environmental impact: Damage to the human health.

Damage category / Human health (Eco-points/y)
Impact category / Carcinogens / Respiration
organics / Respiration
inorganics / Climate
change / Radiation / Ozone
deployed / Sub-Total
Soil preparation / *NA / 27.5 / - / 1.1 / 14.7 / - / 1,517 / 1,560
*AA / 377.5 / - / 14.8 / 202 / - / 20,813 / 21,407
Sugar cane plantation / NA / 225,136 / - / 50.7 / 9.4 / - / - / 225,196
AA / 3,088,000 / - / 695.5 / 129 / - / - / 3,088,000
Chemical application / NA / 106 / - / - / 20.7 / - / 4,265 / 4,391
AA / 1,512 / - / - / 284 / - / 58,492 / 60,288
Harvesting / NA / - / 209 / 32,457.6 / 1,621 / - / 25 / 34,313
AA / - / 2,880 / 445,132 / 22,232 / - / 342 / 470,587
Sugar production / 689 / 2.2 / 49,316 / 426 / 11.8 / 0.12 / 50,446
Bioethanol production / - / - / 138,732 / - / - / - / 138,732
Cogeneration / - / - / 14,702 / - / - / - / 14,702
Distribution / - / - / 99.3 / 12.2 / - / - / 111
Bioethanol use / - / - / 108,280 / - / - / - / 108,280

*NA= New area; *AA= Current area.

Table 10. Environmental impact: Damage to the ecosystem quality.

Damage category / Ecosystem quality (Eco-points/y)
Impact category / Eco-toxic
Emissions / Acidification / Land
use / Sub-Total
Soil preparation / NA / 518 / 0.06 / 263,718 / 264,236
AA / 7,10 / 0.86 / 3,617,000 / 3,624,000
Sugar cane plantation / NA / 5,317 / 9.8 / - / 5,327
AA / 72,924 / 134 / - / 73,058
Chemical application / NA / - / 1,036 / - / 1,036
AA / - / 14,216 / - / 14,216
Harvesting / NA / 1.3 / 97.6 / - / 98.9
AA / 17.7 / 1,338 / - / 1,356.249
Sugar production / 294 / 158 / 53,921 / 54,375
Bioethanol production / - / 7,933 / - / 7,933
Cogeneration / - / 2,844 / - / 2,844
Distribution / - / 19.2 / - / 19.2
Bioethanol use / - / 20,950 / - / 13

*NA= New area; *AA= Current area.

Table 11. Environmental impact: Damage to the resources.

Damage category / Resources (Eco-points/y)
Impact category / Minerals / Fossil fuels / Sub-Total / TOTAL
Soil preparation / NA / - / 1,003 / 1,003 / 266,800
AA / - / 35,381,000 / 35,381,000 / 39,026,000
Sugar cane plantation / NA / - / 84.4 / 84.4 / 230,523
AA / - / 1,188 / 1,188 / 3,161,464
Chemical application / NA / - / 24.1 / 24 / 5,452
AA / - / 329 / 329 / 74,834
Harvesting / NA / - / 7,566 / 7,566 / 41,978
AA / - / 103,765 / 103,765 / 575,709
Sugar production / 213 / 4,051 / 4,264 / 109,087
Bioethanol production / - / 0.4 / 0.4 / 146,666
Cogeneration / - / 36,047 / 36,047 / 53,594
Distribution / - / 28 / 28.1 / 158
Bioethanol use / - / - / - / 129,230
43,822,000

*NA= New area; *AA= Current area.