EP3684888A1 - Systèmes écoénergétiques comprenant une compression de vapeur pour usines de biocarburants ou de produits biochimiques - Google Patents

Systèmes écoénergétiques comprenant une compression de vapeur pour usines de biocarburants ou de produits biochimiques

Info

Publication number
EP3684888A1
EP3684888A1 EP17925687.0A EP17925687A EP3684888A1 EP 3684888 A1 EP3684888 A1 EP 3684888A1 EP 17925687 A EP17925687 A EP 17925687A EP 3684888 A1 EP3684888 A1 EP 3684888A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
distillation
vapor
energy
vapor compression
unit
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP17925687.0A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP3684888A4 (fr
Inventor
Lynn Crawford
William SCHAFER III
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Energy Integration Inc
Original Assignee
Energy Integration Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US15/711,699 external-priority patent/US11458413B2/en
Application filed by Energy Integration Inc filed Critical Energy Integration Inc
Publication of EP3684888A1 publication Critical patent/EP3684888A1/fr
Publication of EP3684888A4 publication Critical patent/EP3684888A4/fr
Pending legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
    • C10G—CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
    • C10G7/00—Distillation of hydrocarbon oils
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01D—SEPARATION
    • B01D1/00—Evaporating
    • B01D1/28—Evaporating with vapour compression
    • B01D1/284—Special features relating to the compressed vapour
    • B01D1/2856—The compressed vapour is used for heating a reboiler or a heat exchanger outside an evaporator
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01D—SEPARATION
    • B01D3/00—Distillation or related exchange processes in which liquids are contacted with gaseous media, e.g. stripping
    • B01D3/001—Processes specially adapted for distillation or rectification of fermented solutions
    • B01D3/002—Processes specially adapted for distillation or rectification of fermented solutions by continuous methods
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01D—SEPARATION
    • B01D3/00—Distillation or related exchange processes in which liquids are contacted with gaseous media, e.g. stripping
    • B01D3/14—Fractional distillation or use of a fractionation or rectification column
    • B01D3/143—Fractional distillation or use of a fractionation or rectification column by two or more of a fractionation, separation or rectification step
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
    • C10G—CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
    • C10G7/00—Distillation of hydrocarbon oils
    • C10G7/12—Controlling or regulating
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12P—FERMENTATION OR ENZYME-USING PROCESSES TO SYNTHESISE A DESIRED CHEMICAL COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION OR TO SEPARATE OPTICAL ISOMERS FROM A RACEMIC MIXTURE
    • C12P7/00—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds
    • C12P7/02—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds containing a hydroxy group
    • C12P7/04—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds containing a hydroxy group acyclic
    • C12P7/06—Ethanol, i.e. non-beverage
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12P—FERMENTATION OR ENZYME-USING PROCESSES TO SYNTHESISE A DESIRED CHEMICAL COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION OR TO SEPARATE OPTICAL ISOMERS FROM A RACEMIC MIXTURE
    • C12P7/00—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds
    • C12P7/02—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds containing a hydroxy group
    • C12P7/04—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds containing a hydroxy group acyclic
    • C12P7/16—Butanols
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
    • C10G—CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
    • C10G2300/00—Aspects relating to hydrocarbon processing covered by groups C10G1/00 - C10G99/00
    • C10G2300/40—Characteristics of the process deviating from typical ways of processing
    • C10G2300/4056—Retrofitting operations
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E50/00—Technologies for the production of fuel of non-fossil origin
    • Y02E50/10—Biofuels, e.g. bio-diesel
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
    • Y02P20/00—Technologies relating to chemical industry
    • Y02P20/50—Improvements relating to the production of bulk chemicals
    • Y02P20/59—Biological synthesis; Biological purification
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
    • Y02P70/00—Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
    • Y02P70/10—Greenhouse gas [GHG] capture, material saving, heat recovery or other energy efficient measures, e.g. motor control, characterised by manufacturing processes, e.g. for rolling metal or metal working

Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to processes, systems, and apparatus for recovery and refinement of bio-products from bio-fermentation plants requiring distillation.
  • Examples of regulation impacting energy consumers and producers include California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and the U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan.
  • the LCFS models life cycle fuel pathways to assign a Carbon Intensity (CI) to fuels that reflects a fuel's carbon dioxide emissions.
  • CI Carbon Intensity
  • a fuel producer's pathway, reflecting the CI for their process, generates credits or requires the purchase of credits from other producers to meet California's CI targets. These credits are traded on an exchange that establishes their value and permits monetization by producers. Improvements in process energy efficiency are directly rewarded through the LCFS system, incentivizing energy efficiency investments. This system, and similar systems under consideration by governmental authorities, directly reward producers for reducing their energy requirements, even when low energy prices provide little or no incentive to make such investments.
  • Bio-fermentation products which include biofuels, are the result of the investment of energy by growing a biological raw material which is then converted by chemical processing to a purified liquid fuel, with each step requiring energy- intensive stages which include distillation.
  • Conventional, first-generation methods employed at a bio-distillery plant expend significant energy in distillation (including distillation, evaporations, and possibly dehydrations) and drying. The inefficiency of these methods negatively impacts producer economics as well as the environmental footprint ascribed to the process.
  • Some variations of the invention provide an energy-efficient system configured for a distillery or biorefinery, wherein the distillery or biorefinery is capable of converting biomass into a biofuel or biochemical, and wherein the distillery or biorefinery includes a distillation unit configured for distillation to purify the biofuel or biochemical, the system comprising:
  • a vapor compression sub-system comprising a mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) unit and/or a thermal vapor recompression (TVR) unit, wherein the vapor compression sub-system is configured to recover latent heat and provide a reduction in process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery; and
  • an optional combined heat and power (CHP) sub-system having a CHP engine, configured to provide mechanical, electrical, and/or thermal energy for driving the vapor compression sub-system, wherein when the CHP sub-system is present, the CHP sub-system and the vapor compression sub-system are integrated and configured so that residual waste heat of the CHP engine offsets process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery.
  • CHP combined heat and power
  • the vapor compression sub-system comprises multiple mechanical and/or thermal compressors or vapor jets, wherein cascaded heat to or from the distillation unit is integrated with multiple stillage evaporations and/or dehydration, and wherein compressed biofuel or biochemical vapors and generated steam are returned to the distillation unit within the system.
  • the vapor compression sub-system comprises multiple mechanical and/or thermal compressors or vapor jets, wherein cascaded heat to or from the distillation unit is integrated with multiple stillage evaporations including a first or last multiple evaporator, wherein compressed steam from the first evaporator is optionally split between the distillation unit and a part of the multiple stillage evaporations, and wherein a compressor stage is configured to cascade latent heat between the distillation unit and the multiple stillage evaporations.
  • the vapor compression sub-system comprises multiple mechanical and/or thermal compressors or vapor jets, wherein cascaded heat to or from multiple stillage evaporations to the distillation unit is integrated with compression of steam to or from at least one reboiler-evaporator to drive the distillation and partial evaporation, and/or wherein compressor stages are configured to cascade the latent heat from the distillation process unit into an evaporation unit.
  • the vapor compression sub-system comprises multiple mechanical and/or thermal compressors or vapor jets, wherein cascaded latent heat from the distillation process unit is integrated to drive vapor-phase dehydration of a vapor stream output of the distillation unit.
  • the energy-efficient system comprises a dryer configured for drying stillage derived from the distillation unit, wherein the vapor compression sub-system comprises both an MVR unit configured to recover the latent heat of the distillation and a TVR unit configured to recover latent heat from exhaust gases from the dryer.
  • the energy-efficient system comprises a dryer configured for drying stillage derived from the distillation unit, wherein the vapor compression sub-system comprises multiple mechanical and/or thermal compressors or vapor jets, and wherein cascaded latent heat from an exhaust of the dryer, recaptured by a reboiler-evaporator, is integrated to provide steam for other plant processes.
  • the CHP sub-system is present within the energy-efficient system, in some variations of the invention.
  • the CHP engine may be sized in concert with energy demand of the vapor compression subsystem and/or thermal energy demand of the distillery or biorefinery, wherein waste heat recovered by the CHP sub-system provides at least some of the thermal energy demand of the distillery or biorefinery.
  • the vapor compression sub-system comprises a TVR unit, wherein the CHP engine is sized in concert with motive vapor demand of the TVR unit.
  • distillery or biorefinery converts biomass into a biofuel or biochemical, and wherein the biofuel or biochemical is purified by distillation, the method comprising:
  • a vapor compression unit comprising a mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) unit and/or a thermal vapor recompression (TVR) unit to recover latent heat and provide a reduction in process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery; and
  • MVR mechanical vapor recompression
  • TVR thermal vapor recompression
  • a combined heat and power (CHP) system having a CHP engine to provide mechanical, electrical, and/or thermal energy for driving the vapor compression unit, wherein when the CHP system is present, (a) residual waste heat of the CHP engine offsets process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery, in conjunction with the vapor compression unit, and (b) integration of the vapor compression unit with the CHP system is balanced to optimize process energy requirements, process carbon intensity, and/or process energy costs.
  • CHP combined heat and power
  • the vapor compression unit comprises multiple mechanical and/or thermal vapor compressors or vapor jets, wherein cascaded latent heat from the distillation is integrated with multiple stillage evaporations and/or dehydration, and wherein compressed biofuel or biochemical vapors and generated steam are returned to the distillation.
  • the vapor compression unit comprises multiple mechanical and/or thermal vapor compressors or vapor jets, wherein cascaded latent heat from the distillation is integrated with multiple stillage evaporations including a first evaporator, wherein compressed steam from the first evaporator is optionally split between the distillation and a part of the multiple stillage evaporations, and wherein the distillation and at least a portion of the multiple stillage evaporations are operated at equal or near-equal pressure, thereby allowing a compressor stage to cascade the latent heat of evaporation between the distillation and the multiple stillage evaporations and optionally vapor-phase dehydration.
  • the vapor compression unit comprises multiple mechanical and/or thermal vapor compressors or vapor jets, wherein cascaded latent heat from multiple stillage evaporations to the distillation is integrated with compression of steam from at least one reboiler-evaporator to drive the distillation and partial evaporation, and wherein the distillation and the partial evaporation are operated such that evaporation pressure is higher than distillation pressure, thereby allowing compressor stages to cascade the latent heat of evaporation into the distillation.
  • compression of the distillation vapors is integrated with dehydration of distillation vapors at a sufficient pressure to generate a final product containing the biofuel or biochemical.
  • the vapor compression unit is sized or operated with a standard steam generator for reduction of thermal energy required in the distillation, evaporation, and/or dehydration, wherein the standard steam generator is operated at a reduced rate as a result of reduction in steam energy demand due to energy recovered by the vapor compression unit.
  • the CHP engine may be sized or operated in concert with energy demand of the vapor compression unit and thermal energy demand of the distillery or biorefinery, wherein at least some of the thermal energy demand of the distillery or biorefinery is provided by waste heat recovered by the CHP system.
  • the vapor compression unit comprises a TVR unit
  • the CHP engine is sized or operated in concert with thermal energy demand for producing steam or biochemical motive vapors to drive the TVR unit.
  • Integration of the vapor compression unit with the optional CHP system allows balancing of use in the distillery or biorefinery of process fuel energy, electrical energy unit price, and process carbon intensity, wherein the process energy costs are minimized based on relative market pricing of the process fuel energy and the electrical energy, and optionally wherein total process energy is not minimized.
  • the biofuel or biochemical is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, n-butanol, isobutanol, 2-butanol, tert-butanol, acetone, and combinations thereof.
  • FIG. 1 Each of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8,
  • FIG. 9, and FIG. 10 is a schematic drawing, showing process flows for a distillery or biorefinery, with three hashed boxed areas.
  • the first hashed line area is labeled as “Standard Distillery Section I”
  • the second hashed line area is labeled as “Compound TVR-CHP Section II” or “Compound MVR-CHP Section II", without limitation (Section II may also be referred to as “Compound MVR/TVR-CHP”
  • the third hashed line area is labeled as "Dryer Exhaust Heat MVR/TVR Section III", “Dryer Exhaust Heat TVR Section III", or “Dryer Exhaust Heat MVR Section III”, without limitation.
  • any instance of MVR or TVR may be replaced by TVR or MVR, respectively, in various embodiments.
  • Power used in driving vapor compression may be provided by combined heat and power (CHP) or any other source of power including, but not limited to, the utility grid, solar arrays, wind turbines, or other forms of power generation.
  • CHP combined heat and power
  • FIGS. 1 to 10 should be understood to represent this optionality of CHP. That is, while the drawings include CHP as being present, in alternative embodiments the CHP is replaced by (or augmented with) any other source of heat and/or power.
  • Section I encompasses a distillery flow diagram
  • Section II encompasses the added vapor compression (MVR and/or TVR) and the optional CHP of variations of the invention.
  • the schema splits Section I and Section II at the distillation tower, with standard steam-driven distillation on the left side of the tower in Section I and on the right side of the tower mechanical vapor compression with the optional combined heat and power (MVR/TVR-CHP) in Section II.
  • Section III is split from Sections I and II at the dryer drum having MVR/TVR heat recovery from the exhaust gases.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing in which Section II depicts a process wherein the waste heat from the optional CHP is used to generate process steam through Heat Recovery for Steam Generation (HRSG), with the generated steam being used to meet steam demands of the distillery.
  • HRSG Heat Recovery for Steam Generation
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing in which Section II depicts a process in which the waste heat from the optional CHP is used to generate process steam through Heat Recovery for Steam Generation (HRSG), with the generated steam being used to meet the steam demand of the distillery and with a portion of the optional CHP waste heat being used to directly dry the distillery co-products.
  • HRSG Heat Recovery for Steam Generation
  • FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing in which Section II depicts a process in which the waste heat from the optional CHP is exclusively used to directly dry the distillery co-products.
  • FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing in which Section II depicts a process in which the waste heat from the optional CHP is used to generate process steam by Heat Recovery for Steam Generation (HRSG), with the generated steam used to generate additional electrical power in a steam turbine to meet further electrical demand of the distillery or to sell onto the power grid.
  • HRSG Heat Recovery for Steam Generation
  • the low-pressure steam exiting the optional co-generation turbine is used as process steam to meet the process steam demand of the distillery.
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing in which Section II depicts a process in which the distillation vapors are passed to a multi-effect evaporation process with the steam from the final effect compressed and passed to the distillation. This integration of vapor compression with evaporation together with the optional CHP is implied for the process configurations described in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
  • FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing in which Section II depicts a process by which distillation vapors are passed to a multi-effect evaporation process with the biofuel or biochemical vapors condensing in the first effect.
  • the produced steam passes to multiple compressor stages, with the first compressor stage intake passing from the lowest-pressure effect evaporator, passing steam on to another effect where it is compressed and passes to the later evaporators and the distillation process.
  • the pressure of the distillation and the high-pressure evaporation effect are preferably operated at a common pressure, allowing one common compressor. This integration of vapor compression with evaporation is implied for the process configurations described in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
  • FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing in which Section II depicts a process by which the evaporation-generated steam vapors are passed into the distillation to drive the distillation process, with the resulting alcohol vapors being condensed in the condenser of Section I or passing to the vapor compression of Section II.
  • the evaporator steam passes to compressor stages, with the steam in the compressor stage intake coming from the effect of the evaporator, and the higher-pressure output steam of the compressor passing part of the steam back to the evaporator effect and part to the distillation.
  • the biofuel/biochemical vapors of the distillation process are passed to the intake of a compressor with the higher-pressure biofuel/biochemical vapors passing to a reboiler/evaporator and the generated steam passing to the distillation.
  • the pressure of the distillation and the high-pressure evaporation effect are operated preferably with the distillation at lower pressure than the evaporation, allowing the distillation alcohol compressed vapor pressure output and the evaporator steam compressed vapor output to have a common pressure to drive the distillation.
  • FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing in which Section II depicts a process by which the azeotrope vapors from a two-phase distillation system are being condensing in the condenser of Section I or passing to the vapor compression of Section II.
  • the azeotrope biofuel/biochemical vapors from the two-phase distillation pass into the compressor stages intake, and the higher-pressure output vapors of the compressors pass in part to the condensing side of a reboiler/evaporator which generates steam for the aqueous tower and the other part of the two-phase distillation.
  • the remaining biofuel/biochemical vapors of the distillation process pass to the intake to a compressor, resulting in an output of higher-pressure biofuel/biochemical vapors passing to a second reboiler/organic vaporizer, wherein the generated organic vapors pass to the organic distillation tower.
  • This integration of two-phase distillation with vapor compression driving a reboiler/evaporation for the aqueous distillation and vapor compression also driving the reboiler/organic vaporizer is implied for the process configurations together with optional CHP as described in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
  • FIG. 9 is a schematic drawing in which Section II depicts a process by which distillation vapors are passed to a vapor compression system, where a portion of the compressed distillation top product vapors pass to a multi-effect evaporation process with the azeotrope biofuel or biochemical vapors condensing.
  • the generated steam is returned to the distillation and the remaining vapors further compressed to the dehydration system, wherein the condensation of the biofuel/biochemical generated steam is returned to drive the biorefinery or distillery.
  • This integration of distillation vapor compression with dehydration vapor compression is implied for the process configurations described in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
  • FIG. 10 is a schematic drawing in which Section III depicts a process by which a portion of the sensible heat and condensable water vapors from the wet cake (stillage) dryer exhaust heat is recaptured to a reboiler-evaporator where the steam passes to a vapor compression system.
  • the compressed steam from the reboiler-evaporator may then be passed to other plant processes.
  • the optional integration of dryer exhaust heat recapture through vapor compression is implied for the process configurations described in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
  • MVR means mechanical vapor recompression
  • TVR means thermal vapor recompression
  • MVR/TVR means MVR and/or TVR. All instances of “vapor compression,” “vapor recompression,” MVR, TVR, MVR/TVR, and the like mean mechanical vapor recompression, thermal vapor recompression, or a combination thereof. Thermal vapor recompression may also be referred to as thermocompression or steam compression.
  • Some variations of the invention are premised on the realization that the energy consumed in bio-fermentation distillation can be reduced by process and system configurations that recycle distillation heat through the application of vapor compression and combined heat and power methods as disclosed herein.
  • the combination of vapor compression and combined heat and power is preferably configured as a fully redundant retrofit that leverages existing process equipment investment. Compression reduces the total thermal process energy requirement of the plant via recovering the otherwise rejected heats of vaporization, and the mechanical energy required in mechanical compression and/or thermal energy required in thermal compression can be optionally provided from combined heat and power methods. Electrical energy and waste heat of the optional combined heat and power system can be used to offset the plant's electrical demand and process thermal energy
  • the invention relates to the combination of distillation, compression, and optionally combined heat and power methods, wherein the total reduction of the purchased electrical and thermal process energy can be optimized through balancing energy usage and conversions, in a manner that minimizes the production energy usage, cost, and environmental impact per gallon of product generated.
  • the ratio of process electrical energy purchased from a power provider or provided through self- generation and the process thermal energy fuel purchased from a supplier may be managed through accounting for the costs of each form of energy relative to the production cost and reduction in usage available from the invention.
  • the invention provides the option of varying the amount of electrical power generated through the optional combined heat and power process to optimize process efficiency using electrical power purchases or self-generation to provide shortfalls or cyclic demands that either exceed the plant's capacity or impose inefficiencies that justify such purchases.
  • the waste heat of a combined heat and power system may be passed as recaptured heat to processes within and outside of the distillation stage.
  • the invention may, in some instances, utilize provided power and augment or eliminate the optional CHP system.
  • Provided power that is produced as a byproduct of another process or system, or power that better satisfies environmental goals, for example, may be used and the efficiency and cost effectiveness of a CHP system foregone in favor of other benefits.
  • limits on emissions may favor solar, wind, or utility grid provided power.
  • very low cost utility grid power that is competitive with CHP power generation costs and reduces the capital costs of the project by eliminating the need for CHP may better meet project economic goals.
  • Minimizing carbon intensity may favor powering the vapor compression with renewable, low carbon-intensity power generation options.
  • the meaningful and sizable reduction in process thermal energy usage of these plants through addition of the invention will also substantially reduce the carbon intensity ascribed to the plant's process.
  • the distillation energy in a standard bio-fermentation distillery without mechanical vapor compression represents from 40% to 60% of the total process energy.
  • Mechanical vapor compression when used in distillation, evaporation, dehydration, and drying, recycles latent heat by a closed heat pump, as disclosed for example in U.S. Patent Nos.
  • Distillation is generally the largest consumer of energy in a plant utilizing bio-fermentation due to the necessarily dilute beer produced by microorganisms.
  • the large amount of water in the beer must be separated from the desired product through distillation.
  • the distillation system is heated by steam produced from combusting a fuel in a boiler. Vapors collected from the distillation system are cooled in a condenser where they release their latent heat of condensation. This energy is lost to the condenser's cooling water that, in turn, releases its heat to the atmosphere.
  • the latent heat of condensation can be captured and transferred to water used to generate steam.
  • This generated steam from the reboiler can be directly recycled to the distillation tower, as described in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
  • the generated steam from the reboiler may be used to drive an evaporation system wherein pressure drops within the evaporation effects may require additional compression as described in FIG. 5.
  • the evaporation and distillation may be driven from a common compression system, passing steam to an evaporator operated at a common pressure with the distillation as described in FIG. 6.
  • the distillation compressor vapors pass to the reboiler as part of the evaporation, passing steam back to the distillation and the evaporation passing steam to the distillation as in FIG. 7.
  • the distillation vapors are partially condensed in the reboiler with the remaining vapors compressed for vapor-phase dehydration with the anhydrous vapor product of dehydration condensing in a reboiler with the generated steam passed back to the distillery or bio-refinery.
  • two-phase distillation compressor azeotrope vapors are balanced between two reboilers with a portion of the vapors condensing in one reboiler for water, which generates steam for driving the aqueous distillation tower, and the remaining compressed vapors passing to another reboiler for the organic alcohol to condense by producing organic vapors for driving the organic distillation tower as in FIG. 8.
  • the mechanical energy of the compression is typically equivalent to about 15% to 20% of the thermal energy required for the identical distillation process without compression.
  • the energy advantage in mechanical vapor compression will be typically about 5: 1, or in various embodiments, about 3 : 1, 4: 1, 5: 1, 6: 1, 7: 1 or higher.
  • the market values of thermal energy and electricity vary by market with electrical power costs and natural gas thermal energy costs showing a historic cost relationship per unit of energy of 3 : 1 to 8: 1.
  • the relative unit energy price relationship between thermal energy and electrical power determines the economic value of mechanical compression in distillation, evaporation, dehydration, and drying.
  • the investment costs of compression equipment are an additional determinant of the economic advantage of mechanical vapor compression versus thermal vapor compression or standard distillation. High electrical costs for driving the mechanical compression system may outweigh the savings provided by reduced thermal energy demand. Lower capital costs and low thermal energy costs may favor thermal vapor compression.
  • the thermal energy of the compression is typically equivalent to about 40% to 70% of the thermal energy required for the identical distillation process without vapor compression.
  • the energy advantage in thermal vapor compression will be typically about 1.5: 1, or in various embodiments, about 1.1 : 1, 1.2: 1, 1.3 : 1, 1.4: 1 or higher.
  • the invention integrates the advantage provided by reducing the cost of mechanical energy through use of the combined heat and power system with the reduced thermal energy required in the distillation system achieved by mechanical vapor compression.
  • the design's optimization is balanced between current energy pricing and expected future trends in energy pricing and environmental regulation.
  • the invention's focus on integration of mechanical vapor compression in distillation, evaporation, dehydration, and drying and combined heat and power provides multiple options for the design and sizing of the major components and uses of the waste heat from the combined heat and power.
  • Several examples are provided to demonstrate possible configurations of the integrated system utilizing mechanical vapor compression in distillation, evaporation, dehydration, and drying and combined heat and power.
  • Some variations of the present invention provide a method of modifying a distillery or biorefinery, wherein the distillery or biorefinery converts biomass into a biofuel or biochemical, and wherein the biofuel or biochemical is purified by distillation, the method comprising:
  • a vapor compression unit comprising a mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) unit and/or a thermal vapor recompression (TVR) unit to recover latent heat and provide a reduction in process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery; and
  • MVR mechanical vapor recompression
  • TVR thermal vapor recompression
  • a combined heat and power (CHP) system having a CHP engine to provide mechanical, electrical, and/or thermal energy for driving the vapor compression unit, wherein residual waste heat of the CHP engine offsets the process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery, wherein integration of the vapor compression unit with the optional CHP system is balanced to optimize process energy requirements, process carbon intensity, and/or process energy costs.
  • CHP combined heat and power
  • Some variations of the present invention provide a method of modifying a distillery or biorefinery, wherein the distillery or biorefinery converts biomass into a biofuel or biochemical, and wherein the biofuel or biochemical is purified by distillation, the method comprising:
  • a combined heat and power (CHP) system having a CHP engine to provide mechanical and electrical energy for driving the MVR unit and thermal energy for driving the TVR unit, wherein residual waste heat of the CHP engine (when the CHP system is present) offsets the process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery, wherein integration of the MVR and TVR units with the optional CHP system is balanced to optimize process energy requirements, process carbon intensity, and/or process energy costs.
  • CHP combined heat and power
  • the vapor compression unit comprises multiple mechanical or thermal vapor compressors, wherein cascaded heat from the distillation is integrated with multiple stillage evaporations, and wherein compressed biofuel or biochemical vapors and generated steam are returned to the distillation.
  • the vapor compression unit comprises multiple mechanical or thermal vapor compressors, wherein cascaded heat from the distillation is integrated with multiple stillage evaporations including a first evaporator, wherein compressed steam from the first evaporator is optionally split between the distillation and a part of the multiple stillage evaporations, and wherein the distillation and at least a portion of the multiple stillage evaporations are operated at equal or near-equal pressure, thereby allowing a compressor stage to cascade heat of evaporation between the distillation and the multiple stillage evaporations.
  • the vapor compression unit comprises multiple mechanical or thermal vapor compressors and/or a TVR unit comprising multiple vapor jets, wherein cascaded heat from multiple stillage evaporations to the distillation is integrated with compression of steam from at least one reboiler- evaporator (e.g., from two or more reboiler-evaporators whose output is combined) to drive the distillation and partial evaporation, wherein the distillation and the partial evaporation are operated such that evaporation pressure is higher than distillation pressure, thereby allowing compressor stages to cascade the heat of evaporation into the distillation.
  • reboiler- evaporator e.g., from two or more reboiler-evaporators whose output is combined
  • the vapor compression unit comprises multiple mechanical or thermal vapor compressors, wherein cascaded heat from the distillation is partially recompressed to a reboiler where the condensed distillation top product is recovered for reflux and the remaining vapors are passed to the dehydration, with the pressure of the vapors being sufficient (optionally, additional compressors are used) to raise the pressure as needed to drive the dehydration.
  • the vapor compression unit may be sized or operated with a standard steam generator to reduce thermal energy required in the distillation, and wherein the standard steam generator is operated at a reduced rate as a result of reduction in steam energy demand due to energy recovered by the vapor compression unit.
  • the optional CHP engine may be sized or operated in concert with (i) mechanical demand of the MVR unit, if present; (ii) thermal demand of the TVR unit, if present; and (iii) thermal energy demand of the distillery or biorefinery.
  • a TVR unit is present, at least some of the thermal energy demand of the TVR unit and distillery or biorefinery is optionally provided by waste heat recovered by the CHP system.
  • the integration of the vapor compression unit with the optional CHP system allows balancing of use in the distillery or biorefinery of process fuel energy and electrical energy unit price. For example, process energy costs may be minimized based on relative market pricing of the process fuel energy and the electrical energy. Optionally, total process energy is not minimized.
  • the integration of the vapor compression unit with the optional CFIP system allows minimization of carbon intensity of the distillery or biorefinery through selective usage of electricity and thermal fuel to minimize total carbon intensity of process energy.
  • process energy costs are not minimized based on relative market pricing of the process fuel energy and the electrical energy and the individual carbon intensities allocated to thermal and electrical process energy lifecycles.
  • the present invention also provides a process comprising, or adapted for, any of the disclosed methods.
  • the biofuel or biochemical may be selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, n-butanol, isobutanol, 2-butanol, tert-butanol, acetone, and combinations thereof.
  • the biofuel or biochemical may also be selected from organic acids, such as lactic acid, higher alcohols (e.g., C 5+ alcohols), alkanes, etc.
  • “biofuel,” “biochemical,” biofuel/biochemical” and the like shall refer to one or more fermentation products of interest. Co-products include, but are not limited to, DDG, DDGS, sugars, lignin, still bottoms, and energy.
  • the present invention provides systems configured to carry out the disclosed methods.
  • Some variations provide a distillery or biorefinery comprising such a system.
  • the system may be a retrofit to an existing plant.
  • the biorefinery is a greenfield plant.
  • the biomass feedstock may be selected from agricultural crops and/or agricultural residues.
  • agricultural crops are selected from starch-containing feedstocks, such as corn, wheat, cassava, rice, potato, millet, sorghum, or combinations thereof.
  • agricultural crops are selected from sucrose-containing feedstocks, such as sugarcane, sugar beets, or combinations thereof.
  • Lignocellulose biomass may also be used as the biomass feedstock.
  • Lignocellulose biomass includes, for example, plant and plant-derived material, vegetation, agricultural waste, forestry waste, wood waste, paper waste, animal- derived waste, poultry-derived waste, and municipal solid waste.
  • the biomass feedstock may include one or more materials selected from: timber harvesting residues, softwood chips, hardwood chips, tree branches, tree stumps, knots, leaves, bark, sawdust, off-spec paper pulp, cellulose, corn, corn stover, wheat straw, rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, switchgrass, miscanthus, animal manure, municipal garbage, municipal sewage, commercial waste, grape pumice, almond shells, pecan shells, coconut shells, coffee grounds, grass pellets, hay pellets, wood pellets, cardboard, paper, carbohydrates, plastic, and cloth.
  • Mixtures of starch-containing and/or sucrose-containing feedstocks with cellulosic feedstocks may be used.
  • distillery or biorefinery configured for a distillery or biorefinery, wherein the distillery or biorefinery is capable of converting biomass into a biofuel or biochemical, and wherein the distillery or biorefinery includes distillation configured to purify the biofuel or biochemical, the system comprising:
  • a vapor compression unit comprising a mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) sub-system and/or a thermal vapor recompression (TVR) sub-system configured to recover the latent heat in distillation, evaporation, dehydration, and/or drying and to provide a reduction in process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery; and (ii) optionally a combined heat and power (CHP) sub-system having a CHP engine, configured to provide mechanical, electrical, and /or thermal energy for driving the vapor compression unit, wherein the optional CHP sub-system and the vapor compression unit are integrated and configured so that residual waste heat of the CHP engine offsets process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery.
  • MVR mechanical vapor recompression
  • TVR thermal vapor recompression
  • distillery or biorefinery configured for converting biomass into a biofuel or biochemical, and wherein the distillery or biorefinery includes distillation configured to purify the biofuel or biochemical
  • the system comprising:
  • a mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) sub-system configured to recover latent heat in distillation, evaporation, dehydration, and/or drying and to provide a reduction in process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery;
  • a thermal vapor recompression (TVR) sub-system configured to recover latent heat in distillation, evaporation, dehydration, and/or drying and to provide a further reduction in process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery;
  • a combined heat and power (CHP) sub-system having a CHP engine, configured to provide mechanical and electrical energy for driving the MVR unit and thermal energy for driving the TVR unit, wherein the optional CHP subsystem with MVR and TVR units are integrated and configured so that residual waste heat of the CHP engine offsets process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery.
  • CHP combined heat and power
  • the vapor compression unit comprises multiple
  • the vapor compression unit comprises multiple MVR and/or TVR compressors , wherein cascaded heat from the distillation is integrated with multiple stillage evaporations, and wherein compressed biofuel or biochemical vapors and generated steam are returned to the distillation within the system.
  • the vapor compression unit comprises multiple MVR and/or TVR compressors , wherein cascaded heat from the distillation is integrated with multiple stillage evaporations including a first evaporator, wherein compressed steam from the first evaporator is optionally split between the distillation and a part of the multiple stillage evaporations, and wherein a compressor stage is configured to cascade heat of evaporation between the distillation and the multiple stillage evaporations.
  • the vapor compression unit comprises multiple
  • MVR and/or TVR wherein cascaded heat from multiple stillage evaporations to the distillation is integrated with compression of steam from at least one reboiler- evaporator to drive the distillation and partial evaporation, and wherein compressor stages are configured to cascade the heat of evaporation into the distillation.
  • An MVR unit may be configured with a standard steam generator to reduce thermal energy required in the distillation.
  • the optional CHP engine may be sized in concert with (i) mechanical demand of the MVR unit and (ii) thermal energy demand of the distillery or biorefinery.
  • the waste heat recovered by a CHP system optionally provides at least some of the thermal energy demand of the distillery or biorefinery, and may drive an optional TVR unit when present in conjunction with the MVR unit.
  • a TVR unit may be configured with a standard steam generator to reduce thermal energy required in the distillation.
  • the optional CHP engine may be sized in concert with (i) thermal demand of the TVR unit and (ii) thermal energy demand of the distillery or biorefinery.
  • the waste heat recovered by a CHP system optionally provides at least some of the motive vapor to drive a TVR vapor jet and/or provide thermal energy demand of the distillery or biorefinery.
  • distal refers to a bio-fermentation plant or process in which raw biomass is processed through stages leading to a fermentation stage and on to separation of the
  • biorefinery refers to a plant or process in which raw biomass is processed through stages leading to a fermentation stage and on to separation of the fermentation products using distillation separation as at least one stage for product purification, wherein the fermentation product may be any biofuel or biochemical, and wherein the biomass feedstock may be lignocellulosic biomass. All instances of “distillery” in this specification may be replaced with “biorefinery,” and vice-versa, in some embodiments.
  • total process energy refers to the thermal energy required to raise process steam by burning fuels, or direct heating of processes by burning fuels, plus the electrical energy required for mechanical power used in pumping, stirring, grinding, etc.
  • addition of mechanical vapor compression in distillation, evaporation, dehydration, and drying refers to a retrofit or augmentation of a standard distillery or biorefinery that uses a standard thermally driven distillation process, to a distillery or biorefinery enhanced with the option of diverting vapors into a mechanical vapor compression system integrated into the distillery or biorefinery, including a combined heat and power system.
  • Stage 1 A milling stage or device(s) which process biomass by physically dividing the feedstock materials with a grinding or extrusion process which exposes the internal parts of the feedstock;
  • Stage 2 A cooking stage which uses various combinations of controlled temperatures, pressures, stirring, and special chemical conditioning with acidic or basic chemicals, and/or enzymes (e.g., amylase or cellulase enzymes), for breaking polysaccharides into glucosides;
  • enzymes e.g., amylase or cellulase enzymes
  • Stage 3 A heat exchanger stage which cools the cook solution to fermentation temperatures and conversely heats post-fermentation products up to distillation temperatures;
  • Stage 4 A fermentation stage wherein the cook solution has biological agents introduced to ferment the sugars to the desired biochemical product(s);
  • Stage 5 A distillation stage, after the fermented products have been pre-heated in the heat exchanger of stage 3, where the biochemical top products are separated from the fermentation waters;
  • Stage 6 A condensation stage where the vapors from the distillation stage 5 are passed on to a cooling system where the latent heat is discarded, or where the vapors are mechanically compressed to recover the latent heat and cascade the heat to, or from, stages 7 and stage 8 ;
  • Stage 7 A stillage handling stage for the bottom product of the distillation or aqueous distillation stage 5, for recovering wet co-products of the fermentation to be further processed with possible drying and, potentially, evaporation to concentrate thin stillage;
  • Stage 8 An optional dehydration stage for the biochemical products from the distillation stage 5, if the distillation stage 5 does not sufficiently separate the biochemicals from the fermentation water to reach the desired purity;
  • Stage 9 An optional storage stage where the high-grade biochemical goes to storage, if the biochemical product is not immediately shipped from the plant (e.g., if not directly pumped into tank trucks or rail cars).
  • the "general distillery process” refers in total to mean the many stages which all require energy in the form of thermal/steam or mechanical/electrical, wherein the thermal and mechanical energy is in part or in full supplied by a combined heat and power plant.
  • the portion of the energy that is not provided from the combined heat and power plant is derived from purchased or self-generated power or fuel from a supplier as will be found in a plant without mechanical vapor compression in distillation, evaporation, dehydration, and drying and/or without combined heat and power, or in the case where the vapor compression in distillation, evaporation, dehydration, and drying and/or combined heat and power are not being used.
  • stage 5 The process energy distribution in the distillery depends on the aforementioned stages 1 through stage 9, with the exception of the distillation as stage 5, wherein the use of the mechanical vapor compression reduces the thermal-steam energy for the distillation, evaporation, and optionally dehydration. Distillation normally represents the largest energy-consuming stage in the distillery and therefore provides the largest potential opportunity for reducing the total energy of the process. With the exception of the mechanical and thermal energy demand of the distillation in stage 5, the other stages require lesser amounts of mechanical energy and/or thermal energy which may be met by the combined heat and power system.
  • FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 Examples of the different options available to supply the thermal- mechanical energy produced from the combined heat and power system to the distillery and dryer are shown in the ten schematic drawings in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
  • the thermal and mechanical -electrical distribution of the heat and power is proposed in varied uses for the distillery stages.
  • like numerals refer to like apparatus, streams, or unit operations.
  • the biomass flour passing from the duct 4 is mixed with process water by a process line 5, where the mixed flour and process water enters the cooking vessel 6.
  • a process line 5 where the mixed flour and process water enters the cooking vessel 6.
  • the application of temperature/pressure is delivered by a process steam line 7, and chemicals in a cooking vessel 6, proceeding with the chemical conversion to fermentable saccharides with the assistance of a stirring system 8.
  • the product of chemically converted slurry from the cooking vessel 6, passes via process line 9, to a heat exchanger 10, where the heat invested into the cook process is removed prior to the fermentation, since the fermentation typically occurs at lower temperatures than cooking.
  • the cook slurry after being cooled in the heat exchanger 10, is transported by a process line 11 which is controlled via a valve system 12, where the cook slurry passes to a battery of fermenters 13, which may be configured as a batch or continuous fermentation system, with a stirring system 14.
  • the biochemical product as a watery solution with other side products passes via a valve controlled line 15, to process line 16, where the biochemical product of the fermentation is heated via heat exchanger 10, that passes heat from the high- temperature cook slurry going into the fermentation system to the fermentation product leaving the fermentation system passing via a process line 17, to the distillation system 18 (FIGS. 1 through 7) or 18a (aqueous distillation system, FIG. 8).
  • the distillation system 18(a,b) includes an aqueous distillation system 18a and an organic distillation system 18b.
  • the distillation system 18 or 18(a,b) further processes the watery fermented solution to further separate desired biochemical products from the water.
  • the distillation system 18 or 18(a,b) yields a top product which has a biochemical product composition that in some embodiments approaches an azeotrope with water, or which may be near purity with respect to the desired biochemical.
  • the azeotrope or nearly pure biochemical product passes out of the distillation system as vapors via a vapor line(s) 19 or 19(a,b).
  • the distillation vapor line(s) 19 or 19(a,b) leads to two different process paths.
  • the existing process path is labeled "Section I.”
  • the retrofit or enhancement systems are labeled "Section ⁇ " and "Section III".
  • Section I the vapors pass to a standard distillation condenser 20, with the condensed distillation top product passing via liquid line 21 to a holding reflux tank 22 (reflux tank in FIG. 1 through FIG. 7 and FIG. 9, and phase-separation tank in FIG. 8).
  • a standard distillation condenser 20 with the condensed distillation top product passing via liquid line 21 to a holding reflux tank 22 (reflux tank in FIG. 1 through FIG. 7 and FIG. 9, and phase-separation tank in FIG. 8).
  • the distillation condenser system 20 is cooled by a cooling system 23,
  • cooling tower The cooling water from the cooling system 20 passes via a pipe 24 to a circulation pump 25, which pumps the cooling water by a valve controlled pipe 26, to the condenser 20, after which the cooling water is returned via a pipe 27 to the cooling system 23.
  • the distillation top product leaving the condenser passes via the liquid line 29(a,b) to the reflux tank/buffer and then to the distillation system 18(a,b) as the reflux. At least a portion of the top product, as a single-phase azeotrope (as in FIGS. 1 through 7 and 9), passes back to the distillation 18. In some embodiments, at least a portion of a phase-separable azeotrope (as in FIG. 8) passes as the total top product, via two separate streams based on the phase separation, passing back to the distillation towers; the heavy aqueous phase passes to the aqueous distillation 18a via liquid line 29a and the light organic phase passes to the organic distillation 18b via liquid line 29b.
  • the single-phase examples in FIG. 1 through FIG. 7 and FIG. 9 have the remainder of the condensed distillation top product from the distillation system 18 which is not passed as reflux is the final product, pure or near-pure biochemical or an azeotrope with water that passes via a liquid line 30 to the dehydration system 54.
  • Thin stillage is returned to the reboilers 43(a) and 43(b), resulting in thin stillage passing to lines 48(d) and 48(e), and the reboiler condensate from the generated steam passing as condensate to the cook stage via line 48(c).
  • the distillation system, 18 or 18(a,b) may in part be driven thermally by a steam generator 35, wherein the production steam passes via a steam line 36, with a control valve 37, potentially serving other thermal demands in the system such as steam line 7 to the cook process.
  • the steam generator 35 is fueled via fuel line 200.
  • the bidirectional steam line 38 forms a connection between the steam generator 35 and the potential waste heat from the combined heat and power system 52 via a steam line 53.
  • the steam line 39 is controlled by a valve 40 to deliver steam to potentially drive the distillation system, 18(a).
  • the top product of the distillation system, 18 or 18(a,b) passes via a vapor line(s), 19 or 19(a,b), which is potentially split with the condenser system 20, passing to an optional vapor line 41(a) for single-phase distillation or 41a and 41b for two-phase distillation system, then passing to a compressor 42(a) for single-phase distillation or 42a and 42b for two-phase distillation.
  • the compressor(s) 42(a,b) receives mechanical energy from an engine driver 50, receiving fuel via line 201 that produces mechanical-electrical energy to meet the demand of the compressor(s) and/or the electrical demand in the plant's processes, or motive vapor energy via steam/vapor line 87.
  • the compressor 42(a) compresses the biofuel/biochemical- rich distillate vapors that pass through vapor line 42.
  • the compressed vapors pass to a reboiler-condenser 43(a), where they condense at a higher temperature than the stillage bottom products of the distillation 18, pumped by pump 33 via a liquid line 48(a) to the reboiler-condenser 43(a).
  • the stillage bottom product boils in the reboiler-condenser 43(a), forming steam with the steam passing via a steam line 49, to drive and meet the thermal demand of the distillation system 18.
  • the compressor 42a compresses a portion of the
  • biofuel/biochemical-rich distillate vapors that pass to a reboiler-condenser 43a, where they condense at a higher temperature than the stillage bottom products of the distillation 18 with the remaining biofuel/biochemical-rich distillate vapors passing to an optional compressor 42b and then passing to the dehydration vapor line 61 to vapor-phase dehydration.
  • the condensed pure or azeotrope biochemical product passes via liquid line 46 to the distillation system 18 as reflux, with the remainder being final top product for single-phase distillation in FIG. 1 through FIG. 7 and FIG.
  • FIG. 9 The single-phase distillation in FIG. 1 through FIG. 7 and FIG. 9 having the compressor side reflux tank 45 passes the residual condensate as final distillation top product via liquid line 47, to the dehydration system 54 where FIG. 9 may pass all final biofuel or biochemical to the dehydration as compressed vapors via 42b to vapor line 61.
  • the two-phase distillation system example in FIG. 8 passes the final biochemical bottom product from the organic distillation tower 18b, via liquid line 47, passing to reboiler 43c (reboiler/organic vaporizer) and via liquid line 54, passing to reboiler 55.
  • the organic vapors generated in the reboiler 43c pass to the organic distillation tower 18b via the vapor line 46, and from reboiler 55, the vapors are passed to organic distillation tower 18b the vapor line 61.
  • the remaining final biochemical product not passing to the reboilers, 42c and 55 passes via the liquid line 73, to the biochemical storage tank 74.
  • the engine driving the combined heat and power system 50 generates mechanical power for the compressor(s) and/or thermal energy for the motive vapors for the vapor jet via line 91, 42(a,b,c), and electrical power for the distillery system via electrical generator 102.
  • the waste heat from the engine provides a source of thermal energy to drive the distillery, via a heat duct 51.
  • the vapor generator 90 produces vapors, passing via line 91, for driving the thermal vapor compressor 42.
  • the waste heat from the engine provides a source for thermal energy to drive the thermal vapor compressor 42 via line 92, and thermal source to drive the distillery, via line 51.
  • the waste heat from the combined heat and power system 50 passes via a piping/duct system 51, to a point where the heat is used directly or it passes to a heat exchanger 52.
  • the heat exchanger 52 may generate steam from a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), wherein recovered heat as steam passes via steam line 51, and wherein the produced steam goes to meet steam demands throughout the distillery via the steam line 53.
  • Steam line 53 connects to steam line 39 going to the distillation system, 18(a).
  • Steam line 38 connects to steam line 7 that drives the cook tank 6 and connects to steam line 56 that drives the azeotrope dehydration vaporizer 55.
  • waste heat from the combined heat and power system 50 provides the thermal energy required in the cook process, the distillation process, and/or the dehydration system.
  • the single-phase distillation top product passes via liquid lines 30 and 47— when an azeotrope requires further removal of water to reach the desired biochemical product quality— to a pressure-swing vapor- phase molecular sieve dehydration or other final dehydration system.
  • This system receives the azeotrope product via line 54.
  • the liquid or vapor azeotrope product moving to the dehydration system from the distillation should be vaporized or superheated vapors at an increased pressure, which occurs in the heat exchanger 55 (steam-driven organic vaporizer).
  • the steam via line 56 condenses as the azeotrope vaporizes or superheats via line 54, wherein the azeotrope vapors pass via vapor line 61 to the dehydration system.
  • the process steam which drives the vaporizer heat exchanger 55 condenses and the liquid condensate is recycled to the steam generator 35, and/or to the waste heat-driven steam generator (URSG) 53 via condensate line 57 passing to recycle pump 58.
  • the recycle condensate passes to the steam generator 35 via condensate line 59 and/or moves via condensate line 60 to the waste heat- driven URSG 52.
  • the two-phase distillation passes the final organic product from the organic distillation tower 18(b) via liquid line 47.
  • the final product passes to reboiler 43c (reboiler/organic vaporizer) wherein vapors are produced to drive the organic distillation tower 18b via the vapor line 46c, with the remainder of the organic product passes to the liquid line 54.
  • the final organic liquid product moving via line 54 passes to a reboiler 55 (steam-driven organic vaporizer) which generates vapors that pass via vapor line 46b, which passes vapors to vapor line 46c, which passes the vapors to the organic distillation tower 18b.
  • the process steam which drives the vaporizer heat exchanger 55 condenses and the liquid condensate is recycled to the steam generator 35, and/or to the waste heat-driven steam generator (URSG) 53, via condensate line 57 passing to recycle pump 58.
  • the recycle condensate passes to the steam generator 35, via condensate line 59 and/or moves via condensate line 60 to the waste heat-driven URSG 52.
  • the pressurized azeotrope distillation top product is passed to the vapor-phase dehydration system.
  • the dehydration system is depicted as a three-bottle system, although the number of bottles may be two or greater.
  • the described dehydration system passes the pressurized vapors via a three-valve system wherein one of the bottles is in dehydration mode while the two alternative bottles are being regenerated under low pressure.
  • the three bottles are cycled in a round-robin style with each bottle being used for a period based on the capacity of the dehydration medium, while the alternative bottles are regenerating through application of a vacuum to recover the captured water.
  • a portion of the dehydrated product is used to backflush the regenerated bottles, so the regenerated bottle can be placed back in service when the captured water is removed.
  • the dehydration system passes the pressurized vapors via vapor line 61 to a system of control valves, 62a/62b/62c, wherein an open valve passes the pressurized vapors to the appropriate vapor line, 63a/63b/63c, which passes the product to the dehydrating bottle, 64a/64b/64c, that is in service during that period of operation.
  • the dehydrated product passes through the dehydrating bottle via the exiting control valves, 65a/65b/65c, to vapor line 66 as the anhydrous biochemical product.
  • the dehydration bottles being regenerated pass a fraction of the dehydrated vapors from the one active bottle to backflush the regenerating bottles.
  • the low-pressure bottle is controlled by control valves, 67a/67b/67c, with the regeneration vapors containing a mixture of the regenerated water vapors and the backflush anhydrous product passing via the vapor line 68.
  • the regeneration is driven by a vacuum pump system 69, wherein the vapors are pumped via line 70.
  • the dehydration regeneration product is returned to the distillation system 18 via line 71 for re-distillation of the regeneration product containing the backflush product.
  • the final anhydrous biochemical product from the dehydration passes as a vapor to an anhydrous condenser reboiler 72, wherein the final product is condensed and passed via liquid line 73 to storage tank 74 (e.g., anhydrous biochemical tank).
  • the anhydrous condenser is cooled by the condenser water via condensate water line 75, wherein the heated water is vaporized to steam in the reboiler 72, with the steam passed via line steam line 75, and wherein the steam may be used to drive the thermal demands of the distillery.
  • the process steam boiler 35 has makeup water added into the condensate return line 60 and/or 75, via the water lines 300 and/or 301.
  • the dryer drum 80 receives drying heat via heated exhaust from combustion burners or a heated drum.
  • the water vapor-laden dryer exhaust gases pass through line 81, connected to reboiler-evaporator 82 feed makeup water from line 302, that recaptures waste heat from the exhaust gases, with partial condensation where the condensate passes via line 83 as process water.
  • the makeup water in reboiler-evaporator 82 boils, forming low-pressure steam which passes via line 84 to compressor 85, as depicted in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG.7, FIG. 8, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, or vapor jet 85 driven by motive steam generated from steam generator 35 via line 87, which raises the pressure and/or temperature of the steam passing to process steam line 76 via line 86 for use in meeting plant process requirements.
  • Purchased or self-generated electrical power 100 is used to meet the process electrical demand for the milling/extrusion, cook stirring, fermentation stirring, and pumping, 101.
  • the combined heat and power system 50 which consumes fuel via line 201, generates electrical power 102, which offsets other electrical power requirements 100.
  • the thermal energy captured from the combined heat and power system 50 generates steam via the URSG 52, which offsets the fuel consumed in the steam generator 35 provided fuel via line 200.
  • the portion of recovered waste heat from the combined heat and power via line 201 reduces the fuel 200 required in the steam generator 35.
  • Operating Section II provides a net reduction in both fuel required 200 and electrical power 100. Fuel consumed in the engine/CUP drives the compressor(s) 42(a,b), and generates excess electrical power 102 to meet plant needs, offsetting electrical power 100 previously or otherwise purchased to meet plant demand— yielding a reduction in energy demand for both fuel and electrical power.
  • FIG. 1 preferably sizes the combined heat and power system to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5, referring to the above-describes stages 1 through 9.
  • the thermal energy of the distillation is greatly reduced, and the electrical energy beyond the amount required to drive the compressor of the vapor compression system, is used to generate electrical power.
  • This electrical power serves the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring as in the cooking in stage 2, and fermentation in stage 4.
  • FIG. 1 shows heat from the combined heat and power system used to generate steam by heat recovery with steam
  • the steam is passed on to potentially all other thermally intensive stages such as the cook in stage 2, the distillation in stage 5 and in stage 7 for co- product drying (for any steam not offset by the mechanical vapor compression), and/or the dehydration in stage 8.
  • the combined heat and power may be sized to provide mechanical energy as needed in the vapor compression with the residual power offsetting the otherwise more expensive electrical costs of the distillery stages.
  • the resulting waste heat meets, but does not exceed, the other thermal-steam demands of heat-intensive stages.
  • FIG. 2 like FIG. 1, shows the distribution of heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5, wherein the thermal energy of the distillation is greatly reduced, and the electrical energy beyond the demand to drive the compressor of the vapor compression is used to generate electrical power which goes to serve the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring (as in the cooking in stage 2) and fermentation in stage 4.
  • FIG. 1 shows the distribution of heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5, wherein the thermal energy of the distillation is greatly reduced, and the electrical energy beyond the demand to drive the compressor of the vapor compression is used to generate electrical power which goes to serve the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring (as in the cooking in stage 2) and fermentation in stage 4.
  • FIG. 1 shows the distribution of heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5, wherein the thermal energy of the
  • FIG. 2 shows a split of the heat from the combined heat and power system used to generate steam by heat recovery with steam generation, wherein the steam is passed on to potentially all other thermally intensive stages, such as the cook in stage 2, the distillation in stage 5 (for any steam not offset by the mechanical vapor compression), and/or the dehydration in stage 8.
  • Part of the waste heat of the combined heat and power system may be passed on to directly dry co-products of the distillery stillage in stage 7, and generate steam from the recovered heat from exhaust gases through vapor compression.
  • FIG. 3 like FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 shows the distribution of the heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5, wherein the thermal energy of the distillation is greatly reduced, and the electrical energy beyond the amount needed to drive the compressor of the vapor compression serves the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring as in the cooking in stage 2, and fermentation in stage 4.
  • FIG. 3 shows the distribution of the heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5, wherein the thermal energy of the distillation is greatly reduced, and the electrical energy beyond the amount needed to drive the compressor of the vapor compression serves the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring as in the cooking in stage 2, and fermentation in stage 4.
  • FIG. 3 shows the heat from the combined heat and power system used to directly preheat process water by using the heated cooling water from the power system, or by preheating the process water with a combination of direct and out-of-contact heat exchange, wherein the cook in stage 2 has reduced thermal demand and/or using the power system waste heat to directly dry co-products of the distillery stillage in stage 7, and generate steam from the recovered heat from exhaust gases through vapor compression.
  • FIG. 4 like FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 shows the distribution of the heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5, wherein the thermal energy of the distillation is greatly reduced and the electrical energy may be less than or equal to the amount needed to drive the compressor of the vapor compression system, leaving little or no residual electrical to serve the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring as in the cooking in stage 2, and fermentation in stage 4.
  • FIG. 4 like FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 shows the distribution of the heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5, wherein the thermal energy of the distillation is greatly reduced and the electrical energy may be less than or equal to the amount needed to drive the compressor of the vapor compression system, leaving little or no residual electrical to serve the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring as in the cooking in stage 2, and fermentation in stage 4.
  • FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, like FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4, show the distribution of the heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5 and stage 7, wherein the thermal energy of distillation and evaporation are greatly reduced and the electrical energy generated may be less than or equal to the amount needed to drive the compressor of the vapor compression system, leaving little or no residual electrical to serve the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring as in the cooking in stage 2, and fermentation in stage 4.
  • stage 5 shows the distillation in stage 5 by compression passes the latent heat on to a multi-effect evaporation in stage 7 for the concentration of the thin stillage bottoms from stage 5, and the cascaded steam from the final evaporation effect is part of the mechanical vapor compression that recycles the steam back to distillation stage 5.
  • the waste heat from the combined heat and power is distributed to meet the thermal demands of a cook process stage 2, distillation stage 5, drying stage 7 by generated steam from the recovered heat of exhaust gases through vapor compression, and dehydration stage 8.
  • FIG. 7 shows the distribution of the heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5 and stage 7, wherein the thermal energy of distillation and evaporation is greatly reduced and the electrical energy generated may be less than or equal to the amount needed to drive the compressor of the vapor compression system, leaving little or no residual electrical energy to serve the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring as in the cooking in stage 2, and fermentation in stage 4.
  • FIG. 7 shows the distribution of the heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5 and stage 7, wherein the thermal energy of distillation and evaporation is greatly reduced and the electrical energy generated may be less than or equal to the amount needed to drive the compressor of the vapor compression system, leaving little or no residual electrical energy to serve the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring as in the cooking in stage 2, and fermentation in stage 4.
  • FIG. 1 shows the distribution of the heat from the optional combined heat and power
  • stage 7 shows the distillation in stage 5 by compression passes the latent heat on to a multi-effect evaporation in stage 7 for the concentration of the thin stillage bottoms from stage 5, and the cascaded steam from reboiler- evaporator together with the final evaporation effect is part of the mechanical vapor compression that recycles the steam back to drive the distillation stage 5.
  • the waste heat from the optional combined heat and power is distributed to meet the thermal demands of a cook process stage 2, distillation stage 5, drying stage 7 with generated steam from the recovered heat from exhaust gases through vapor compression, and dehydration stage 8.
  • FIG. 8 like FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4 shows the distribution of the heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5 and stage 7, wherein the thermal energy of distillation and evaporation is greatly reduced and the electrical energy generated may be less than or equal to the amount needed to drive the compressor of the vapor compression system, leaving little or no residual electrical energy to serve the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring as in the cooking in stage 2, and fermentation in stage 4.
  • FIG. 8 like FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4 shows the distribution of the heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5 and stage 7, wherein the thermal energy of distillation and evaporation is greatly reduced and the electrical energy generated may be less than or equal to the amount needed to drive the compressor of the vapor compression system, leaving little or no residual electrical energy to serve the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring as in the cooking in stage 2, and fermentation in stage 4.
  • stage 8 shows the distillation in stage 5 by compression passes the latent heat on to a multi-effect evaporation in stage 7 which is comprised of two separate reboilers, with the concentration of the thin stillage bottoms from the aqueous distillation tower of stage 5, and the cascaded steam from reboiler-evaporator together with the final evaporation effect is part of the mechanical vapor compression that recycles the steam back to drive the aqueous distillation tower of stage 5 and biochemical bottom product cascaded vapors from the organic reboiler to the organic distillation tower.
  • the waste heat from the combined heat and power is distributed to meet the thermal demands of a cook process stage 2, and distillation stage 5.
  • FIG. 9 shows the distribution of the heat from the optional combined heat and power system used to produce mechanical and electrical energy to drive the mechanical vapor compression in stage 5, stage 7 and stage 8, wherein the thermal energy of distillation, evaporation, and dehydration is greatly reduced and the electrical energy generated may be less than or equal to the amount needed to drive the compressor of the vapor compression system, leaving little or no residual electrical energy to serve the electrical demand of the other stages which require mechanical energy such as pumping, stirring as in the cooking in stage 2, and fermentation in stage 4.
  • the waste heat from the combined heat and power is distributed to meet the thermal demands of a cook process stage 2, distillation stage 5, and dehydration stage 8.
  • FIG. 10 like FIG. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, shows the capture of low-grade dryer exhaust heat from the stage 7 stillage handling and processing by passing it into a reboiler-evaporator where process water is boiled at low temperature.
  • This low-pressure steam is raised in pressure and/or temperature, via mechanical vapor compression and/or thermal vapor compression, with the compressed steam being passed into the distillery as process steam.
  • the dryer exhaust heat capture and conversion to compressed steam may be applied to any of the configurations of distillery or bio-refineries processes such as those shown in FIG. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
  • the invention may be applied to ABE fermentation, producing a mixture of acetone, n-butanol, and ethanol.
  • One or more additional distillation or other separation units may be included, to separate components of a fermentation mixture.
  • the primary product is less volatile than water (at atmospheric pressure), rather than more volatile, as is the case with ethanol.
  • An example of a biofuel/biochemical less volatile than water is isobutanol.
  • the present invention also provides a biofuel or biochemical product produced by a process comprising a method of modifying a distillery or biorefinery, wherein the distillery or biorefinery converts biomass into the biofuel or biochemical, and wherein the biofuel or biochemical is purified by distillation, the method comprising:
  • a vapor compression unit comprising a mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) unit and/or thermal vapor recompression (TVR) unit to recover latent heat, evaporation, drying, and/or dehydration processes, and provide a reduction in process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery; and
  • MVR mechanical vapor recompression
  • TVR thermal vapor recompression
  • a combined heat and power (CHP) system having a CHP engine to provide mechanical, electrical, and/or thermal energy for driving the vapor compression unit, wherein residual waste heat of the CHP engine offsets the process thermal energy usage in the distillery or biorefinery, in conjunction with the vapor compression unit; and wherein integration of the vapor compression unit with the optional CHP system is preferably balanced to optimize process energy requirements, process carbon intensity, and/or process energy costs.
  • CHP combined heat and power
  • Some variations of the invention provide a method for optimizing energy usage, production economics, and environmental performance in modifying existing distillation systems.
  • the operational capabilities of a distillation system are maintained while a more energy-efficient process is added that diverts some portion of the distilled vapors, which would otherwise be condensed, and compresses them, heating them and raising their boiling point.
  • the compressed vapors are condensed in a reboiler, capturing the energy released that would otherwise be lost to cooling water flowing through a condenser.
  • the method used to drive the compressor, the design of the reboiler, and generation of additional usable energy are balanced to provide fully redundant capabilities with respect to the existing system and the desired
  • a method for the modification and augmentation of a distillery wherein the addition of the disclosed distillation methods for heat management by mechanical vapor compression which recovers the latent heat, provides a reduction in process thermal energy together with combined heat and power for the addition of mechanical and electrical energy for driving the
  • the vapor compression is sized or operated to reduce the thermal energy required in distillation, evaporation, drying, and/or dehydration in concert with the standard steam generator that is operated at a reduced rate as a result of the reduction in steam energy demand due to energy recovered by the mechanical vapor compression in distillation, evaporation, drying, and/or dehydration.
  • the optional combined heat and power system is sized or operated in concert with the mechanical or thermal demand of the vapor compression and the thermal energy demand of the distillery wherein part of, some of, or all of the thermal energy is provided by the waste heat recovered by the combined heat and power system.
  • the combination of vapor compression in distillation, evaporation, drying, and/or dehydration and combined heat and power allows minimization of the carbon intensity of the process through selective usage of electricity and thermal fuel in a manner that minimizes the total carbon intensity of the process energy, though the process energy costs are not minimized because of the relative pricing of the two energy sources and the individual carbon intensities allocated to the thermal and electrical process energy lifecycles.
  • the disclosed technology provides an option for expanding biofuels/biochemical production that:
  • the disclosed technology can permit production increases without exceeding allowable air emissions and water usage and discharge restrictions under existing environmental permits.
  • Some embodiments of the invention provide a system or sub-system comprising or consisting of the process or apparatus configuration depicted in any one of FIGS. 1 to 10, or portions thereof, or any other disclosure set forth herein. Some embodiments of the invention provide instructions to retrofit an existing distillery or biorefinery with the process or apparatus configuration depicted in any one of FIGS. 1 to 10, or portions thereof, or any other disclosure set forth herein.
  • the throughput, or process capacity may vary widely from small laboratory-scale units to full commercial-scale biorefineries, including any pilot, demonstration, or semi-commercial scale.
  • the process capacity is at least about 1 kg/day, 10 kg/day, 100 kg/day, 1 ton/day (all tons are metric tons), 10 tons/day, 100 tons/day, 500 tons/day, 1000 tons/day, 2000 tons/day, 3000 tons/day, 4000 tons/day, or higher.
  • MVR membrane vapor permeation process for ethanol recovery

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Abstract

La présente invention concerne des procédés et des systèmes pour comprimer des vapeurs produites lors d'une distillation et pour récupérer la chaleur de condensation par compression de vapeur et pour dériver l'énergie mécanique, thermique et électrique en provenance d'un système de production combinée de chaleur et d'énergie (PCCE), tout en maintenant la capacité de fonctionnement d'origine des usines. Le système de distillation, la génération de vapeur et la demande électrique existants des usines déterminent la base de conception du système de rétroinstallation qui vise à assurer une combinaison optimisée de l'utilisation d'énergie, du coût énergétique et de l'impact environnemental. La compression de vapeur (par recompression mécanique de la vapeur (RMV) et/ou recompression thermique de la vapeur (RTV)) réduit au minimum l'utilisation d'énergie totale. La production combinée de chaleur et d'énergie (PCCE) procure éventuellement un moyen de conversion d'énergie entre carburant, électricité et énergie thermique d'une manière qui complète le mieux les exigences et les économies d'énergie des usines et réduit au minimum les inefficacités et les pertes d'énergie.
EP17925687.0A 2017-09-21 2017-09-22 Systèmes écoénergétiques comprenant une compression de vapeur pour usines de biocarburants ou de produits biochimiques Pending EP3684888A4 (fr)

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US15/711,699 US11458413B2 (en) 2016-03-28 2017-09-21 Energy-efficient systems including vapor compression for biofuel or biochemical plants
PCT/US2017/052835 WO2019059915A1 (fr) 2017-09-21 2017-09-22 Systèmes écoénergétiques comprenant une compression de vapeur pour usines de biocarburants ou de produits biochimiques

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US11458413B2 (en) * 2016-03-28 2022-10-04 Energy Integration, Inc. Energy-efficient systems including vapor compression for biofuel or biochemical plants
WO2023062244A1 (fr) * 2021-10-15 2023-04-20 Whitefox Technologies Limited Procédé et système thermiques intégrés pour produire un solvant organique par recompression de vapeur

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US4340446A (en) * 1979-08-31 1982-07-20 Crawford Lynn A Heat recovery in distillation process
US4539076A (en) * 1982-09-27 1985-09-03 Swain R L Bibb Vapor compression distillation system
US5586442A (en) * 1994-10-17 1996-12-24 Helios Research Corp. Thermal absorption compression cycle
KR20170080709A (ko) * 2009-06-04 2017-07-10 게노마티카 인코포레이티드 발효액 성분들의 분리 방법
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US9091469B2 (en) * 2012-03-09 2015-07-28 Tahoe Technologies, Ltd. Apparatus and method for vapor driven absorption heat pumps and absorption heat transformer with applications
US20160002131A1 (en) * 2013-02-21 2016-01-07 Butamax Advanced Biofuels Llc Vapor recompression
US9925476B2 (en) * 2016-03-28 2018-03-27 Energy Integration, Inc. Energy-efficient systems including combined heat and power and mechanical vapor compression for biofuel or biochemical plants

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CA3076506A1 (fr) 2019-03-28

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