Design and control of a Biobutanol Purification Process through IBE Fermentation: Basic Design Configuration

The decrease in energy sources, the increase in energy demand and the environmental concerns have caused to be in search of renewable and cleaner sources compared to fossil fuels. Biobutanol stands out as an alternative which has superior fuel properties compared to other alcohol-based biofuels. In this study, a novel flowsheet configuration providing high-purity alcohol products is developed for isopropanol-butanol-ethanol (IBE) purification process. First, the flowsheet is optimized by minimizing the total annual cost (TAC). Then, a plantwide control structure is designed for the optimized process configuration. The proposed control structure is evaluated by exposing it to disturbances. The results show that the developed control structure provides a robust control for this process configuration.