Techno-Economic Analysis of FDCA Production through Electrocatalytic Processes

The conversion of biomass into high-value chemicals and its coupling with electrochemical industry represent a viable sustainable alternative to the use of traditional petrochemical processes. The aim of this paper is to investigate the electrochemical production process of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) starting from lignocellulosic biomass, which provides 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) as reaction intermediate. The process investigated is based on the scale-up of a model proposed in literature, characterized by the continuous oxidation of HMF into FDCA, catalysed by Ni/NiOOH foam, and its recovery by two-step pH-shift crystallization and subsequent filtration. The imposed productivity is 10000 tons y(-1) with an overall process yield of about 70% and a separation efficiency of 95%. From the techno-economic analysis, the estimated minimum selling price (MSP) of FDCA is about 3.67 euro kg(-1) which is compared with the market price of terephthalic acid, showing no current feasibility of the process on industrial scale. Several factors contribute to the increase in the FDCA price: the high cost of production of HMF, the use of large quantities of acidic and basic substances, the low process yield. Sensitivity analysis shows the impact of HMF, hydrogen and electricity costs on FDCA price.