TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC-ANALYSIS OF LIGNIN CONVERSION TO METHYL ARYL ETHERS

The economical use of lignocellulosics for the production of liquid fuel depends on the efficient utilization of all the components in the feed material. Lignin can be converted to methyl aryl ethers (MAE's), products with blending octane numbers and Reid vapor pressures that make them excellent candidates for use as octane enhancers in gasoline. An engineering design and economic analysis has been completed that investigated several production scenarios for the conversion of lignin to methyl aryl ethers. It was found that at oil prices of approximately $25/barrel and with improvements in product yields from the lignin hydrocracker and MAE synthesis reactors and with the recovery and recycle of the excess hydrogen in the product stream leaving the hydrocracker, it would be more economical to convert the lignin produced in a wood-to-ethanol plant to MAE's than to use it as boiler fuel for the ethanol plant. © 1990 Humana Press Inc.