Current status and future trends of computer-aided process design, applied to purification of liquid biofuels, using process intensification: A short review

Biorefineries offer very interesting challenges and opportunities associated with the separation and purification of complex biomass components. Separation and purification processes can account for a large fraction of the total capital and operating costs. Significant improvement in separation and purification technologies can greatly reduce overall production costs and improve economic viability and environmental sustainability. Process intensification is a valuable strategy to enhance the performance of production processes. It may allow reductions in costs and environmental impact, and enhancements in terms of operability and safety. Although the PI philosophy and methodology have a relatively long history in the scientific field, the ideas of this philosophy fit well with the current trends of sustainability and circular economy; since both ideas, in short, seek the reduction of resource use, the reduction of waste, and the continuous and circular use of raw materials. To ensure the sustainability of the purification of biofuels, it is important to develop processes with low environmental impact, which can also be allowed through the development of intensified technologies. In this paper, advances on aided process design applied to the purification of liquid biofuels using Process Intensification are presented. Trends and challenges are discussed, together with the main opportunity areas.