Resumen
The growing awareness to include sustainability goals in the chemical process design has been making palpable since many governments and research institutions have made many efforts precisely to progress new ways to transform available resources into valuable chemicals. In this sense, this work is presenting a computer-aided evaluation based on environmental impact assessment and comparison of technical parameters for estimating the potential effects of two biorefinery designs. The first process involved a multiproduct production of acetone, butanol, and ethanol from cassava waste, while the second biorefinery comprised of succinic acid and bioethanol production from a mixture of cassava waste and banana rachis. These residues are highly available in the North Colombia region due to the agroindustrial activities of that zone. The developed environmental analysis employed the waste reduction algorithm (WAR) for estimating impact generation and output rates considering atmospheric and toxicological categories. Otherwise, process simulation of biorefineries showed production of 546.3 kg/h of acetone, 280.0 kg/h of ethanol, and 1305 kg/h of butanol for topology 1, while topology 2 delivered a synthesis of 13,865.7 kg/h of acetic acid and 2277.9 kg/h of ethanol. Data generated from process simulation allowed performing a technical comparison between evaluated biorefineries, showing a higher performance of evaluated indicators for topology 2. These evaluated variables included resource energy efficiency, and production yield, among others. The environmental analysis provided relevant information, indicating that topology 2 is a better alternative from an ecological viewpoint since this design would emit substances with lower effects than topology 1.