Thermochemical biorefinery based on dimethyl ether (DME) as an intermediate is studied. DME is converted into methyl acetate, which can either be hydrogenated to ethanol or sold as a co-product. Considering this option together with a variety of technologies for syngas upgrading, 12 different process concepts are analyzed. The considered products are ethanol, methyl acetate, H2, DME and electricity. The assessment of each alternative includes biomass pretreatment, gasification, syngas clean-up and conditioning, DME synthesis and conversion, product separation, and heat and power integration. A plant size of 500 MWth processing poplar chips is taken as a basis. The resulting energy efficiency to products ranges from 34.9% to 50.2%. The largest internal rate of return (28.74%) corresponds to a concept which produces methyl acetate, DME and electricity (exported to grid). A sensitivity analysis with respect to total plant investment (TPI), total operation costs (TOC) and market price of products was carried out. The overall conclusion is that, despite its greater complexity, this kind of thermochemical biorefinery is more profitable than thermochemical bioprocesses oriented to a single product.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CEN-2009104

A method for the comparison of scenarios in the context of Process Intensification is presented, and is applied to cases reported in the literature, as well as several examples taken from selected industrial practices. A step by step calculation of different factors, all relevant in the chemical engineering and cleaning processes is also given. The most important feature of this new method is the simplicity of arithmetic operations, and its robustness for cases where there is limited information to provide a good assessment. The final calculated value, the Intensification Factor, provides an interesting decision-making element that can be weighted by experts, no matter which level of detail or the particular activity is considered (economical, technical, scientific). Additionally, it can contain as many quantitative and qualitative factors as there are available; they are all lumped into a number with a clear meaning: if larger than one the new alternative is superior to the existent; if is smaller than one, the opposite applies. The proposed method is not to be considered only as a tool for experts in the specific process intensification discipline, but as a mean to convince outsiders. Also, it can be used in educational settings, when teaching young professionals about innovation and intensification strategies. A discussion forum has been created to evaluate and improve this method and will be open to professionals and interested researchers that have read this paper