Techno-Economic and Environmental Analyses of Ethyl Lactate Production at Various Reaction Scenarios

Abstract

Industrial scale-up requires knowing reaction's kinetics and evaluating the economic aspects of each reaction scenario. The present work evaluates ethyl lactate production kinetics on different reaction conditions, evaluating the key reaction parameters. Simulations of an industry yielding 1000 kg EL h−1 were performed in Aspen Plus and the best Engineering pathway was determined on economic aspects. The study results revealed that the autocatalytic reaction is slow, and a catalyst is required. Both sulfuric acid and Amberlyst are efficient in the catalysis of such reaction, and according to the techno-economic analysis, among the evaluated scenarios, the ones conducted at 50 °C with an ethanol molar excess of 5 are the most efficient for the homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis.