Renewable Resources – New Challenges for Process Integration and Synthesis

M. Narodoslawsky

Abstract
The paper reviews the challenges and chances of process integration and especially process synthesis in the relatively new field of renewable resource utilization. Due to driving forces that are in many cases external to both technology and economics, this field puts new requirements on process synthesis in terms of methodology as well as interpretive power. Characteristics of the raw material sources but also new concepts like regionality and ecological structuring of processes gain interest in this context. These requirements are generalized from two particularly interesting case studies, the utilization of meat and bone meal and the “Green Bio Refinery Concept”. Process integration proves to be an important approach to keep costs in check in view of tight markets. Process synthesis is shown to be a central factor for both technology development and technology implementation in the context of renewable resource utilization. The paper explores the scope of both concepts in terms of applications as well as requirements. It points towards necessary changes and additions to process synthesis methods in order to realize their potential in this field.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Keywords
Process synthesis, process integration, renewable resources, sustainable technologies