A multi-approach assessment of a low-TRL lignocellulosic biorefinery for lignin production

We evaluate how well a low‑TRL organosolv process works for making lignin from lignocellulosic biomass, looking at both technical performance and environmental impact. Because early‑stage technologies are hard to judge, we use a computer‑based scale‑up method on patent data from the American Science and Technology (AST) process and compare the results with simple chemical‑engineering design equations. The mass and energy balances from the simulation are fed into a life‑cycle assessment (LCA) using Brightway2, Activity Browser, and the ecoinvent database. Environmental impacts are calculated with the Environmental Footprint 3.1 method. The assessment shows a key trade‑off: higher solvent‑recovery efficiency reduces thermal‑energy use, and the organosolv configuration can contribute to climate‑change mitigation.

We run multi‑parameter sensitivity, Pearson correlation, principal‑component, and uncertainty analyses on the main process variables, performance metrics, and environmental indicators. These analyses point to the most critical operational sensitivities: biomass composition, lignin‑dissolution conversion rates, moisture content of the filter cake, and distillate flow rates. The results give a solid computational foundation for scaling up sustainable biorefinery systems.

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