Exergy analysis of polylactic acid (PLA) production

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Wageningen Universiteit, VLAG Graduate School, Food Process Engineering, Hollanda

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2023

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: Esther Voortman

Asıl Danışman (Eş Danışmanlı Tezler İçin): Murat Yanat

Özet:

Plastics have become ubiquitous in modern society, but their negative impact on the environment is a growing concern. In response, biobased and/or biodegradable polymers have garnered significant attention. Among these, polylactic acid (PLA) is considered one of the most promising alternatives to fossil-based plastics. The present study employs an exergy analysis to evaluate the resource consumption of the entire PLA production process, starting from corn as raw material and ending at PLA resins. Prior to the exergy analysis, a full process overview including mass and energy balances was created using the process simulation software SuperPro Designer. The exergetic efficiency was calculated for each operation in the process. The results indicate that the main exergy losses occur in the final stage of the production, where lactic acid is polymerized into PLA via ring opening polymerization of lactide. This stage should therefore be the focus point for improvements in process efficiency. Energy intensive operations, such as evaporation and distillation, show the lowest exergetic efficiencies. Improvements are suggested to optimize PLA production and contribute to its competitiveness.