Alcohol production process design and scale-up

One of the best alternatives in the biofuel sector is bioalcohol, due to its excellent fuel properties. However, there are concerns about the sustainable production of bioalcohol to meet the high demand. The different raw materials, the use of pretreatments, fermentation schemes, separation, etc., are some of the issues to be solved to integrate a good process design. This chapter will show the characteristics of the bioalcohols with the greatest projection in the biofuel sector, as well as synthesis routes, design, and scaling of processes to develop bioalcohols that are economically competitive with fossil fuels. In the same way, the indicators to be measured in process design and scale-up to influence a sustainable and green chemistry approach in the conversion of biomass into bioalcohols will be presented. Finally, this chapter will list the opportunities and challenges for bioalcohol production with the greatest potential and recommend possible biorefinery routes to make a significant improvement in their production.