Deep eutectic solvents recovery with bipolar membrane electrodialysis in biorefinery: An economic study

The complex composition and shortage of recycle technology restricted application of deep eutectic solvents (DES). Bipolar membrane electrodialysis has been proven efficient for DES recovery in biorefinery. A comprehensive economic study was essential prior to industrial recovery of DES with bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED). An economic study of the BMED-based recovery technique was performed by ascertaining influence of major factors on DES recovery charge with sensitivity analysis. Recovery charge of three representative types of DES was found to be changed within 0.83–1.66 $/Kg (choline chloride-ethylene glycol), 1.60–3.88 $/Kg (lactic acid-ethylene glycol), and 1.21–2.44 $/Kg (choline chloride-urea) as each factor altered in the control. Proportion of annual operating duration and loan duration displayed a negative correlation with the total recovery charge of DES. Multiple of membrane price, factor of membrane facility charge, factor of ancillary facility charge, factor of annual maintaining charge, annual reduction of recovery ratio, annual increase of recovery energy consumption, and annual interest rate of loan showed a positive relationship with the recovery charge. Total DES recovery charge increased within 6.0 %–6.4 % when heterogeneous ion-exchange membranes were employed in BMED facility instead of homogeneous ion-exchange membranes. This study verified the economic virtue of BMED-based DES recovery strategy in biorefinery.