Sustainable Catalytic Oxidation of Glucose to Glucaric Acid: Process Simulation, Techno-Economic, and Life Cycle Assessment

The oxidation of glucose (GLO) to glucaric acid (GLA) represents a pivotal sustainable process with wide-ranging applications in the food industry, pharmaceuticals, corrosion prevention, and other sectors. GLA also serves as an essential precursor for nylon-66 production via adipic acid synthesis. Despite the availability of various efficient methods for GLO oxidation to GLA, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding the techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) of bimetallic catalytic oxidation. This study introduces a novel, sustainable approach employing PtPd/TiO₂ catalysts, focusing on energy optimization and comprehensive TEA and LCA evaluations for two process scenarios (A and B). Scenario A, characterized by a shorter reaction time, demonstrates reduced energy consumption and lower overall manufacturing costs compared with scenario B. The process design incorporates azeotropic evaporation, vacuum distillation, and separation columns, enabling the isolation of a high-purity product below its decomposition point. Additionally, scenario A achieves a 3:1 higher annual production rate relative to scenario B due to the optimized reaction conditions. The detailed LCA highlights significant environmental impacts advantages of scenario A over scenario B, including lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced nonrenewable energy demand, and decreased wastewater generation by factors of 1.03, 1.02, and 1.25, respectively. This research provides critical insights into the design of efficient biomass-based GLO conversion processes, underscoring the importance of energy conservation, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact reduction in the development of innovative, value-added chemical products.