Produção de polietileno furanoato a partir do diéster metílico do ácido 2,5-furanodicarboxílico derivado do xarope de glicose

Abstract

The polyethylene furanoate (PEF) is an alternative over traditional fossil derived polymers, contributing for the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions. Thus, the present work is about the design of an industrial plant intended to produce PEF starting from glucose corn syrup, reaching for the best prodcution technologies and comercial strategies. In frontal competition with the polyethylene terephtalate (PET), the PEF market is still underdeveloped. Some studies indicate expressive growth projections: valued in US$ 27.1 mi at 2019, it is expected to grow at a 6.6% rate between 2020 and 2027. This is justified by the better performance of PEF compared to PET when it comes to barrier properties, an important factor for carbonated beverage bottling. An annual production capacity of 10,000 t of PEF was adopted for a process with the following steps: glucose isomerization to fructose and its crystallization (obtaining a purity of 99.5% m/m); fructose dehydration, producing methoxymethylfurfural (MMF) and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF); MMF and HMF oxidation to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and esterification to its dimethyl ester (DMFD) and; transesterification of DMFD with monoethylene glycol (MEG) and its further polycondensation, producing PEF. Gathering costs of implementation, revenues and costs, a preliminary economic analysis was performed, in which a 9 year financial return was identified since the start of the project, based on the undiscounted liquid cash flow, which also gives a net present value (NPV) of, aproximately, US$ 218 mi. On the other hand, considerind the discounted cash flow, with an 8.2% annual rate, a NPV of US$ 27 mi is obtained. With a resulting internal return rate (IRR) of 11.2%, this project may not be competitive, even if faced with alterantive investments paying taxes similar to Selic. Because of this, for future works, it is recommended that more studies on process improvement, intensification and optimization be made in order to increase the revenues and reduce production costs.