Ionic-Liquid-Based Bioisoprene Recovery Process Design

Bioisoprene,
which can be produced from renewable feedstocks
through fermentation, is a promising alternative to petroleum-derived
isoprene. However, challenges including the selection of feasible
recovery techniques for bioisoprene should be addressed to achieve
economic and technical competitiveness. In this work, ionic liquids
(ILs) are first introduced as solvents for the recovery of bioisoprene.
To describe the thermodynamic behavior, the UNIFAC-IL model is first
extended to the bioisoprene systems as it combines gas–organic
chemicals in IL-containing systems. Using a computer-aided IL design
(CAILD) method, six out of 248 742 structurally constrained
ILs are screened as optimal candidates for their further performance
evaluation. Simulation results indicate that all six ILs have much
better process performance than that of the alternative, isopropyl
myrisate. Moreover, [N1,1,3,0]­[DMP] is identified as the
best IL with the lowest solvent flow rate and the highest recovery
ratio of isoprene. This work shows the potential of using ILs for
the recovery of bioisoprene from fermentation off-gas.