Biobutanol is an advanced biofuel with a number of advantages. In comparison with other biofuels, it has the advantages of higher energy content, closer air/fuel ratio to that of gasoline, less corrosion problems, and lower vapor pressure. The most important drawback of biobutanol production, which negatively affects the process economy, is relatively low production yield. Biobutanol can be produced from sugar, starch, and lignocellulosic-based materials. Currently corn, sugarcane, palm oil, soy and rape are the main raw materials for the production of biofuels. However, there has been much debate about the negative effects of biofuel production on the food price. Therefore, many of recent studies have focused on lignocellulosic raw materials. These materials are produced in large quantities with low prices. However, the economic viability of biobutanol production from lignocelluloses has not been commercially proved yet. In this study, municipal solid wastes have bees used as a raw material to produce biobutanol. Aspen Plus ® V8.8 was used to simulate the process, while Aspen Process Economic Analyzer ® V8.8 was further used to evaluate economical aspects of biobutanol production. Assuming a selling price of 1.6 $/kg of butanol, six scenarios were studied and evaluated using different methods for production and separation, including conventional distillation separation, coupled gas stripping with fermentation, and pervaporation. Among all scenarios, the one which uses coupled gas stripping with fermentation as well as pervaporation showed the best results in the economic evaluation. The payout period of this scenario is 2.9 years with a total investment cost of 310 million United States dollars. In contrast, the scenario that used the conventional separation system with distillation towers showed the least profit, having 15.9 years of payout period and 387 million dollars total investment cost. Keywords Biorefinery, ABE production, Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol, Municipal Solid Wastes, Techno-economic evaluation
