2,3-Butanediol which is produced via the fermentation of biomass, has been recognized as a sustainable and renewable liquid fuel, mainly due to its high anti-knock index and high heating value. However, high thermal energy is required to remove the excess water in the fermentation broth in order to achieve 99% purity. Recently, 2,3-butanediol has been separated and purified adopting hybrid-blower-and-evaporator-assisted distillation with significant consumption of high-pressure steam, which ultimately increases the total annualized costs. In this context, this study proposes dual column-based and dividing wall column (DWC)-based purification schemes. The proposed dual column-based scheme utilizes low and medium-pressure steam rather than high-pressure steam. The overall energy efficiency of the proposed dual-column structure is further enhanced through pressure optimization and an appropriate heat integration approach. The heat-integrated evaporator-assisted dual column configuration gives the 54.2 and 49.9% savings in operating cost and total annualized costs (TAC), respectively. Whereas, the evaporator-assisted DWC and heat-integrated-blower-assisted DWC offer potential reductions of the total annualized cost of similar to 25.2% and 25% as compared to the published base case, respectively. (C) 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.