Techno-economic analysis of microalgae-based liquid fuels production from wastewater via hydrothermal liquefaction and hydroprocessing

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2019-07, Vol.284, p.256-265
• Main Authors: Ranganathan, Panneerselvam, Savithri, Sivaraman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biofuels; Hydrothermal liquefaction; Microalgae; Techno-economic analysis; Wastewater
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.03.087

•An integrated process design of renewable liquid fuels production from wastewater by HTL was developed.•Techno-economic analysis was performed to assess the economic feasibility of the proposed design.•A minimum selling price (MSP) of renewable liquid fuels is found as $4.3/GGE.•The MSP value is in line with the literature range. In this work, a conceptual process design of wastewater-based algal biofuels production through hydrothermal liquefaction and hydroprocessing is proposed. Then a steady-state process simulation is performed to calculate the mass and energy analysis of the whole process for the production of hydrocarbons such as diesel, jet, gasoline, and H2. A discounted cash flow analysis is used to calculate a minimum selling price (MSP) of the hydrocarbon fuels. The MSP of the hydrocarbon fuels is found at US$4.3/GGE. This value is comparable with the previously reported value in the literature. In addition, the sensitivity study is carried out to study the influence of both processes and economic parameters on the minimum selling price (MSP) of the hydrocarbon fuels.