Economic and environmental analysis of algal biorefinery for the production of renewable fuels and co-product

The present study involves techno-economic and life cycle analysis of the production of renewable fuels with co-product from Spirulina platensis using hydrothermal liquefaction method (HTL). In the baseline pathway, the production of renewable fuels from HTL of spirulina is considered along with the...

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Main Authors: Janakan S. Saral, Ajmal Rasheeda Satheesh, Panneerselvam Ranganathan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-05-01
Series:Energy Conversion and Management: X
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590174522000125
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author Janakan S. Saral
Ajmal Rasheeda Satheesh
Panneerselvam Ranganathan
author_facet Janakan S. Saral
Ajmal Rasheeda Satheesh
Panneerselvam Ranganathan
author_sort Janakan S. Saral
collection DOAJ
description The present study involves techno-economic and life cycle analysis of the production of renewable fuels with co-product from Spirulina platensis using hydrothermal liquefaction method (HTL). In the baseline pathway, the production of renewable fuels from HTL of spirulina is considered along with the utilisation of HTL aqueous phase being recycled back to the algal cultivation system. Various other pathways such as the utilisation of aqueous phase from HTL by catalytic hydrothermal gasification (CHG) and anaerobic digestion (AD) and the production of co-product of C-Phycocyanin (C-PC) (food grade pigment) from the spirulina are studied. Mass and energy balances of the various pathways are conducted using process engineering data available in the literature. It is found that the minimum selling price (MSP) of renewable fuels for the baseline pathway is 3.94 US$/GGE, whereas other pathways show 3.81 US$/GGE, 3.97 US$/GGE, and 2.5US$/GGE for CHG, AD, and C-PC extraction pathways, respectively. A global warming potential of total GHG emissions shows −59.2 g CO2-eq/MJ, −20.2 g CO2-eq/MJ, −49.2CO2-eq/MJ, and 147.4 g CO2-eq/MJ for baseline, CHG, AD, and C-PC extraction pathways, respectively. These values match with the literature. Further, the sensitivity study is conducted to obtain the most important parameters which are influences the MSP of renewable fuels.
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spelling doaj.art-3b34b050671747c19f1cdec09a27d0382022-12-22T02:25:10ZengElsevierEnergy Conversion and Management: X2590-17452022-05-0114100189Economic and environmental analysis of algal biorefinery for the production of renewable fuels and co-productJanakan S. Saral0Ajmal Rasheeda Satheesh1Panneerselvam Ranganathan2Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut, Kozhikode 673601, IndiaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut, Kozhikode 673601, IndiaCorresponding author.; Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut, Kozhikode 673601, IndiaThe present study involves techno-economic and life cycle analysis of the production of renewable fuels with co-product from Spirulina platensis using hydrothermal liquefaction method (HTL). In the baseline pathway, the production of renewable fuels from HTL of spirulina is considered along with the utilisation of HTL aqueous phase being recycled back to the algal cultivation system. Various other pathways such as the utilisation of aqueous phase from HTL by catalytic hydrothermal gasification (CHG) and anaerobic digestion (AD) and the production of co-product of C-Phycocyanin (C-PC) (food grade pigment) from the spirulina are studied. Mass and energy balances of the various pathways are conducted using process engineering data available in the literature. It is found that the minimum selling price (MSP) of renewable fuels for the baseline pathway is 3.94 US$/GGE, whereas other pathways show 3.81 US$/GGE, 3.97 US$/GGE, and 2.5US$/GGE for CHG, AD, and C-PC extraction pathways, respectively. A global warming potential of total GHG emissions shows −59.2 g CO2-eq/MJ, −20.2 g CO2-eq/MJ, −49.2CO2-eq/MJ, and 147.4 g CO2-eq/MJ for baseline, CHG, AD, and C-PC extraction pathways, respectively. These values match with the literature. Further, the sensitivity study is conducted to obtain the most important parameters which are influences the MSP of renewable fuels.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590174522000125Life cycle analysisTechno-economic analysisBiofuelsHTLC-Phycocyanin
spellingShingle Janakan S. Saral
Ajmal Rasheeda Satheesh
Panneerselvam Ranganathan
Economic and environmental analysis of algal biorefinery for the production of renewable fuels and co-product
Energy Conversion and Management: X
Life cycle analysis
Techno-economic analysis
Biofuels
HTL
C-Phycocyanin
title Economic and environmental analysis of algal biorefinery for the production of renewable fuels and co-product
title_full Economic and environmental analysis of algal biorefinery for the production of renewable fuels and co-product
title_fullStr Economic and environmental analysis of algal biorefinery for the production of renewable fuels and co-product
title_full_unstemmed Economic and environmental analysis of algal biorefinery for the production of renewable fuels and co-product
title_short Economic and environmental analysis of algal biorefinery for the production of renewable fuels and co-product
title_sort economic and environmental analysis of algal biorefinery for the production of renewable fuels and co product
topic Life cycle analysis
Techno-economic analysis
Biofuels
HTL
C-Phycocyanin
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590174522000125
work_keys_str_mv AT janakanssaral economicandenvironmentalanalysisofalgalbiorefineryfortheproductionofrenewablefuelsandcoproduct
AT ajmalrasheedasatheesh economicandenvironmentalanalysisofalgalbiorefineryfortheproductionofrenewablefuelsandcoproduct
AT panneerselvamranganathan economicandenvironmentalanalysisofalgalbiorefineryfortheproductionofrenewablefuelsandcoproduct