Process simulation and economic analysis of dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production from Nepalese Jatropha Curcas
This study presents a detailed design, cost estimation and sensitivity analysis to determine the commercial viability of a Jatropha biodiesel plant with Nepal as a representative case. Here, we present a biodiesel production process utilizing dolomite PB-20, an inexpensive solid catalyst, that allow...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Cleaner Chemical Engineering |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772782322000274 |
| _version_ | 1797820548307222528 |
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| author | Sagar Ban Rakesh Shrestha Yuvraj Chaudhary Jong-Ki Jeon Rajendra Joshi Bibek Uprety |
| author_facet | Sagar Ban Rakesh Shrestha Yuvraj Chaudhary Jong-Ki Jeon Rajendra Joshi Bibek Uprety |
| author_sort | Sagar Ban |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study presents a detailed design, cost estimation and sensitivity analysis to determine the commercial viability of a Jatropha biodiesel plant with Nepal as a representative case. Here, we present a biodiesel production process utilizing dolomite PB-20, an inexpensive solid catalyst, that allows easy retrieval of catalysts for reuse and easier product separation compared to the conventional liquid catalyst based production process. The transesterification and the subsequent separation processes were simulated using Aspen Plus to determine the amount of raw materials, the sizes of the equipment's and the total utility required for producing 43 million liters biodiesel per year. The total capital cost and the production cost for the plant of this scale was calculated to be $23 million and $51 million respectively. Similarly, the final biodiesel selling price was calculated to be $1.23/l. The selling price of the biodiesel was found to be highly sensitive to the purchase cost of the Jatropha oil. A 25% reduction in the Jatropha oil purchase cost from the base case price of $0.97/l will lower the biodiesel selling price to $1.00/l making it competitive with petro-diesel (current selling price of $1.02/l). The economic viability of the dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production plant and thus, the adoption of biodiesel as a substitute for petro-diesel is strongly dependent on the purchase cost of the Jatropha oil. This study illustrates the potential of dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production process and provides an important reference value for a more detailed policy level study to develop appropriate biofuel policies and to make investment decisions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:40:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ea2fc1a130894e4ab0ec4aaabd16623e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2772-7823 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:40:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cleaner Chemical Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-ea2fc1a130894e4ab0ec4aaabd16623e2023-05-25T04:25:39ZengElsevierCleaner Chemical Engineering2772-78232022-06-012100029Process simulation and economic analysis of dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production from Nepalese Jatropha CurcasSagar Ban0Rakesh Shrestha1Yuvraj Chaudhary2Jong-Ki Jeon3Rajendra Joshi4Bibek Uprety5Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University, PO BOX 6250, Dhulikhel, NepalDepartment of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University, PO BOX 6250, Dhulikhel, NepalDepartment of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University, PO BOX 6250, Dhulikhel, NepalDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Kongju National University, Cheonan 31080, KoreaDepartment of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University, PO BOX 6250, Dhulikhel, NepalDepartment of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University, PO BOX 6250, Dhulikhel, Nepal; Corresponding author.This study presents a detailed design, cost estimation and sensitivity analysis to determine the commercial viability of a Jatropha biodiesel plant with Nepal as a representative case. Here, we present a biodiesel production process utilizing dolomite PB-20, an inexpensive solid catalyst, that allows easy retrieval of catalysts for reuse and easier product separation compared to the conventional liquid catalyst based production process. The transesterification and the subsequent separation processes were simulated using Aspen Plus to determine the amount of raw materials, the sizes of the equipment's and the total utility required for producing 43 million liters biodiesel per year. The total capital cost and the production cost for the plant of this scale was calculated to be $23 million and $51 million respectively. Similarly, the final biodiesel selling price was calculated to be $1.23/l. The selling price of the biodiesel was found to be highly sensitive to the purchase cost of the Jatropha oil. A 25% reduction in the Jatropha oil purchase cost from the base case price of $0.97/l will lower the biodiesel selling price to $1.00/l making it competitive with petro-diesel (current selling price of $1.02/l). The economic viability of the dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production plant and thus, the adoption of biodiesel as a substitute for petro-diesel is strongly dependent on the purchase cost of the Jatropha oil. This study illustrates the potential of dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production process and provides an important reference value for a more detailed policy level study to develop appropriate biofuel policies and to make investment decisions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772782322000274Jatropha biodieselTransesterificationHeterogeneous catalystDolomiteSimulationEnergy transition |
| spellingShingle | Sagar Ban Rakesh Shrestha Yuvraj Chaudhary Jong-Ki Jeon Rajendra Joshi Bibek Uprety Process simulation and economic analysis of dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production from Nepalese Jatropha Curcas Cleaner Chemical Engineering Jatropha biodiesel Transesterification Heterogeneous catalyst Dolomite Simulation Energy transition |
| title | Process simulation and economic analysis of dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production from Nepalese Jatropha Curcas |
| title_full | Process simulation and economic analysis of dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production from Nepalese Jatropha Curcas |
| title_fullStr | Process simulation and economic analysis of dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production from Nepalese Jatropha Curcas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Process simulation and economic analysis of dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production from Nepalese Jatropha Curcas |
| title_short | Process simulation and economic analysis of dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production from Nepalese Jatropha Curcas |
| title_sort | process simulation and economic analysis of dolomite catalyst based biodiesel production from nepalese jatropha curcas |
| topic | Jatropha biodiesel Transesterification Heterogeneous catalyst Dolomite Simulation Energy transition |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772782322000274 |
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