title: Techno-economical study of biogas production improved by steam explosion pretreatment.
abstract: Economic feasibility of steam explosion pretreatment for improvement of biogas production from wheat straw and paper tube residuals was investigated. The process was simulated by Aspen plus ®, and the economical feasibility of five different plant capacities was studied by Aspen Process Economic Analyzer. Total project investment of a plant using paper tube residuals or wheat straw was 63.9 or 61.8 million Euros, respectively. The manufacturing cost of raw biogas for these two feedstocks was calculated to 0.36 or 0.48 €/m(3) of methane, respectively. Applying steam explosion pretreatment resulted in 13% higher total capital investment while significantly improved the economy of the biogas plant and decreased the manufacturing cost of methane by 36%. The sensitivity analysis showed that 5% improvement in the methane yield and 20% decrease in the raw material price resulted in 5.5% and 8% decrease in the manufacturing cost of methane, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran.
authors.forename: Marzieh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shafiei
authors.forename: Maryam M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kabir
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zilouei
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sárvári Horváth
authors.forename: Keikhosro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karimi
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000191:economics*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D008697:Methane / Q000096:biosynthesis; D010209:Paper; D011312:Pressure; D013227:Steam; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014908:Triticum / Q000737:chemistry; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis / Q000191:economics
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D013227:Steam; D014866:Waste Products; D008697:Methane
keywords: Biogas; Pretreatment; Simulation; Steam explosion; Techno-economical analysis