title: Economics evaluation for on-site pyrolysis of kraft lignin to value-added chemicals.
abstract: This work is part of a series of investigations on pyrolysis of lignin. After obtaining the necessary information regarding the quantity and quality of the obtained products, a first step economics evaluation for converting lignin into chemicals was essential. To accomplish this aim, a pyrolysis plant with a 50t/d capacity was designed, and the total capital investment and operating costs were estimated. Next, the minimal selling price of the obtained dry oil was calculated and the effect of crucial variables on the estimated price was examined. The key result indicates the estimated selling price would not compete with the price of the chemicals that are fossil fuel based, which is primarily due to the high cost of the feedstock. To overcome this challenge, different scenarios for reducing the selling price of the obtained oil, which consequently is helping by taking a place among the fossil fuel based chemicals, were discussed.
authors.affiliation: Research Center In Process Engineering-Biorefinery (CRIP), Department of Chemical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3A7, Canada.
authors.forename: Sherif
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Farag
authors.affiliation: Research Center In Process Engineering-Biorefinery (CRIP), Department of Chemical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3A7, Canada. Electronic address: jamal.chaouki@polymtl.ca.
authors.forename: Jamal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chaouki
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000191:economics*; D001709:Biotechnology; D002201:Capital Expenditures; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry*; D008962:Models, Theoretical
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; C076151:Kraft lignin; D008031:Lignin
keywords: Bio-oil; Economics; Kraft lignin; Pyrolysis