Techno-economic comparison of biojet fuel production from lignocellulose, vegetable oil and sugar cane juice.
In this study, a techno-economic comparison was performed considering three processes (thermochemical, biochemical and hybrid) for production of jet fuel from lignocellulosic biomass (2G) versus two processes from first generation (1G) feedstocks, including vegetable oil and sugar cane juice. Mass and energy balances were constructed for energy self-sufficient versions of these processes, not utilising any fossil energy sources, using ASPEN Plus® simulations. All of the investigated processes obtained base minimum jet selling prices (MJSP) that is substantially higher than the market jet fuel price (2-4 fold). The 1G process which converts vegetable oil, obtained the lowest MJSPs of $2.22/kg jet fuel while the two most promising 2G processes- the thermochemical (gasification and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis) and hybrid (gasification and biochemical upgrading) processes- reached MJSPs of $2.44/kg and $2.50/kg jet fuel, respectively. According to the economic sensitivity analysis, the feedstock cost and fixed capital investment have the most influence on the MJSP.
Department of Process Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa.
Gabriel Wilhelm
GW
Diederichs
Department of Process Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa. Electronic address: mandegari@sun.ac.za.
Mohsen
M
Ali Mandegari
Department of Process Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa.
Somayeh
S
Farzad
Department of Process Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa.
Johann F
JF
Görgens
D056804:Biofuels / Q000191:economics*; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources; D007449:Investments; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000191:economics / Q000378:metabolism; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000191:economics / Q000378:metabolism; D031786:Saccharum / Q000737:chemistry*
D056804:Biofuels; D010938:Plant Oils; C036909:lignocellulose; D008031:Lignin
Biochemical; Ethanol intermediate; Hybrid; Renewable jet fuel; Techno-economic comparison; Thermochemical