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Techno-Economic Evaluation of Biorefineries Based on Low-Value Feedstocks Using the BioSTEAM Software: A Case Study for Animal Bedding

Sanchis Sebastia, Miguel LU orcid ; Gomis Fons, Joaquin LU ; Galbe, Mats LU and Wallberg, Ola LU orcid (2020) In Processes 8(8).
Abstract
Biofuels are still too costly to compete in the energy market and it has been suggested that low-value feedstocks could provide an opportunity for the production of low-cost biofuels; however, the lower quality of these feedstocks requires the introduction of a conditioning step in the biorefinery process. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether feedstock savings cover the cost of conditioning in the case of animal bedding. The BioSTEAM software was used to simulate a wheat straw biorefinery and an animal bedding biorefinery, whose economic performance was compared. The wheat straw biorefinery could deliver ethanol at a minimum selling price of USD 0.61 per liter, which is similar to prices in the literature. The cost of producing... (More)
Biofuels are still too costly to compete in the energy market and it has been suggested that low-value feedstocks could provide an opportunity for the production of low-cost biofuels; however, the lower quality of these feedstocks requires the introduction of a conditioning step in the biorefinery process. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether feedstock savings cover the cost of conditioning in the case of animal bedding. The BioSTEAM software was used to simulate a wheat straw biorefinery and an animal bedding biorefinery, whose economic performance was compared. The wheat straw biorefinery could deliver ethanol at a minimum selling price of USD 0.61 per liter, which is similar to prices in the literature. The cost of producing ethanol in the animal bedding biorefinery without water recycling was almost 40% higher, increasing the minimum selling price to USD 1.1 per liter of ethanol. After introducing water recycling in the conditioning step, the animal bedding biorefinery could deliver ethanol at a minimum selling price of USD 0.38 per liter, which is 40% lower than in the case of the wheat straw biorefinery. This demonstrates that low-value feedstocks can be used to reduce the biofuel price, as feedstock savings easily cover the additional conditioning cost. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
animal bedding, bioethanol, biorefinery, techno-economic, BioSTEAM
in
Processes
volume
8
issue
8
article number
904
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85089772288
ISSN
2227-9717
DOI
10.3390/pr8080904
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3344ed93-3100-4bff-a217-9e60f6d1f82c
date added to LUP
2020-07-31 14:20:55
date last changed
2023-12-19 02:41:45
@article{3344ed93-3100-4bff-a217-9e60f6d1f82c,
  abstract     = {{Biofuels are still too costly to compete in the energy market and it has been suggested that low-value feedstocks could provide an opportunity for the production of low-cost biofuels; however, the lower quality of these feedstocks requires the introduction of a conditioning step in the biorefinery process. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether feedstock savings cover the cost of conditioning in the case of animal bedding. The BioSTEAM software was used to simulate a wheat straw biorefinery and an animal bedding biorefinery, whose economic performance was compared. The wheat straw biorefinery could deliver ethanol at a minimum selling price of USD 0.61 per liter, which is similar to prices in the literature. The cost of producing ethanol in the animal bedding biorefinery without water recycling was almost 40% higher, increasing the minimum selling price to USD 1.1 per liter of ethanol. After introducing water recycling in the conditioning step, the animal bedding biorefinery could deliver ethanol at a minimum selling price of USD 0.38 per liter, which is 40% lower than in the case of the wheat straw biorefinery. This demonstrates that low-value feedstocks can be used to reduce the biofuel price, as feedstock savings easily cover the additional conditioning cost.}},
  author       = {{Sanchis Sebastia, Miguel and Gomis Fons, Joaquin and Galbe, Mats and Wallberg, Ola}},
  issn         = {{2227-9717}},
  keywords     = {{animal bedding; bioethanol; biorefinery; techno-economic; BioSTEAM}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{8}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Processes}},
  title        = {{Techno-Economic Evaluation of Biorefineries Based on Low-Value Feedstocks Using the BioSTEAM Software: A Case Study for Animal Bedding}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pr8080904}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/pr8080904}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}