A comparative techno‐economic assessment of three bio‐oil upgrading routes for aviation biofuel production

Abstract

Summary The aviation industry continues to grow, and consequently, more fuel is needed. With the intention of decarbonising the aviation sector, sustainable routes that have the potential to mitigate emissions, such as biomass fast pyrolysis, can positively contribute to this direction. Within this context, the present study performs a comparative techno‐economic evaluation of aviation biofuel manufacture via the main bio‐oil upgrading pathways, namely, hydroprocessing (HP), gasification followed by Fischer‐Tropsch synthesis (G+FT), and zeolite cracking (ZC). The research constitutes the first endeavour to investigate and compare the feasibility of producing biojet fuel via pyrolysis‐based routes. The presented work provides an inclusive evaluation that comprises process modelling and financial assessment. Based on the simulations, overall energy efficiencies of 48.8%, 45.73%, and 45.38% and jet fuel energy efficiencies of 23.70%, 21.45%, and 20.53% were calculated, while the implementation of a discounted cash flow analysis estimated minimum jet fuel selling prices (MJSPs) of 1.98, 2.32, and 2.21 $/L for the HP, the G+FT, and the ZC, respectively. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the processes are capital and feedstock intensive while an increase to the bio‐oil yield will favour the economic performance of the examined biorefineries. An increase of the plant size from 100 (base case) to 150 dry tonnes per hour of feedstock will decrease the selling prices by approximately 25% for all cases. Monte Carlo simulations exhibited that without establishing and/or maintaining appropriate policy schemes, there is no pragmatic prospect for the examined biorefineries to beat the competition against the prevailing oil infrastructures.

Catalytic hydrotreatment of lignin‐derived pyrolysis bio‐oils using Cu/γ‐Al 2 O 3 catalyst: Reaction network development and kinetic study of anisole upgrading

“…One of the most effective processes for lignin-derived bio-oil upgrading is catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). [13][14][15] During the catalytic HDO process, bio-oil is upgraded to value-added biofuel by concurrent decrease in O/C ratio along with increase in H/C ratio in the presence of H 2 and catalyst. 16 HDO process generally encompasses two main pathways, including (a) hydrogenation and deoxygenation subsequently and (b) hydrogenolysis of the C aromatic O bond.…”

“…Hence, different approaches have been investigated in order to valorize bio‐oils with appropriate characteristics. One of the most effective processes for lignin‐derived bio‐oil upgrading is catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) 13‐15 . During the catalytic HDO process, bio‐oil is upgraded to value‐added biofuel by concurrent decrease in O/C ratio along with increase in H/C ratio in the presence of H 2 and catalyst 16 .…”

A Comparative Technoeconomic Analysis of Algal Thermochemical Conversion Technologies for Diluent Production

“…Varying one parameter at a time allows us to understand the effects of individual parameters; however, many parameters are likely to change at the same time, the effects of which are studied through a Monte Carlo simulation. [83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90]…”

Biojet fuel production via alternative thermochemical routes: thermoeconomic, life cycle and flight performance analysis

“…The HEFA route employs thermal hydrolysis, decarboxylation, hydrocracking, and isomerization to treat triglycerides from vegetable oil (see Figure 3) [71,72]. It is currently the most well-known and fully commercialized on an extensive industrial-scale process [7,71].…”

“…The HEFA route employs thermal hydrolysis, decarboxylation, hydrocracking, and isomerization to treat triglycerides from vegetable oil (see Figure 3) [71,72]. It is currently the most well-known and fully commercialized on an extensive industrial-scale process [7,71]. Many companies opt to implement biorefineries using the HEFA technology because much lower capital is required than lignocellulose-based technologies [73].…”