Techno-economic assessment of pellets produced from steam pretreated biomass feedstock

Oestreich

et al. 2018

Self Cite

Oxymethylene ethers (OMEs) are important diesel additives because of their ability to reduce soot loading, particulate matter (PM) emissions, and NOx emissions. Some research has been undertaken on the feasibility of producing OMEs from biomass but there is no techno‐economic assessment of OME production from biomass. In this study, we estimate the unit cost to produce OMEn (n = 1–8) from three different biomass types common to western Canada: whole‐tree woodchips, forest residues, and wheat straw. The techno‐economic model uses the OME production simulation results for 500 MT day−1 of dry biomass. The simulation results show that 97.70, 98.86, and 99.80 MT day−1 of OME1–8 can be produced from whole‐tree woodchips, forest residues, and wheat straw, respectively. The costs of producing OME per liter over 20 years of production are $1.93 ±0.15/L, $1.68 ±0.14/L, and $1.66 ±0.13/L, respectively, at a 95% confidence level for whole‐tree woodchips, forest residues, and wheat straw biomass. The sensitivity analysis results show that the internal rate of return, OME yield, capital cost, and biomass delivery cost significantly influence OME unit price. The production price versus capacity profile reveals that the optimum minimum price can be obtained at a plant capacity of 4000 MT day−1 of biomass; beyond this, the increase in capacity does not result in any appreciable decrease in production price. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A circular harvesting area is assumed where D = 2*average radius required to collect the biomass feedstock and represents the round‐trip road distance from the forest to the receiving plant . Dry basis…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of the production cost of oxymethylene ethers as diesel additives from biomass

Oyedun

Oestreich

et al. 2018

Self Cite

“…Although such 2,3‐BDO MBSP is similar to the above assumed market price, unstable market prices of raw materials and variations of economic analysis assumptions could result in uncertainties. To evaluate parameter effects and the uncertainty level of TEA, sensitivity and uncertainty analyses have been widely used for economic analysis …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techno‐economic analysis of co‐production of 2,3‐butanediol, furfural, and technical lignin via biomass processing based on deep eutectic solvent pretreatment

Zang

Shah

Chen

2020

This study analyzed the techno‐economic feasibility of a biomass conversion process enabled by high‐solid loading deep eutectic solvent (DES) pretreatment for the co‐production of 2,3‐butanediol (BDO), furfural, and technical lignin. Aspen plus was used for process simulation; economic analysis models were developed to evaluate commercial potential; sensitivity analysis was carried out to evaluate the effects of key parameters on the production cost of 2,3‐BDO; and Monte‐Carlo simulation was used for uncertainty analysis. Two cases of high‐solid loading pretreatment (20% versus 27%) for DES pretreatment were compared. The process simulation results indicate that 78–79% of cellulose, 63–70% of xylan, and 40–44% of lignin in raw switchgrass are converted into 2,3‐BDO, furfural, and technical lignin, respectively. The minimum 2,3‐BDO selling price (MBSP) of these two cases is estimated to be 1703–1736 $ ton−1, which is about half of the current 2,3‐BDO market price. Sensitivity analyses show that the prices and recycle ratios of acetone and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) have larger impacts on the MBSP, which indicates that further technical improvement should focus on reducing their consumption. The uncertainty analysis indicates that 20 and 27% solid loading systems have similar confident intervals, with 90% confidence interval of MBSP ranging from 1450–1990 $ ton−1. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

“…The raw materials take into account the costs of biomass, catalysts, hydrogen, and natural gas, depending on the scenario. The biomass feedstock is estimated to be 45.17 $ dry t −1 , which includes the costs associated with transportation, harvesting, silviculture, road construction, nutrient spreading, and the premium paid to land owners . The costs of electricity, natural gas, and hydrogen were taken to be 0.067 $ kWh −1 , 1.583 $ GJ −1 , and 0.743 $ kg −1 , respectively.…”

Section: Techno‐economic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Th e biomass feedstock is estimated to be 45.17 $ dry t -1 , which includes the costs associated with transportation, harvesting, silviculture, road construction, nutrient spreading, and the premium paid to land owners. [99][100][101] Th e costs of electricity, natural gas, and hydrogen were taken to be 0.067 $ kWh -1 , 102 1.583 $ GJ -1 , 86 and 0.743 $ kg -1 , 103 respectively. For the hydrogen production scenario, the catalysts costs are obtained from the literature.…”

Section: Biomass Fl Ow Rate Dry T Day -1 2000mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass for the production of diluents for bitumen transport

Oyedun

2017

Self Cite

This study explores the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of wood chips to biocrude followed by upgrading to diluents, which are used to transport bitumen through pipelines. In this study, we considered a 2000 dry t day−1 plant capacity with two scenarios. The first scenario uses hydrogen for upgrading from the on‐site hydrogen production plant (i.e., the hydrogen production scenario) and the other relies on procuring hydrogen from an external source (i.e., the hydrogen purchase scenario). We developed a data‐intensive process model for HTL and used it to estimate plant capital costs. Project investment costs for the hydrogen production and hydrogen purchase scenarios are 559.67 and 429.13 M $, respectively. The product values (PV) of the diluent from the two scenarios are 0.98 ± 0.03 and 0.79 ± 0.03 $ L−1, respectively, at a 95% confidence interval. The sensitivity analysis shows that diluent yield and internal rate of return (IRR) have the highest impact on the PV of the diluent, followed by capital cost and biomass cost. The optimum plant size at which the cost of production is lowest is 4000 dry t day−1 for PVs of 0.82 $ L−1 and 0.68 $ L−1 for the hydrogen production and purchase scenarios, respectively. This study offers insights into the techno‐economic feasibility of producing diluents from HTL. The results of the study could help in the production of diluents for bitumen transportation for the oil sands industry and help reduce the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of the oil and gas sector. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd