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Optimal design of microalgae-based biorefinery: Economics, opportunities and challenges

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  • Rizwan, Muhammad
  • Lee, Jay H.
  • Gani, Rafiqul

Abstract

Microalgae have great potential as a feedstock for the production of a wide range of end-products under the broad concept of biorefinery. In an earlier work, we proposed a superstructure based optimization model to find the optimal processing pathway for the production of biodiesel from microalgal biomass, and identified several challenges with the focus being on utilizing lipids extracted microalgal biomass for economic and environmentally friendly production of useful energy products. In this paper, we expand the previous optimization framework by considering the processing of microalgae residue previously treated as wastes. We develop an expanded biorefinery superstructure model, based on which a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model is proposed to determine the optimal/promising biorefinery configurations with different choices of objective functions. The MINLP model is solved in GAMS using a database built in Excel. Economic sensitivity analysis is performed to elaborate the potential improvements in the overall economics, and set the targets that must be achieved in the future in order for microalgal biofuels to become economically viable.

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  • Rizwan, Muhammad & Lee, Jay H. & Gani, Rafiqul, 2015. "Optimal design of microalgae-based biorefinery: Economics, opportunities and challenges," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 69-79.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:150:y:2015:i:c:p:69-79
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.04.018
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    2. Kate Kim & Farzad Hourfar & Abdul Halim Bin Abdul Razik & Muhammad Rizwan & Ali Almansoori & Michael Fowler & Ali Elkamel, 2023. "Importance of Microalgae and Municipal Waste in Bioenergy Products Hierarchy—Integration of Biorefineries for Microalgae and Municipal Waste Processing: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-39, September.
    3. Narula, Vishal & Khan, Mohd. Fazil & Negi, Ankit & Kalra, Shashvat & Thakur, Aman & Jain, Siddharth, 2017. "Low temperature optimization of biodiesel production from algal oil using CaO and CaO/Al2O3 as catalyst by the application of response surface methodology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 879-884.
    4. Narula, Vishal & Thakur, Aman & Uniyal, Ankit & Kalra, Shashvat & Jain, Siddharth, 2017. "Process parameter optimization of low temperature transesterification of algae-Jatropha Curcas oil blend," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 983-988.
    5. Rodríguez, R. & Espada, J.J. & Moreno, J. & Vicente, G. & Bautista, L.F. & Morales, V. & Sánchez-Bayo, A. & Dufour, J., 2018. "Environmental analysis of Spirulina cultivation and biogas production using experimental and simulation approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(PB), pages 724-732.
    6. Gnansounou, Edgard & Kenthorai Raman, Jegannathan, 2016. "Life cycle assessment of algae biodiesel and its co-products," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 300-308.
    7. Siwen Gu & Jiaan Wang & Yu Zhuang, 2022. "A Two-Tier Superstructure Model for Optimization of Microalgae-Based Biorefinery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Zhang, Quanguo & Nurhayati, & Cheng, Chieh-Lun & Nagarajan, Dillirani & Chang, Jo-Shu & Hu, Jianjun & Lee, Duu-Jong, 2017. "Carbon capture and utilization of fermentation CO2: Integrated ethanol fermentation and succinic acid production as an efficient platform," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 364-371.
    9. Judd, S.J. & Al Momani, F.A.O. & Znad, H. & Al Ketife, A.M.D., 2017. "The cost benefit of algal technology for combined CO2 mitigation and nutrient abatement," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 379-387.
    10. Omar Morsy & Farzad Hourfar & Qinqin Zhu & Ali Almansoori & Ali Elkamel, 2023. "A Superstructure Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming Optimization for the Optimal Processing Pathway Selection of Sludge-to-Energy Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-34, February.
    11. Nicoletti, Jack & Ning, Chao & You, Fengqi, 2019. "Incorporating agricultural waste-to-energy pathways into biomass product and process network through data-driven nonlinear adaptive robust optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 556-571.
    12. Marwa G. Saad & Noura S. Dosoky & Mohamed S. Zoromba & Hesham M. Shafik, 2019. "Algal Biofuels: Current Status and Key Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-22, May.
    13. Cruce, Jesse R. & Quinn, Jason C., 2019. "Economic viability of multiple algal biorefining pathways and the impact of public policies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 735-746.
    14. González Álvarez, José Francisco & Gonzalo de Grado, Jesús, 2016. "Study of a modern industrial low pressure turbine for electricity production employed in oxy-combustion cycles with CO2 capture purposes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 734-747.
    15. Cuevas-Castillo, Gabriela A. & Navarro-Pineda, Freddy S. & Baz Rodríguez, Sergio A. & Sacramento Rivero, Julio C., 2020. "Advances on the processing of microalgal biomass for energy-driven biorefineries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    16. Lim, Juin Yau & Teng, Sin Yong & How, Bing Shen & Nam, KiJeon & Heo, SungKu & Máša, Vítězslav & Stehlík, Petr & Yoo, Chang Kyoo, 2022. "From microalgae to bioenergy: Identifying optimally integrated biorefinery pathways and harvest scheduling under uncertainties in predicted climate," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    17. González Álvarez, José Francisco & Gonzalo de Grado, Jesús, 2019. "Study of combustion in CO2-Capturing semi-closed Brayton cycle conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1276-1290.
    18. Fasahati, Peyman & Wu, Wenzhao & Maravelias, Christos T., 2019. "Process synthesis and economic analysis of cyanobacteria biorefineries: A superstructure-based approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.

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