Economic evaluation of synthetic ethanol production by using domestic biowastes and coal mixture

Biowastes, such as cow manure, waste paper, and wood waste, are recognized as an essential source of renewable energy, and their importance increased significantly over time. However, the insufficient supply of biowastes for commercial thermochemical conversion processes is a major problem that needs to be addressed. Therefore, the co-utilization of biowastes and coal has been developed globally. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of biowaste and coal mixtures in an ethanol conversion process. A commercial-scale thermochemical process consisting of a dual fluidized bed gasifier, compressor, tar reformer, catalytic reactor, and auxiliary facilities was used and analyzed. In particular, the effects of material costs including both transportation and collection costs of biowastes and mix percentages on the economic value of synthetic ethanol were analyzed. In addition to the limitations of biowaste collection, the scale of co-utilization processes could be a critical factor for the commercialization of converting biowaste and coal mixtures to ethanol.