Techno-economic evaluation of an ethanol production process for biomass waste

Extensive efforts from all over the world have been made to solve energy problems, such as high oil prices, global warning due to the depletion of oil. Among them, biofuel has been drawing attention as a clean energy, which can replace fossil fuels. However, conventional biofuels were often converted from eatable biomass such as sugar cane, corn and soy which should be replaced with uneatable biomass. In this study, a techno-economical evaluation of the gasification of biomass waste with mixed alcohol synthesis process was performed. Considering available domestic biomass wastes, a 2000 ton/day conversion plant were assumed to produce 533000 L/day ethanol. Also, financial data from previous studies were evaluated and used and economical sensitivities with various operation conditions were established. Economic analysis were conducted by the payback period and internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (NPV). Sensitivity analyses of raw material costs, initial investment, the major process cost, ethanol price changes and operating costs were all performed.