Process Simulation And Techno-Economic Performance Evaluation Of Alternative Technologies For Biodiesel Production From Low Value Non-Edible Oil

In this study the techno-economic performances of three possible technologies have been assessed to identify the better one. The studied technologies include: Glycerol enriched CaO catalyzed, Supercritical ethanol, and Solid acid catalyzed processes. The overall study is based on complete process simulations using two commercially known software - Aspen Plus and Super Pro. The complete process layout for each option has been designed based on reasonable assumptions and optimum reaction conditions taken from relevant literatures. The amount and quality of biodiesel and glycerol as well as the amount of biodiesel per amount of feedstock used have been used to assess the relative technical performances among the process alternatives. For economic performance evaluation, the total cost of investment, unit cost of production, internal rate of return, net present value and project payback time have been used. The economic feasibility of each process towards change in production capacity has also been assessed. In addition, the sensitivity of each process scenario for the possible global market fluctuations of inputs and outputs has been evaluated. The glycerol enriched CaO catalyzed option is found to be the most economically feasible option under the given market scenario. All the three options are proved to be good in their technical performances, even though the solid acid catalyzed, and supercritical options are not economically efficient.