Abstract
Techno-economic analysis of an indirect use of carbon dioxide within the route of glycerolysis of glycerol with urea is investigated. The results show that the net present value of the biodiesel-glycerol carbonate production by glycerolysis is higher than the biodiesel-glycerol carbonate production by direct carboxylationat at the end of the 12-year operation with similar capacities. The stochastic model has predicted that using glycerolysis route for the synthesis of glycerol carbonate production might increase the probability of getting positive net present value by about 15%.
Highlights
Biodiesel is renewable, nontoxic, biodegradable, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics, it may be one of the most suitable candidates for future biofuel
The results show that the net present value of the biodiesel-glycerol carbonate production by glycerolysis is higher than the biodiesel-glycerol carbonate production by direct carboxylationat at the end of the 12-year operation with similar capacities
The stochastic model has predicted that using glycerolysis route for the synthesis of glycerol carbonate production might increase the probability of getting positive net present value by about 15%
Summary
Nontoxic, biodegradable, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics, it may be one of the most suitable candidates for future biofuel. Biodiesel production plants depend on government subsidies in order to keep their plants in operation [2]. Seeking for a more economic biodiesel production process to reduce the dependency of government subsidies and promote expansion of biodiesel industry is desirable. A conventional biodiesel production plant was retrofitted using thermodynamic analysis, which employs process heat integration, column grand composite curves, and exergy loss profiles to assess the existing operation and suggest modifications [3]. RD reduces operational and equipment costs by decreasing waste energy and overcoming thermodynamic and chemical equilibrium limitations. Further reduction of energy and equipment cost of the biodiesel production plant is possible by using thermally coupled distillation column sequences as they allow interconnecting vapor and liquid flows between the two columns to eliminate the reboiler or condenser or both [7]. DEMIREL deterministic and stochastic models are used to compare the two plants to determine the most feasible process
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