Economic Evaluation of Syngas Production: Model Development and Analysis

Abstract

The objective of this study was to develop and apply an economic model to predict the unit cost of syngas production from a micro-scale bio-gasification facility. The economic model was programmed in C++ and developed using a parametric-cost approach, which included processes to calculate the total capital costs and the total operating costs of a bio-gasification facility. The model used data measured from the bio-gasification facility at Mississippi State University. The modeling results showed a unit cost and energy cost of syngas production of $1.258 Nm-3 and $0.217 MJ-1, respectively, for a 60 Nm3 h-1 bio-gasifier capacity. The operating cost was determined to be a large proportion of the total production cost, in which equipment purchase cost and labor cost were a major part of the total capital cost and the total operating cost, respectively. When the production capacity increased from 60 to 2,400 Nm-3 h-1 with a higher operating mode, the total annual production cost increased while the syngas unit cost decreased. Sensitivity analysis of the model results indicated that equipment purchase cost ranked highest, followed by employee pay rate, feedstock price, loan life, interest rate, electricity price, and waste treatment price. The unit cost of syngas production increased with the increase of all parameters with the exception of loan life. The loan life and annual interest rate showed a non-linear relationship, while the other parameters showed a linear relationship with percent changes in the unit cost of syngas production. The economic model and analysis techniques developed in this study were found to be useful and can be applied in other similar conditions as needed.