Abstract

AbstractAs fossil fuels were depleting at an alarming rate, the development of renewable energy has become necessary. One of the promising renewable energy to be used is biodiesel. The interest in using third-generation feedstock, which is microalgae, is rapidly growing. The use of third-generation biodiesel feedstock will be more beneficial as it does not compete with food crop use and land utilization. The advantageous characteristic which sets microalgae apart from other biomass sources is that microalgae have high biomass yield. Conventionally, microalgae biodiesel is produced by lipid extraction followed by transesterification. In this study, combination process between hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) and esterification is explored. The HTL process is one of the biomass thermochemical conversion methods to produce liquid fuel. In this study, the HTL process will be coupled with esterification, which takes fatty acid from HTL as raw material for producing biodiesel. Both the processes will be studied by simulating with Aspen Plus and thermodynamic analysis in terms of energy and exergy. Based on the simulation process, it was reported that both processes demand similar energy consumption. However, exergy analysis shows that total exergy loss of conventional exergy loss is greater than the HTL-esterification process.

Highlights

  • As fossil fuels were depleting at an alarming rate, the development of renewable energy has become necessary

  • The objective of this study is to examine the potency of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL)-esterification to be an alternative and promising biodiesel production process

  • HTL-Esterification Exergy loss in stream, kJ/hr to 120°C allows the biopolymer content of the microalgae to hydrolyze into its monomer [15]

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Summary

Introduction

Abstract: As fossil fuels were depleting at an alarming rate, the development of renewable energy has become necessary. One of the promising renewable energy to be used is biodiesel. The interest in using third-generation feedstock, which is microalgae, is rapidly growing. The use of third-generation biodiesel feedstock will be more beneficial as it does not compete with food crop use and land utilization. Combination process between hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) and esterification is explored. The HTL process is one of the biomass thermochemical conversion methods to produce liquid fuel. The HTL process will be coupled with esterification, which takes fatty acid from HTL as raw material for producing biodiesel. Both the processes will be studied by simulating with Aspen Plus and thermodynamic analysis in terms of energy and exergy. Exergy analysis shows that total exergy loss of conventional exergy loss is greater than the HTLesterification process

Objectives
Methods
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Conclusion

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