Sustainability assessment of biofuel and value-added product from organic fraction of municipal solid waste

Abstract

The current study aims to examine the techno-economic and environmental assessment of biorefinery development within a circular bioeconomy context by using an organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) by extraction of lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins with 98, 51 and 62 % by mass of conversion efficiency and yield recovery, and value-added fractions production as well. Fatty acid methyl ester (biodiesel) and glycerol (biofuel) were produced by applying transesterification process, and the remaining biomass was converted into biocrude oil by thermal liquefication. The biorefinery using 613 kg of OFMSW produced biodiesel, glycerol, and bioethanol with 126 litter, 14.3 kg, and 172 litter respectively, as well as value-added fractions, such as biocrude oil with 78 kg. The environmental impact was assessed using the life cycle assessment (LCA) framework, ReCiPe2016 Mid-point (H) approach, through 18 different environmental categories. The key findings elucidate that Terrestrial ecotoxicity, Climate change, Fossil depletion and Human toxicity were the main impact categories which are potentially contributed 9.81E+02 kg 1,4-DB eq., 1.43E+03 kg CO2 eq., 2.04E+02 kg oil eq., and 8.08E+01 kg 1,4-DB eq. The normalization (person per equivalent) analysis revealed that only categories of resource reduction (fossil and metal depletion) are the key contributors to environmental degradation. The biorefinery system's total revenue was estimated at USD 6.817,509 million annually. The calculated revenue was USD 0.026 million daily in a shift of 8 h. The Net present worth (NPW) was calculated at USD 499.97 million by assuming a discount factor of 10 % and inflation rate of 5 % for 15 years. The project is considered feasible by demonstrating 7.15 payback year. This research showcased the efficient portrayal of the biorefinery system and succinctly conveyed the significant circular bioeconomy for a greener future. Thus, it could be helpful to the stakeholder's context towards techno-economic and environmental evaluation.