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Abstract
Today one of the most interesting ways to produce biodiesel is based on the use of oleaginous microorganisms, which can accumulate microbial oil with a composition similar to vegetable oils. In this paper, we present a thermo-chemical numerical model of the yeast biodiesel production process, considering cardoon stalks as raw material. The simulation is performed subdividing the process into the following sections: steam explosion pre-treatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, lipid production, lipid extraction, and alkali-catalyzed transesterification. Numerical results show that 406.4 t of biodiesel can be produced starting from 10,000 t of lignocellulosic biomass. An economic analysis indicates a biodiesel production cost of 12.8 USD/kg, thus suggesting the need to increase the capacity plant and the lipid yield to make the project economically attractive. In this regard, a sensitivity analysis is also performed considering an ideal lipid yield of 22% and 100,000 t of lignocellulosic biomass. The biodiesel production costs related to these new scenarios are 7.88 and 5.91 USD/kg, respectively. The large capacity plant combined with a great lipid yield in the fermentation stage shows a biodiesel production cost of 3.63 USD/kg making the product competitive on the current market of biofuels by microbial oil.
Highlights
The production of biodiesel or oleochemical precursor starting from varied vegetable oils, such as rapeseed, soybean, palm, peanut, sunflower, and waste cooking oils, is a promising alternative to fossil-based fuels
The ultimate purpose of this chemical process simulation is to determine the economics of biodiesel production starting from microbial oil. This approach is used to understand biodiesel’s potential in the marketplace when compared with traditional production processes and to guide future research in order to modify or optimize the production chain. In light of these considerations, the analysis developed is used to determine a fundamental economic parameter, such as the biodiesel production cost [68], whose value is directly related to feasibility project
This paper evaluated the technical and economic feasibility on an industrial scale of biodiesel production from of microbial oil using cardoon stalks as raw material
Summary
The production of biodiesel or oleochemical precursor starting from varied vegetable oils, such as rapeseed, soybean, palm, peanut, sunflower, and waste cooking oils, is a promising alternative to fossil-based fuels. It increasingly requires attention in economic and environmental terms [1,2,3]. Oleaginous yeasts show promising characteristics as for example their rapid growth rate and high lipid contents (up to 60% of their cell dry weight) when subjected to specific operating conditions [11,12,13] They have obvious advantages if compared to conventional vegetable oils thanks to their short life cycle and very low farm land use [14]
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