Techno‐economic analysis of co‐located corn grain and corn stover ethanol plants

Abstract

AbstractThe goal of this paper is to evaluate the economic performance of co‐located corn grain ethanol (Gen 1) and cellulosic ethanol (Gen 2) facilities. We present six scenarios to evaluate the impact of stover‐to‐grain mass (SGM) ratios on overall minimum ethanol selling price (MESP). For the Gen 1 plant, MESP is $3.18/ gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) while for the Gen 2 plant it is $5.64/GGE. Co‐located Gen 1 and Gen 2 plants operating at the lowest SGM ratio of 0.4 generates the lowest overall MESP of $3.73/GGE as well as the highest MESP for cellulosic ethanol of $7.85/GGE. Co‐located plants operating at the highest SGM ratio of 1.0 achieve the highest overall MESP of $3.94/GGE as well as the lowest MESP for cellulosic ethanol of $5.47/GGE. Sensitivity analysis shows that the prices of feedstocks have the greatest impact on the overall MESP. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd