TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF BIOFUELS PRODUCTION By NA WU A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2018 © 2018 NA WU To my grandma 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to all of those I have had the pleasure to work with: my committee, my work-mates and my family. First, I would like to thank my committee members who are more than generous to share their expertise and precious time with me. They set examples of excellence as researchers, mentors, instructors, and role models. Thanks to Dr. Svoronos with his countless hours and patience of advising and encouraging throughout the entire process; Dr. Bucklin, who are always supportive and helpful since I came to the ABE department; Dr. Porter, whose inspiration lectures gives me valuable guidance to the field of agriculture operations management; Dr. Philips, who provides me many ideas and insightful advises; Dr. Grogan, to whom I am so appreciative for her dedication and commitment both in my research and my development. A special thanks to Dr. Pratap, my committee chair for his extensive personal and professional guiding and supporting for years. I would like to express the deepest appreciation to him, who continually and convincingly conveyed the spirit of a researcher and scientist, and caring for students. Without his guidance and persistent help this dissertation would not have been possible. I would like to thank my workmates: Yingxiu, Jack, Yikan, Karl, Samriddhi, for their help in both my research and life. I would also thank all the stuff in the ABE department as well as the colleagues who are involved in my graduate studies journey. I would like to thank my family members: grandparents, parents, aunt, uncle and two cousins, who provide me emotional support and unconditional love. Most importantly, I wish to thank my loving and supportive husband, who always backs me up both in work and life. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................8 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................9 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................11 CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION ................................................................................14 Market Assessment of Biofuels ..............................................................................................14 Techno-economic Analysis ....................................................................................................17 Benefits of Techno-economic Analysis ...........................................................................18 Different Levels of Techno-economic Analysis at All Pre-commercial Stages ..............19 Steps of Techno-economic Analysis ...............................................................................19 Analysis Tools .................................................................................................................21 ASPEN Plus V8.8 ...................................................................................................................22 Process Simulation ..........................................................................................................22 Economic Analysis ..........................................................................................................22 Research Objectives ........................................................................................................24 2 ANAEROBIC DIGESTION AND PHOSPHATE PRECIPITATION FROM STILLAGE PRODUCED IN A LIGNOCELLULOSIC ETHANOL PLANT – A TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS USING ASPEN PLUS ...............................................26 Introduction .............................................................................................................................26 Material and Methods .............................................................................................................28 Process Modeling of Lignocellulosic Ethanol Production at Stan Mayfield Biorefinery ...................................................................................................................28 Thermodynamic Model ...................................................................................................30 Anaerobic digestion ..................................................................................................31 Fertilizer (struvite) precipitation ..............................................................................32 Steam generation ......................................................................................................32 Scenarios Investigated .....................................................................................................32 Economic analysis ...........................................................................................................33 Results and Discussion ...........................................................................................................34 Process Modeling with Electrolytes ................................................................................34 Stillage Characterization .................................................................................................35 Anaerobic Digestion Results ...........................................................................................36 Struvite Precipitation Results ..........................................................................................36 Economics .......................................................................................................................37 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................39 5 3 TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTION THROUGH ANAEROBIC DIGESTION FROM CYANOTHECE SP. BG0011 .................41 Introduction .............................................................................................................................41 Methods ..................................................................................................................................44 Microalgae Cultivation ....................................................................................................44 Anaerobic Digestion ........................................................................................................47 Biogas Purification ..........................................................................................................48 Power Generation from Biogas .......................................................................................50 Results and Discussion ...........................................................................................................51 Microalgae Cultivation Economics .................................................................................51 Studied Cases of Anaerobic Digestion ............................................................................52 Electricity Production Cost ..............................................................................................53 Conclusion and Future Work ..................................................................................................54 4 TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF EXOPOLYSACCHARIDES PRODUCTION FROM CYANOTHECE SP. BG0011 ....................................................................................55 Introduction .............................................................................................................................55 Materials and Methods ...........................................................................................................56 Process Description .........................................................................................................57 Economics Assumptions .................................................................................................58 Results and Discussion ...........................................................................................................59 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................60 5 TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF BIOBUTANOL PRODUCTION USING A “HYBRID” CONVERSION APPROACH ............................................................................62 Introduction .............................................................................................................................62 Literature Review of Biobutanol Production Process ............................................................64 Description of Butanol Production Process .....................................................................64 Fraction/pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass ....................................................65 Detoxification ...........................................................................................................68 Fermentation and reactors ........................................................................................70