LARGE SCALE PRODUCTION OF BIOCRUDE FROM MICROALGAE: EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS AND PROCESS SIMULATIONS TO ASSESS ITS ECONOMIC VIABILITY
| Autor: | Ramos Tercero, Elia Armandina |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
downstream processing
Settore ING-IND/24 - Principi di Ingegneria Chimica ING-IND/24 Principi di ingegneria chimica microalgae microalgae biofuels wastewater downstream processing energy analysis economic evaluation / microalghe biocarburanti acque reflue analisi energetica valutazione economica energy analysis economic evaluation / microalghe acque reflue biocarburanti analisi energetica wastewater biofuels valutazione economica |
| Popis: | This Ph.D. project has been addressed to evaluate the potential of microalgal technology for biofuel production. Different steps of the process, as well as technologies and concepts have been analyzed experimentally and by process simulations in order to assess the sustainability of the production of biofuel from microalgae. An experimentation work on microalgae cultivation in untreated wastewaters is reported, including the selection of the optimal wastewater process stream, the nutrients removal efficiencies and the removal rates. Also, the effects of temperature, day/night irradiation and bacterial competition in steady-state biomass production are evaluated in order to integrate both technologies. Downstream processing has been investigated with respect to anaerobic digestion and hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of microalgae biomass. The production of biogas is evaluated using whole and de-oiled microalgae, as a function of inoculum typology and biomass concentration, and the effect of the solvent used for oil extraction is tested. For HTL, the recovery and reuse of the water process is investigated, by recycling it into the HTL system, testing the effects of temperature and the number of recycles on the product yields. An energy analysis of the entire process, considering several process routes and conditions is presented to verify and optimize its energy profits with respect to EROEI, and eventually a process which is energetically self-sufficient is proposed. Finally a techno-economic analysis of a large-scale plant of biocrude is reported, where data from experimental results and process simulations are used to calculate the oil selling price to achieve revenues from the production of biofuel from microalgae. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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