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Techno-economic assessment of an integrated bio-oil steam reforming and hydrodeoxygenation system for polygeneration of hydrogen, chemicals, and combined heat and power production

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The utilization of bio-oil could be an attractive option in the future, attributed to its high bulk energy density and ease of transportation. However, the primary challenge in promoting the commercialization of technologies using bio-oil is high capital investment and operating costs. The key to resolve this challenge is to maximize the value of products that can be extracted from bio-oil through realizing a flexible, multiple product generation and integrated system configuration, known as polygeneration system. In this study, an integrated bio-oil steam reforming and hydrodeoxygenation (BOSR-HDO) system, with simultaneous production of hydrogen, chemicals, heat, and power, is proposed. A systematic design framework was adopted in the present case for maximizing resource utilization and hence the economic potential of the system. The system has shown a positive economic potential (i.e., £120 million/year) at a bio-oil cost of £166/t. On the other hand, the netback of bio-oil, i.e., the maximum acceptable market price, was determined to be £301.9/t (£19.4/GJ). The study has also demonstrated that the adoption of heat integration strategy could improve the economic potential of the BOSR-HDO system by 24.6% (i.e., £29 million/year). Furthermore, the study has recommended that the utilization of excess hydrogen in the HDO process should be limited below a hydrogen-to-oil ratio of 4.3 for an economically viable processing.
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... • Advanced industrial system design using an innovative polygeneration [2] concept [ Figure 4] i.e. a highly integrated system design for simultaneous production of fuels, chemicals and energy which could enhance resource efficiency and product diversification through its highly flexible and robust system configuration, has been proposed and demonstrated in biorefinery [3], [4] , CO 2 capture and utilisation [5] and waste-to-hydrogen [6], [7] systems. ...
... The framework has been adopted to (i) systematically analyse the potential of recovering food waste in the UK via different configurations and synergistic resource management between households and supermarkets; and (ii) improve resource efficiency by considering energy supply and demand, waste management and resource recovery from waste in a single system. its highly flexible and robust system configuration, has been proposed and demonstrated in biorefinery [3], [4] , CO2 capture and utilisation [5] and waste-to-hydrogen [6], [7] systems.  Strategic analysis has also been conducted on urban system using the Systems Thinking Approach to Resource Recovery (STARR) framework which consists of policy analysis, material flow analysis, scenario creation and sustainability assessment. ...
... Theme 3: Development of innovative biorefinery system design 3.a. Techno-economic assessment of an integrated bio-oil steam reforming and hydrodeoxygenation system for polygeneration of hydrogen, chemicals and combined heat and power production [3] Authors: Kok Siew Ng, Elias Martinez-Hernandez Book: Towards Sustainable Chemical Processes ...
Technical Report
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This report summarises the 4-year fellowship project (2018-2021) funded by UKRI/NERC, led by Dr Kok Siew Ng at the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford. The report and other publications can be found via https://eng.ox.ac.uk/synergors/publications/. Please cite this report as: Ng, K.S., Hatton, L., Martinez-Hernandez, E. (2021) SYNERGORS - A Systems Approach to Synergistic Utilisation of Secondary Organic Streams. Final Project Report. University of Oxford. Funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/R012938/1). ISBN: 978-1-7397541-0-5.
... Biofuel production from waste and residue is often more time-and resource-intensive than production from food crops. The cost-competitiveness of aviation biofuel derived via FT, ATJ, and HFS-SIP pathways might be strengthened using an integrated polygeneration approach (i.e., a combined system for producing fuels and chemicals simultaneously) (Ng & Hernandez, 2016;Ng & Martinez-Hernandez, 2020). There is potential for increased efficiency and product diversity due to the variable system setup of this technique. ...
... Biofuel production from waste and residue is often more time-and resource-intensive than production from food crops. The cost-competitiveness of aviation biofuel derived via FT, ATJ, and HFS-SIP pathways might be strengthened using an integrated polygeneration approach (i.e., a combined system for producing fuels and chemicals simultaneously) (Ng & Hernandez, 2016;Ng & Martinez-Hernandez, 2020). There is potential for increased efficiency and product diversity due to the variable system setup of this technique. ...
Book
Environmental Sustainability of Biofuels: Prospects and Challenges provides a comprehensive sustainability analysis of biofuels based on lifecycle analysis and develops various multi-dimensional decision-making techniques for prioritizing biofuel production technologies. Taking a transversal approach, the book combines lifecycle sustainability assessment, lifecycle assessment, lifecycle costing analysis, social lifecycle assessment, sustainability metrics, triple bottom lines, operational research methods, and supply chain designs for investigating the critical factors and critical enablers that influence the sustainable development of biofuel industry. This book will be a valuable resource for students, researchers and practitioners seeking to deepen their knowledge of biofuels as an alternative fuel. It will equip researchers and policymakers in the energy sector with the scientific methodology and metrics needed to develop strategies for a viable sustainability transition.
... Biofuel production from waste and residue is often more time-and resource-intensive than production from food crops. The cost-competitiveness of aviation biofuel derived via FT, ATJ, and HFS-SIP pathways might be strengthened using an integrated polygeneration approach (i.e., a combined system for producing fuels and chemicals simultaneously) (Ng & Hernandez, 2016;Ng & Martinez-Hernandez, 2020). There is potential for increased efficiency and product diversity due to the variable system setup of this technique. ...
... Biofuel production from waste and residue is often more time-and resource-intensive than production from food crops. The cost-competitiveness of aviation biofuel derived via FT, ATJ, and HFS-SIP pathways might be strengthened using an integrated polygeneration approach (i.e., a combined system for producing fuels and chemicals simultaneously) (Ng & Hernandez, 2016;Ng & Martinez-Hernandez, 2020). There is potential for increased efficiency and product diversity due to the variable system setup of this technique. ...
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... Equations (4)−(5) (Ng and Martinez-Hernandez, 2020). 186 ...
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... The HDO of bio-oil in microreactors is often investigated on an experimental basis, so there is great potential to explore this catalytic process using mathematical modelling processes. Some studies have investigated the HDO of bio-oil using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) [8,[19][20][21] and process simulation modelling methods using Aspen Plus (for example [12,22]). Furthermore, only a few studies have explored the HDO of 4propylguaiacol, and only a few HDO studies have been conducted in microreactors. ...
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