Simulation of a process for the production of microalgal biofertilizer including techno-economical evaluation
Due to population growth in the coming years, an increase in agricultural production will soon be mandatory, thus requiring fertilizers that are more environmentally sustainable than the currently most-consumed fertilizers since these are important contributors to climate change and water pollution....
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI
2022
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10835/13991 |
| _version_ | 1789406633850306560 |
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| author | Romero García, Juan Miguel González López, Cynthia Victoria Brindley Alías, Celeste Elena Fernández Sevilla, José María Acién Fernández, Francisco Gabriel |
| author_facet | Romero García, Juan Miguel González López, Cynthia Victoria Brindley Alías, Celeste Elena Fernández Sevilla, José María Acién Fernández, Francisco Gabriel |
| author_sort | Romero García, Juan Miguel |
| collection | DSpace |
| description | Due to population growth in the coming years, an increase in agricultural production will soon be mandatory, thus requiring fertilizers that are more environmentally sustainable than the currently most-consumed fertilizers since these are important contributors to climate change and water pollution. The objective of this work is the techno-economic evaluation of the production of biofertilizer concentrated in free amino acids from microalgal biomass produced in a wastewater treatment plant, to determine its economic viability. A process proposal has been made in six stages that have been modelled and simulated with the ASPEN Plus simulator. A profitability analysis has been carried out using a Box–Behnken-type response surface statistical design with three factors—the cost of the biomass sludge, the cost of the enzymes, and the sale price of the biofertilizer. It was found that the most influential factor in profitability is the sale price of the biofertilizer. According to a proposed representative base case, in which the cost of the biomass sludge is set to 0.5 EUR/kg, the cost of the enzymes to 20.0 EUR/kg, and the sale price of the biofertilizer to 3.5 EUR/kg, which are reasonable costs, it is concluded that the production of the biofertilizer would be economically viable. |
| format | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| id | oai:repositorio.ual.es:10835-13991 |
| institution | Universidad de Cuenca |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oai:repositorio.ual.es:10835-139912023-04-12T19:35:29Z Simulation of a process for the production of microalgal biofertilizer including techno-economical evaluation Romero García, Juan Miguel González López, Cynthia Victoria Brindley Alías, Celeste Elena Fernández Sevilla, José María Acién Fernández, Francisco Gabriel microalgae biofertilizer amino acids wastewater simulation circular bioeconomy techno-economical evaluation Due to population growth in the coming years, an increase in agricultural production will soon be mandatory, thus requiring fertilizers that are more environmentally sustainable than the currently most-consumed fertilizers since these are important contributors to climate change and water pollution. The objective of this work is the techno-economic evaluation of the production of biofertilizer concentrated in free amino acids from microalgal biomass produced in a wastewater treatment plant, to determine its economic viability. A process proposal has been made in six stages that have been modelled and simulated with the ASPEN Plus simulator. A profitability analysis has been carried out using a Box–Behnken-type response surface statistical design with three factors—the cost of the biomass sludge, the cost of the enzymes, and the sale price of the biofertilizer. It was found that the most influential factor in profitability is the sale price of the biofertilizer. According to a proposed representative base case, in which the cost of the biomass sludge is set to 0.5 EUR/kg, the cost of the enzymes to 20.0 EUR/kg, and the sale price of the biofertilizer to 3.5 EUR/kg, which are reasonable costs, it is concluded that the production of the biofertilizer would be economically viable. 2022-09-22T11:01:28Z 2022-09-22T11:01:28Z 2022-09-16 info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2079-7737 http://hdl.handle.net/10835/13991 10.3390/biology11091359 en https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/9/1359 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess MDPI |
| spellingShingle | microalgae biofertilizer amino acids wastewater simulation circular bioeconomy techno-economical evaluation Romero García, Juan Miguel González López, Cynthia Victoria Brindley Alías, Celeste Elena Fernández Sevilla, José María Acién Fernández, Francisco Gabriel Simulation of a process for the production of microalgal biofertilizer including techno-economical evaluation |
| title | Simulation of a process for the production of microalgal biofertilizer including techno-economical evaluation |
| title_full | Simulation of a process for the production of microalgal biofertilizer including techno-economical evaluation |
| title_fullStr | Simulation of a process for the production of microalgal biofertilizer including techno-economical evaluation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Simulation of a process for the production of microalgal biofertilizer including techno-economical evaluation |
| title_short | Simulation of a process for the production of microalgal biofertilizer including techno-economical evaluation |
| title_sort | simulation of a process for the production of microalgal biofertilizer including techno-economical evaluation |
| topic | microalgae biofertilizer amino acids wastewater simulation circular bioeconomy techno-economical evaluation |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10835/13991 |
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