Modeling, simulation and techno-economic analysis of an integrated biorefinery based on halophytes

Many existing biorefineries use limited feedstocks and technologies to produce biofuels. However, an integrated biorefinery provides a variety of feedstocks and highly marketable final products leading to better economic viability. For this reason, this paper aims to perform a techno-economic analysis of the whole integrated biorefinery with modeling of the process in a flowsheet simulation tool, here Aspen Plus®. After having mass and energy balances, the assessment of technical aspects, and the economics of the integrated biorefinery process is the step forward in the development of a sustainable and biobased industrial process. In that matter, capital expenditures (CAPEX), operational expenditures (OPEX) and production costs are estimated for the integrated biorefinery, processing lignified halophyte biomass.当前多数现有的生物炼制厂仅依托有限的原料与技术路径生产生物燃料。而一体化生物炼制厂可适配多种原料，并产出高市场化潜力的最终产品，从而具备更优的经济可行性。鉴于此，本文旨在对全流程一体化生物炼制厂开展技术经济分析，借助流程模拟工具Aspen Plus®对其生产过程进行建模。在完成物料与能量衡算、技术层面评估后，对该一体化生物炼制流程的经济性开展分析，是推动可持续生物基工业流程发展的关键一环。据此，本文针对该处理木质化盐生植物生物质的一体化生物炼制厂，估算其资本支出（CAPEX）、运营支出（OPEX）以及生产成本。