(709d) Economic Assessment of Electricity Production through Biomethane Production from Brown Algae

Brown algae are the most mass cultivated aquatic biomass resource with unique privileges over first and second generation biomass. Having no lignin component in their chemical structure, brown algae can be fermented to methane in shorter period of time while skipping costly classical pretreatment processes prior to fermentation. This study evaluates the economics of electricity production in a power plant using biomethane, as fuel, produced by anaerobic digestion of brown algae. The process units are simulated in Aspen plus v8.6 and simulation results are used to develop techno-economic model to calculate a minimum electricity production cost (MEPC) to reach a breakeven point after 20 years of plant life. The solid residues of fermentation process are considered as coproduct of the plant which can be sold as fertilizer in local market. Sensitivity analyses on economic and process parameters are performed to cover the uncertainties and identify the bottle necks of the process.