Öl- und Gasforschung

Abstrakt

A virtual Bio refinery evaluation of the value added separation of different components from Residual Biomass for food and Biofuel applications

Julian Vogt

Brewers’ spent grain (BSG) and palm kernel meal (PKM) can be used to integrate protein extraction and ethanol production into a conceptual biorefinery process. The conceptual procedure is intended for an industrial-scale biorefinery that annually processes 8000 production hours of 20 kt dry weight BSG and 50 kt dry weight PKM for techno-economic performance analysis.

The techno-financial investigation showed that the biorefinery of BSG has a high monetary potential with an inside pace of return of 24 %. However, the PKM biorefinery maintains a positive internal rate of return of 12% despite the high costs of raw materials [1].

By combining the production of a valuable product, like protein powder for food applications, with the production of biofuel, like ethanol, from the remaining biomass, the presented virtual biorefinery demonstrated the economic potential of valorizing a larger portion of the biomass at the same cost of raw materials.