
The global shift toward sustainable waste management and renewable energy has sparked interest in biofuel production from sewage sludge (SS). This study evaluated four waste-to-biofuel processes like Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL) with upgrading, Transesterification, and Incineration with and without energy recovery using ASPEN Plus V12 to assess their techno-economic, energy, and environmental performance. HTL with upgrading emerged as the most efficient, generating ∼4,000,000 MJ/year and emitting ∼700 tonnes/year of CO2. Transesterification yielded ∼2,850,000 MJ/year, emitting ∼1200 tonnes/year due to post-lipid extraction incineration. Incineration without energy recovery was least efficient, consuming ∼5,000,000 MJ/year and emitting ∼3000 tonnes/year of CO2, with energy recovery yielding only ∼1,250,000 MJ/year. Financially, HTL with upgrading demonstrated strong profitability with a potential Net Present Value (NPV) of 112.9 million US dollars (MUS$), while Transesterification achieved an NPV of 23.4 MUS$. Both processes were sensitive to operating costs: a 50 % increase could reduce HTL’s NPV to 62.7 MUS$, while pushing Transesterification into a loss. Capital cost reductions could further boost HTL’s profitability, highlighting its economic resilience, unlike incineration, which remained financially unviable. In summary, HTL with upgrading offered 30 % higher energy output and 70 % lower emissions than incineration, making it a scalable, sustainable approach for SS management and biofuel production. However, a complete life cycle assessment could further enhance its potential by identifying additional environmental and economic benefits.
Waste-to-fuel technologies, H, Transesterification, Techno-Economic, Economics as a science, Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), Electronic computers. Computer science, Social Sciences, Incineration, QA75.5-76.95, Sewage sludge, HB71-74
Waste-to-fuel technologies, H, Transesterification, Techno-Economic, Economics as a science, Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), Electronic computers. Computer science, Social Sciences, Incineration, QA75.5-76.95, Sewage sludge, HB71-74
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