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Journal of Economy and Technology
Article . 2025 . Peer-reviewed
License: CC BY
Data sources: Crossref
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Journal of Economy and Technology
Article . 2025
Data sources: DOAJ
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Techno-economic and emissions comparison of waste-to-fuel via hydrothermal liquefaction, transesterification, and incineration

Authors: Muhammad Usman;

Techno-economic and emissions comparison of waste-to-fuel via hydrothermal liquefaction, transesterification, and incineration

Abstract

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.

Keywords

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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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
4
Top 10%
Average
Average
gold