Economic and environmental evaluation of microalgae biodiesel production using process simulation tools

This work introduces a systematic method for the economic and environmental analysis and design of new technologies applied to the 3rd generation (from microalgae) biodiesel production process. The evaluation method is based on the integrated use of process simulation techniques with economic and environmental models. The approach is applied to a new technology introduced by some of the authors, where the glycerol produced in the transesterification is used as carbon source for microalgae growth. Firstly, a state of the art biodiesel production plant in the process simulator it is modelled and the economical and environmental performance is computed. Then, the new technology is introduced and its performance are compared. The method presented is very useful for decision-makers in order to evaluate the inclusion of new technologies to improve the chemical process operation and topological designs.