Process design and economics for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into jet fuel range cycloalkanes

The economic feasibility of a facility producing jet fuel range cycloalkanes, hydrogen and biochar via microwave-assisted catalytic pyrolysis integrated with mild hydrogenation was evaluated by modeling a 1000 metric dry tonne feedstock/day using ASPEN PLUS (R). The effects of hydrogenation solvent, heat integration, and coproducing H-2 or syngas were investigated in different analysis scenarios. The results indicated that the production of jet fuel could reach 47882.74 Gallon/day, with 9.58 Metric tonne/day biochar and 28200 kg/day H-2 as coproducts. The lowest minimum selling price of 3.78 5/Gallon was obtained when using n-hexane as the hydrogenation solvent and coproducing H-2 with heat integration. The sale of H-2 offset the high production cost, resulting in a significant decrease in the minimum selling price. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the production process was greatly sensitive to total capital investment, internal rate of return, market prices of feedstock and H-2. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.