Techno-economics of rice husk pyrolysis, conversion with catalytic treatment to produce liquid fuel

A study was carried out on the techno-economic analysis of the primary pyrolysis process and pyrolysis process with catalytic treatment converting rice husk waste to pyrolysis oil and solid char. The processes considered for detailed analysis were Fluidised Bed Fast Pyrolysis (FBFP) and Fluidised Bed Fast Pyrolysis with Catalytic Treatment (FBFPCT). The assessment was carried out in US$ for three different-scale plants, of feed throughput 0.3, 100 and 1000 kg/h. The assessment showed that FBFP was economically better than FBFPCT for the production of primary pyrolysis oil that could be used as boiler fuel oil and for the production of catalytically treated, upgraded, liquid-products. The FBFP 1000 kg/h plant unit appeared to be economically feasible, with the lowest unit production cost of primary pyrolysis oil. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.