Techno-Economic Analysis on the Production of 100,000 Metric Tonnes of Bio-Diesel from Neem Oil via a Transesterification Process

Abstract

The biodiesel industry has been rapidly expanding in recent years due to the need for a sustainable and renewable source of energy. Fatty-acid methyl esters (FAME) can be produced from a variety of feedstocks, including plant oils, animal fats, pyrolysis oil and waste cooking oil. One such feedstock is Neem oil, derived from the Neem tree. Neem oil has several advantages as a biodiesel feedstock, including its availability, low cost, and high oil content. This research provides a comprehensive techno-economic evaluation of the process design for 1000 metric tonne per annum biodiesel synthesis from Neem oil implemented on Aspen HYSYS V11.0. The process design includes the removal of oil from neem seeds, the transesterification of the oil to produce biodiesel, and the purification of the biodiesel. For this paper, we used MATLAB, version R2021a, a commercial optimization software suite, to optimize the process on MATLAB Optimization Toolbox. When the molar ratio is optimized (minimized) to 4.0001, the highest yield of biodiesel is determined to be 62.58%. The economic analysis includes the capital and operating costs of the process, as well as the revenue generated from the sale of biodiesel. Capital and operating expenses, as well as revenue from biodiesel sales, are all factored into the economic analysis of the process design. The total equipment, investment cost, and annual revenue are found to be $ 592,325.00, $ 31,849,313.94, and $ 95,000,000.00 respectively. This design is highly profitable, with a payback time of 0.34 years.