Techno-economic assessment of bioenergy and fertilizer production by anaerobic digestion of brewer's spent grains in a biorefinery concept

Author(s)

Sganzerla, William Gustavo ^[1] ; Buller, Luz Selene ^[1] ; Mussatto, I, Solange ; Forster-Carneiro, Tania ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Campinas UNICAMP, Sch Food Engn FEA, Rua Monteiro Lobato 80, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION; v. 297, MAY 15 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

This study presents a techno-economic assessment of bioenergy and fertilizer production by anaerobic digestion (AD) of brewer's spent grains (BSG). Simulations were performed by integrating the production of biomethane, electricity, thermal energy, and fertilizer for five revenue conditions. BSG generation from different brewery industrial scales was considered. Results showed that investing one million USD for a treatment capacity of 137 t BSG d(-1) makes it possible to recover up to 350,000 USD y(-1) when selling electric energy to the grid, using the thermal energy for the facility self-consumption, and selling the fertilizer for agriculture application. The economic analysis for this scale resulted in a payback time of 3.76 y, ROI of 23.68%, and NPV up to 1.5 million USD. The revenue considering biomethane and fertilizer was profitable and amenable for a real application, with a payback time of 3.67 y and IRR up to 20%. From the sensitivity analysis, the selling price of fertilizer, biomethane, electricity, and heat were the most important variables affecting the project's economic viability. Beyond, project implementation from equity could upgrade the feasibility. Ultimately, the waste management system with bioenergy recovery and fertilizer production from the AD of BSG is profitable and could be suitable for an oncoming implementation in breweries. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/05999-0 - Waste2energy: integration of the supercritical and anaerobic digestion technologies for the management of water and food waste
• Grantee: Tânia Forster Carneiro
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 19/26925-7 - Development of an automated system for biofuel precursor production using sub-critical technology
• Grantee: William Gustavo Sganzerla
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• FAPESP's process: 18/14938-4 - Waste2energy: integration of supercritical technologies and anaerobic digestion through an automated system for the production of biofuel precursors
• Grantee: Tânia Forster Carneiro
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants - Phase 2
• FAPESP's process: 20/10323-5 - Life cycle and technical-financial assessment of the integration of anaerobic digestion and hydrothermal technologies for waste recovery
• Grantee: Luz Selene Buller
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral