Techno-Economic Study of Castor Oil Crop Biorefinery: Production of Biodiesel without Fossil-Based Methanol and Lignoethanol Improved by Alkali Pretreatment

Castor, a non-edible oil crop that flourishes even under extreme cultivation conditions, can be cultivated in wastewater with a lower cultivation cost than similar plants, e.g., rapeseed and soybean. This plant, containing seeds and lignocellulosic residues, has a promising perspective for biofuel production. The oil extracted from the seeds is inexpensive and can be efficiently converted to biodiesel, while the lignocellulosic parts are suitable for ethanol production after pretreatment with NaOH. Biodiesel typically produced from the fossil-based methanol; however, it can also be produced from the ethanol. In this study, ethanol used for biodiesel production is produced from the lignocellulosic residues (scenario 1), which are more sustainable and environmentally friendly; the process was compared with that of the methanol (scenario 2). In this study, techno-economic analyses were used to compare the technical and economic aspects of producing biodiesel from methanol and the produced ethanol. Simulations of the processes were carried out by Aspen plus software, and economic studies were conducted by Aspen Economic Analyzer. The prices of produced ethanol as a byproduct in scenarios 1 and 2 were USD 0.701 and 0.693 per liter, respectively, which are greater than that of gasoline. The prices of biodiesel produced as a primary product for scenarios 1 and 2 are USD 0.410 and 0.323/L, lower than the price of diesel in the Middle East region. The profitability indices for scenarios 1 and 2 are 1.29 and 1.41, respectively. Therefore, despite environmental benefits, the biorefinery based on producing biodiesel from methanol is more economically feasible than that produced from ethanol