Techno-economic assessment for producing 24 tpd of charcoal briquettes from corn stover as a value addition strategy

Abstract

Currently developing countries are facing fuel challenges yet at the same time waste corn stover remains unutilized. This work was undertaken to utilize the excess corn stover for making bio-ethanol as a way of value addition by designing a plant manufacturing 150 tons per day of 99.5% pure cellulosic bio-ethanol operating over a 10 year period. The process which converted crude corn stover to cellulosic bio-ethanol was evaluated for conversion via hydrolysis lignocelluloses in the corn stover then the co-fermentation of the carbon 5 and carbon 6 monosaccharides obtained from hydrolysis process. The hydrolysis process is a route to the bio-ethanol through 86% co-fermentation of carbon 5 and carbon 6 sugars obtained from the 75% saccharification of corn stover to fermentable sugars to produce 99.5% pure cellulosic bio-ethanol that can be used to blend petrol. The economic analyses indicated a payback period of 1.5 years, a rate of return on investment of 86% and a selling price of $1.10/liter for the bio-ethanol indicating the feasibility of the project. Waste corn stover to bio-ethanol technology can be applied as a waste management tool to meet energy demands in agro based countries.