TY - JOUR
T1 - Computer-aided framework for the design of optimal bio-oil/solvent blend with economic considerations
AU - Chong, Jia Wen
AU - Ng, Lik Yin
AU - Aboagwa, Omar Anas
AU - Thangalazhy-Gopakumar, Suchithra
AU - Muthoosamy, Kasturi
AU - Chemmangattuvalappil, Nishanth G.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, Grant number FRGS/1/2019/TK02/UNIM/02/1.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - A major obstacle in utilising pyrolysis bio-oil as biofuel is its relatively low heating value, high viscosity, and non-homogeneity. Solvent addition is a simple yet practical approach in upgrading pyrolysis bio-oil. However, most solvents are often manufactured as specialty chemicals, and thus, this leads to a high production cost of solvents. It is crucial for the designed solvent-oil blend to achieve both fuel functionality and economic targets to be competitive with the conventional diesel fuel. Hence, the objective of this work is to generate feasible solvent candidates by solving this multi-objective optimisation (MOO) problem via a computer-aided molecular design (CAMD) approach. Initially, an optimisation model was developed to identify potential solvents that satisfied the predefined targeted properties. Next, a MOO model was developed via a fuzzy optimisation approach to identify the trade-off between profitability and heating value of the solvent-oil blend. A pricing model was employed to estimate the profitability of the solvent-oil blend. The production of bio-oil in a pyrolysis plant was used to illustrate the applicability of the pricing model. Lastly, phase stability analysis was conducted to ensure the stability and miscibility of the solvent-oil blend. With the developed framework, a promising and cost-effective solvent-oil blend can be generated while displaying optimal biofuel properties.
AB - A major obstacle in utilising pyrolysis bio-oil as biofuel is its relatively low heating value, high viscosity, and non-homogeneity. Solvent addition is a simple yet practical approach in upgrading pyrolysis bio-oil. However, most solvents are often manufactured as specialty chemicals, and thus, this leads to a high production cost of solvents. It is crucial for the designed solvent-oil blend to achieve both fuel functionality and economic targets to be competitive with the conventional diesel fuel. Hence, the objective of this work is to generate feasible solvent candidates by solving this multi-objective optimisation (MOO) problem via a computer-aided molecular design (CAMD) approach. Initially, an optimisation model was developed to identify potential solvents that satisfied the predefined targeted properties. Next, a MOO model was developed via a fuzzy optimisation approach to identify the trade-off between profitability and heating value of the solvent-oil blend. A pricing model was employed to estimate the profitability of the solvent-oil blend. The production of bio-oil in a pyrolysis plant was used to illustrate the applicability of the pricing model. Lastly, phase stability analysis was conducted to ensure the stability and miscibility of the solvent-oil blend. With the developed framework, a promising and cost-effective solvent-oil blend can be generated while displaying optimal biofuel properties.
KW - CAMD
KW - Cost optimisation
KW - Fuzzy multi-objective optimisation
KW - Pyrolysis bio-oil
KW - Solvent design
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121469130&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/pr9122159
DO - 10.3390/pr9122159
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85121469130
SN - 2227-9717
VL - 9
JO - Processes
JF - Processes
IS - 12
M1 - 2159
ER -