Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.58, No.41, 19179-19188, 2019
Comprehensive Life Cycle Evaluation of Jet Fuel from Biomass Gasification and Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Based on Environmental and Economic Performances
A comprehensive evaluation model of economy-resource-environment was established based on life cycle assessment combined with the monetization method. Three indicators including relative economic benefit, nonrenewable resource saving benefit, and pollution mitigation benefit considering the reference of the petroleum-based jet fuel process were proposed herein. Two cases of biomass-based jet fuel from biomass gasification and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (Bio-FTJ) were comprehensively evaluated (Bio-FTJ-1: steam for heat supply; Bio-FTJ-2: steam for power generation). The results show that the comprehensive performances of the two processes are better than that of the traditional process. Thus, the wastage of nonrenewable resources is significantly prevented, and the pollutant emissions are moderately reduced; nonetheless, the production costs increase. Compared to BioFTJ-1, Bio-FTJ-2 could achieve greater benefits in saving nonrenewable resources and emit less CO2 and other pollutants due to the significant reduction of consumption of external power input. According to the sensitivity analysis, the comprehensive performances of Bio-FTJ-1 and Bio-FTJ-2 are found to be the most sensitive to electricity consumption and stalk consumption, respectively. Based on the sensitivity analysis of raw material price, the comprehensive performances of the two processes are the most sensitive to the price of crude oil. The results of this study indicate that the reduction of the consumption of stalks and electricity in Bio-FTJ processes should significantly improve the comprehensive performance.