(621b) Production of Jet Fuel from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW): Process Modeling, Techno-Economic Feasibility, and Life Cycle Analysis

The transportation sector is a leading contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for approximately 28% of the total U.S. GHGs emissions, 9% of which comes from aircraft operations [1]. Jet-fuel derived from renewable resources such as municipal solid waste (MSW) and/or woody biomass offers the potential to reduce the aviation sector’s GHG emissions. In 2018, about 292.4 million tons of MSW was generated. Of this total, about 44% was recovered via recycling, composting, and energy generation, and more than 50% of MSW was landfilled [2]. The HHV value of the organic fraction of MSW is similar to other biomass feedstocks and it has the potential to be utilized as a feedstock with current gasification technology. Moreover, it is readily available at little to no cost [3,4].

In this work, a rigorous plant-wide process model is developed in Aspen Plus for the production of jet fuel from MSW via ethanol synthesis through syngas fermentation technology [5]. Cycloalkane-rich jet fuel is produced through a selective pathway developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where ethanol is directly converted to long chain ketones. The ketone mixture is cyclized to branched cyclohexanones ranging from C₉ to C₁₅, followed by conversion to cycloalkane rich jet fuel product through hydrodeoxygenation and hydrogenation. To study the economic feasibility of the process, a techno-economic (TEA) model is developed using material and energy balance information from the process model. A discounted cash flow economic model is used to estimate the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of the conceptual process at scale. Sensitivity studies are also performed to study the effect of key process and economic parameters such as feedstock (MSW vs. woody biomass), product yield, plant scale, and internal rate of return. Life cycle analysis is also performed to determine the total GHGs emissions associated with the fuels from the process.

References

[1] Agency USEP. Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. United States Environ Prot Agency 2018.

[2] United States Environmental Protection Agency. Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and Recycling 2021.

[3] Jones SB, Zhu Y. Techno-economic analysis for the thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to gasoline via methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) process. US Dep Energy 2009;PNNL-18483:1–46.

[4] Valkenburg C, Walton CW, Thompson BL, Gerber MA, Jones SB, Stevens DJ. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to Liquid Fuels Synthesis, Volume 1: Availability of Feedstock and Technology. Richland, WA (United States): 2008. https://doi.org/10.2172/962858.

[5] Köpke M, Mihalcea C, Bromley JC, Simpson SD. Fermentative production of ethanol from carbon monoxide. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2011;22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2011.01.005.