A new example of circular economy: Waste vegetable oil for cogeneration in wastewater treatment plants

Abstract Waste vegetable oil is generated from different sources, such as domestic, commercial and industrial activities, and it requires proper management. Due to the increase in the generation of waste vegetable oil, concern for its management has intensified. The most common management option for waste vegetable oil is the conversion into biodiesel, which improves the chemical-physical characteristics of raw waste vegetable oil for its use but is characterized by significant energy consumption and environmental impact. Therefore, straight waste vegetable oil as fuel, after mechanical pre-treatments and with suitable operational strategy, is suggested in the available literature. In this work, waste vegetable oil from the separate collection is proposed as a source to fuel a combined heat and power unit producing energy for wastewater and sludge treatment plants, which is high energy-demanding. The operation of the combined heat and power unit is analyzed considering data from an experimental campaign carried out to investigate the performance of internal combustion engines powered by waste vegetable oil. Such experimental data are used to carry out the feasibility analysis of a combined heat and power system for an actual wastewater treatment plant located in the Campania region, southern Italy. The system appears to be economically feasible with a simple payback around 3.44 years, a net present value higher than 19.0 M€ and an interest rate of return of 26.7%. Moreover, it produces 70.0% less equivalent carbon dioxide emissions, with respect to a similar system powered by fossil fuels. Therefore, waste vegetable oil as a locally available and renewable energy source may contribute to realize smart and resilient communities, since it improves securing domestic energy supply and waste valorization.

[1]  J. F. González,et al.  Thermogravimetric study of the pyrolysis of biomass residues from tomato processing industry , 2006 .

[2]  Z. Lou,et al.  A new drying kinetic model for sewage sludge drying in presence of CaO and NaClO , 2016 .

[3]  M. Dubé,et al.  Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil: 1. Process design and technological assessment. , 2003, Bioresource technology.

[4]  E. Macchi,et al.  The potential role of solid biomass for rural electrification: A techno economic analysis for a hybrid microgrid in India , 2016 .

[5]  Toshko Zhelev,et al.  Energy efficiency optimisation of wastewater treatment: Study of ATAD , 2012, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[6]  Suzan Abdelhady,et al.  Techno-economic assessment of biomass power plant fed with rice straw: Sensitivity and parametric analysis of the performance and the LCOE , 2018 .

[7]  V. Rathod,et al.  Applications of Waste Cooking Oil Other Than Biodiesel: A Review , 2015 .

[8]  Daniel C W Tsang,et al.  Sustainable food waste management towards circular bioeconomy: Policy review, limitations and opportunities. , 2019, Bioresource technology.

[9]  M. P. Dorado,et al.  THE EFFECT OF A WASTE VEGETABLE OIL BLEND WITH DIESEL FUEL ON ENGINE PERFORMANCE , 2002 .

[10]  Francesco Calise.  High temperature solar heating and cooling systems for different Mediterranean climates: Dynamic simulation and economic assessment , 2012 .

[11]  Robert Polack,et al.  An Analysis of Fossil-Fuel Dependence in the United States with Implications for Community Social Work , 2019, Critical Social Work.

[12]  James Sherwood.  The significance of biomass in a circular economy. , 2020, Bioresource technology.

[13]  Sayon Sidibe,et al.  Use of crude filtered vegetable oil as a fuel in diesel engines state of the art: Literature review , 2010 .

[14]  S. N. Sapali,et al.  Simulation and Parametric Analysis of Cryogenic Oxygen Plant for Biomass Gasification , 2012 .

[15]  Havva Balat,et al.  A critical review of bio-diesel as a vehicular fuel. , 2008 .

[16]  E. Lora,et al.  Techno-economic comparative analysis of Biomass Integrated Gasification Combined Cycles with and without CO2 capture , 2018, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control.

[17]  Xin Wang,et al.  The feasibility and challenges of energy self-sufficient wastewater treatment plants , 2017 .

[18]  A. Mujumdar.  Handbook of Industrial Drying , 2020 .

[19]  R. Naylor,et al.  The political economy of biodiesel in an era of low oil prices , 2017 .

[20]  S. Di Fraia,et al.  An integrated system for sewage sludge drying through solar energy and a combined heat and power unit fuelled by biogas , 2018, Energy Conversion and Management.

[21]  Anastasia Zabaniotou,et al.  Towards sewage sludge based biofuels via thermochemical conversion – A review , 2012 .

[22]  O. Ogunkunle,et al.  A review of global current scenario of biodiesel adoption and combustion in vehicular diesel engines , 2019, Energy Reports.

[23]  Andrea Lanzini,et al.  Techno-economic assessment of biogas-fed CHP hybrid systems in a real wastewater treatment plant , 2018 .

[24]  Alessandro Corsini,et al.  Performance Analysis of a Common-rail Diesel Engine Fuelled with Different Blends of Waste Cooking oil and Gasoil , 2016 .

[25]  M. R. Islam,et al.  Waste Cooking Oil as an Alternate Feedstock for Biodiesel Production , 2008 .

[26]  R. Dhanasekaran,et al.  Utilization of waste cooking oil in a light-duty DI diesel engine for cleaner emissions using bio-derived propanol , 2019, Fuel.

[27]  Yasuhisa Fujiwara,et al.  Evaluating waste vegetable oils as a diesel fuel , 2000 .

[28]  Anupam Dutta.  Impact of carbon emission trading on the European Union biodiesel feedstock market , 2019, Biomass and Bioenergy.

[29]  Haji Hassan Masjuki,et al.  Emission and performance characteristics of an indirect ignition diesel engine fuelled with waste co , 2011 .

[30]  M. Pugazhvadivu,et al.  Investigations on the performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine using preheated waste frying oil as fuel , 2005 .

[31]  Hu Li,et al.  Determination of Carbon Footprint using LCA Method for Straight Used Cooking Oil as a Fuel in HGVs , 2014 .

[32]  D. Hidalgo,et al.  A multi-waste management concept as a basis towards a circular economy model , 2019, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

[33]  R. Dhanasekaran,et al.  A comparative assessment of ternary blends of three bio-alcohols with waste cooking oil and diesel for optimum emissions and performance in a CI engine using response surface methodology , 2018 .

[34]  M. Mbarawa,et al.  Technical aspects of production and analysis of biodiesel from used cooking oil--A review , 2009 .

[35]  Juan Manuel de Andrés,et al.  Modeling and model performance evaluation of sewage sludge gasification in fluidized-bed gasifiers using Aspen Plus , 2018, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[36]  Laura Vanoli,et al.  Direct use of waste vegetable oil in internal combustion engines , 2017 .

[37]  Angélique Léonard,et al.  Review on fundamental aspect of application of drying process to wastewater sludge , 2013 .

[38]  Andrea Lanzini,et al.  Solar-assisted integrated biogas solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) installation in wastewater treatment plant: Energy and economic analysis , 2017 .

[39]  A. A. Refaat,et al.  Different techniques for the production of biodiesel from waste vegetable oil , 2010 .

[40]  A. Phan,et al.  Biodiesel production from waste cooking oils , 2008 .

[41]  Xavier Gabarrell Durany,et al.  Exergy Analysis of Integrated Waste Management in the Recovery and Recycling of Used Cooking Oils , 2008 .

[42]  Gianni Bidini,et al.  Straight and waste vegetable oil in engines: Review and experimental measurement of emissions, fuel consumption and injector fouling on a turbocharged commercial engine , 2016 .

[43]  Sarmento J. Mazivila.  Trends of non-destructive analytical methods for identification of biodiesel feedstock in diesel-biodiesel blend according to European Commission Directive 2012/0288/EC and detecting diesel-biodiesel blend adulteration: A brief review. , 2018, Talanta.

[44]  Charles S. Wassell,et al.  Are subsidies for biodiesel economically efficient , 2006 .