Techno-economic assessment of biorefinery scenarios based on mollusc and fish residuals

• Published in: Waste management (Elmsford) Vol. 166; pp. 294 - 304
• Main Authors: Andreola, C., González-Camejo, J., Tambone, F., Eusebi, A.L., Adani, F., Fatone, F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2023
• Subjects: Biofertiliser; Biorefinery; Fish waste; Mollusc waste; Techno-economic assessment; Fish waste; Biofertiliser; Biorefinery; Techno-economic assessment; Mollusc waste
• ISSN: 0956-053X; 1879-2456
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2023.05.014

[Display omitted] •CaCO3, hydrolysate and compost were assessed to be recovered from seafood waste.•Biorefineries’ profitability mainly depends on quality and price of hydrolysates.•The FW-based biorefinery obtained the highest benefits per waste treated: 955 €·t−1.•Biorefineries’ payback periods of approximately 2.9–6.9 y would be expected.•Only MW-based biorefinery is considered not feasible due to long payback period. Biorefineries aim to maximise resource recovery from organic sources that have been traditionally considered wastes. In this respect, leftovers from mollusc and seafood processing industries can be a source of multiple bioproducts such as protein hydrolysates (PH), calcium carbonate and co-composted biochar (COMBI). This study aims to evaluate different scenarios of biorefineries fed by mollusc (MW) and fish wastes (FW) to understand which is the most convenient to maximise their profitability. Results showed that the FW-based biorefinery obtained the highest revenues with respect to the amounts of waste treated, i.e., 955.1 €·t−1 and payback period (2.9 years). However, including MW in the biorefinery showed to increase total income as a higher amount of feedstock could be supplied to the system. The profitability of the biorefineries was mainly dependent on the selling price of hydrolysates (considered as 2 €·kg−1 in this study). However, it also entailed the highest operating costs (72.5–83.8% of total OPEX). This highlights the importance of producing high-quality PH in economic and sustainable way to increase the feasibility of the biorefinery.