Abstract
Microalgae continues emerging as a promising feedstock for the development of biorefineries. Since there are numerous possible technologies that can be used to process microalgae and produce a wide variety of products and co-products, it is necessary to develop an efficient approach for the generation and screening of processing technologies. This work introduces a combined methodology for the synthesis and analysis of topological pathways for the processing of microalgae based on main approaches of hierarchical and mathematical programming-based process synthesis. The methodology uses a hierarchical approach that starts with top-level data and focuses attention and effort on the promising pathways integrating various process synthesis and optimization concepts such as forward–backward branching, superstructure optimization, and in-depth analysis for high-priority pathways. A case study is solved for the production of diesel-like fuel from microalgae biomass.
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González-Delgado, ÁD., Kafarov, V. & El-Halwagi, M. Development of a topology of microalgae-based biorefinery: process synthesis and optimization using a combined forward–backward screening and superstructure approach. Clean Techn Environ Policy 17, 2213–2228 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-015-0946-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-015-0946-5