Techno-economic Evaluation of Biodiesel Production from Edible Oil Waste via Supercritical Methyl Acetate Transesterification

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the economic and engineering feasibility of a large-scale biodiesel manufacturing operation from edible oil waste. The edible oil model used for economic analysis in this study is palm oil waste. Several economic parameters (i.e., gross profit margin (GPM), payback period (PBP), break-even point (BEP), cumulative net present value (CNPV), profitability index (PI)), and internal rate return (IRR) were examined to inform the potential production of biodiesel from edible oil waste in ideal condition. To confirm the feasibility of a manufacturing project, the project is estimated from ideal to worst-case conditions in production activities such as analysis of changing raw material, labor, tax, utility, and selling price costs. Based on an engineering perspective, the result indicated that biodiesel production from edible and non-edible oil is feasible. From an economic perspective, economic analysis shows that biodiesel production from edible oil waste is promising because the economic parameters as analyzed show positive results. Our findings are expected to provide an industrial-scale picture of economic evaluation and layout, particularly in the production of biodiesel, which is commonly used as a renewable energy source for fuel in trucks, trains, ships, and barges.