Lopes, TiagoCabanas, CatarinaSilva, AndréFonseca, DianaSantos, EdgarGuerra, L. TiagoSheahan, ConReis, AlbertoGírio, Francisco2020-09-152022-12-012019-06Lopes, Tiago F... [et.al.] - Process simulation and techno-economic assessment for direct production of advanced bioethanol using a genetically modified Synechocystis sp. In: Bioresource Technology Reports, 2019, Vol. 6, p. 113-1222589-014Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/3294ABSTRACT: A techno-economic assessment for the direct production of ethanol using a genetically-modified microalgae has been studied. It was considered two main scenarios for process modelling: i) bioenergy-driven microalgae plant, i.e., focused on the production of fuel-grade ethanol and biogas for CHP and, ii) biorefinery-driven microalgae plant, focused on the recovery of added-value bioproducts (zeaxanthin and phycocyanin) along with ethanol and CHP production. These main scenarios and several variants were modelled and optimized for a small-scale demo plant of 1000 Lethanol/day and extrapolated for larger production capacities. Results showed that despite the innovative approach of direct production of ethanol by microalgae, the bioenergy-driven scenario is non-feasible under the studied conditions. Conversely, ethanol production becomes economically feasible as co-product in the biorefinery-driven scenario although having payback periods>10 years. Furthermore, if only bio-based products are produced the NPV and the payback are even more positive, 104.8 M€ and ca. 5 years, respectively.engMicroalgaeBiorefineryBioethanolModellingBiofuelsjournal article2020-09-02cv-prod-76711110.1016/j.biteb.2019.02.010