Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Assumptions made for the Project
For this project aiming at making an economic analysis of the conversion of
Jatropha
seeds into biodiesel, the following input parameters are given:
The land area is 300 ha.
Seeds will be harvested once a year.
Fertilizer addition is required once in the beginning of the projects at 32.4 kg.
ha
−1
; costs are 240 US$.t
−1
.
(kWh)
−1
.
Local power price is estimated at 0.18 US$
Lifetime for scenario A is 50 years, and that for scenario B 30 years.
Oil content is 40 wt% for scenario A and 27 wt% for scenario B.
Extraction efficiency by mechanical pressing is 91% in both scenarios.
Oil-to-biodiesel conversion rate is 87%.
kg
−1
) is needed at a rate of 0.15 mol
l
−1
oil and
Potassium hydroxide (30.8 US$
t
−1
) at 5.1 mol
l
−1
oil.
methanol (389 US$
Biodiesel price is assumed at 168 US$ per barrel.
Tax on profit (
t
) is 37.5%.
Interest rate (
i
) is 12%.
Taking into account off-line periods for maintenance, repairs, and holidays, the
plant will be in operation for 230 days/year.
Linear depreciation of investments.
Assume 0.4 labor forces per ha.
Make your own assumptions based on literature search for labor wages and land
cost given the Kenyan context.
Assume no irrigation costs due to sufficient rainfall.
The calculations are to be made for two scenarios, in which only the yield from the
crops differs, in order to be able to compare best- and worst-case scenarios. Scenario
A will represent the best-case scenario (with agricultural practice improvements) in
which the yield is 12.5 t.ha
−1
, whereas scenario B will represent the worst-case
scenario where the yield is only 5.25 t.ha
−1
.
In order to quantify the inputs that are required to produce a viable source of fuel
from the
Jatropha
crop, economic calculations will be made, based on the parameters
explained in Section 15.3. For both scenarios, calculate the fixed capital investment,
total capital investment, profit overview per year,
CF
overview per year,
POT
,
ROI
,
and finally the
NPV
. What are your conclusions about the project scenarios?
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