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Circular Economy in Biorefinery

Paper Type: Free Essay Subject: Economics
Wordcount: 3597 words Published: 23rd Sep 2019

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Circular Economy in Biorefinery

A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy, and it aims for a green environment. Which reduces pollution and wastes generation in industrial activity and recycle the sources into the environment  (Antonio Santos Sáncheza, 2017). The biorefinery is one of the circular economies which convert the biomass material into several essential chemicals such as chemicals and an energy source with the least emissions and wastes. In general, the target of the biorefinery systems is to optimise the power usage and the material applied from the beginning of the plantations to improve the economic sustainability and viability of biorefineries (Wojciech M. Budzianowski a, 2016).

Wastes are one of the important resources which have been overstock in an extended period. However, supply chain wastes of food and plastic were used as a chemical feedstock to be part of the circular economy model. With the help of Biorefinery, these wastes are converted into a variety of beneficial products such as materials, fuels and chemicals and sometimes alike to those collected from petroleum (Clark, 2017).

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In developing countries. The idea of the waste biorefineries is necessary and essential in the developing countries due to the enormous amount of disposal practice and for meeting the rising energy demands of any new creation of businesses such as developments in the public health, job markets and regional environment (Ismail and Nizami, 2016). It was calculated that $410 billion could be made only from the world market of community waste recycling (A.S. Nizami a, 2017).

Biorefineries identified the need for new organisational knowledge and economical about the idea of practical applications and its biorefinery. Additionally, a new theoretical approach with challenges researchers was implemented as empirical studies, including cross-country similarities, business model evaluation, analyses of consequences on economic maturity and employment and scenario construction. The challenges of a biorefinery in economic research from various aspects such as forming the motivation of an issue and an explicit in the background. Also, that biorefineries position will compete in the state, global and regional sustainability developments with concerns of State versus industrial group strategies is an open issue (Loïc Sauvée, 2016).

The application of renewable sources produces a low impact on environmental health and the human since it is designated by mitigation of Green House Gas Emission (GHG) and pollution and economical production of waste, narrowing the global warming and the difficulties linked to the waste management (Rossana Liguori a, 2016).

he most fundamental foundations for environmental protection and public health are wastewater treatment plants(S. Venkata Mohan, 2016). Nutrient regeneration model from wastewater decreases the environmental pollution and a load on phosphorus and reactive nitrogen production thus, in turn, will guarantee few reactive phosphorus and nitrogen entry in the environment (Ma et al., 2016; Nancharaiah et al.,2015).

The waste biorefinery is suggested to turn waste in Makkah into renewable energy, to provide an Inclusive revenue of 758 million Saudi Riyals which can obtain from waste biorefinery. On the other hand,11.2 million MCF of natural gas and 1.95 million barrels of oil can preserve and can cause a Decline in the global warming potential of 1.15 million Mt.CO2 eq. and it can be achieved. The table below shows the energy calculations of the chosen waste to energy technologies based on the average energy values of the related products with a conversion efficiency in the production of electricity (A.S. Nizami a K. S., 2016).

Technologies

Type of waste

Electricity generation potential (GW h/yr)

Efficiency

Net revenue (106 SAR)

AD

Organic fraction

164.5

25–30%

278.0

Transesterification

Fat/oil

244.2

33–38%

76.5

Pyrolysis

Organic matter

489.0

17%

172.7

RDF

General waste stream except high protein content

200.0

18–30%

117.3

Recycling

Glass, Metal, Aluminum, Cardboard

NA

NA

113.6

Total

758.0

The business impact is on the investment settlements for the risk and sustainable biorefinery business models based on a methodology that applies a multi-disciplinary approach for investment decision-making about the process and product of biorefinery options. The risk approach is to replace and substitute products that are identified primarily from an evaluation of current and local value chains (Virginie Chambost, 2018).

The internal rate of return or return the invested value of the capital cost and financial performance used for capital spending determinations. However, it has appropriate boundaries when contemplating strategic biorefinery investment. (Hytönen et al.). Emphasised the importance of an extra accurate analysis of the economic risks and process correlated with a specific biorefinery technology and the project proposal along with the business transformation potential. It means that more than one project evaluation model should be analysed to quantify more precisely and various capital spending scenarios that underlying risks and uncertainties by incorporating data from an advanced cost including the method such as activity-based costing (Virginie Chambost, 2018).

One of the challenges of the sustainability of integrated production in biorefineries in Sardinia is the limited supply of resources. Economic improvements needed in any quarter as the various uses of biomass doesn’t allow to obtain high amounts of stock from suppliers as the number of supply Increases, it would authorise companies to take advantage of the economies of production and scale more market competitive products. Therefore, non-food local bioresources such as thistle, with low market contest are proper for biorefineries. Besides, the increase in biomass usage and suppliers in the biorefinery supply chains depend on the quality of logistical support and the spatial distribution of biomass and the progressions in processing technologies (Devrim Murat Yazan a, 2016).

A biorefinery is one of the circular economies that is sustainable for waste use which converts it to energy. Also, it decreases the use of oil and gas, which makes it friendly to the environment. On the other hand, it has some challenges and limitation. Sacrifice needed to overcome those challenges and the best choice is to run some economic studies and environmental researches.

REFERENCES

  • Budzianowski, W. M., & Postawa, K. (2016). Total Chain Integration of sustainable biorefinery systems. Applied Energy,184, 1432-1446. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.06.050
  • Chambost, V., Janssen, M., & Stuart, P. R. (2018). Systematic assessment of triticale-based biorefinery strategies: Investment decisions for sustainable biorefinery business models. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining,12. doi:10.1002/bbb.1850
  • Clark, J. H. (2017). From waste to wealth using green chemistry: The way to long term stability. Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry,8, 10-13. doi:10.1016/j.cogsc.2017.07.008
  • Gan, J. (n.d.). CHAPTER 2. Economic and Policy Aspects of Integrated Forest Biorefineries. Green Chemistry Series Integrated Forest Biorefineries,67-79. doi:10.1039/9781849735063-00067
  • Kumar, S. (2016). Municipal Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries. doi:10.1201/9781315369457
  • Liguori, R., & Faraco, V. (2016). Biological processes for advancing lignocellulosic waste biorefinery by advocating circular economy. Bioresource Technology,215, 13-20. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2016.04.054
  • Mohan, S. V., Nikhil, G., Chiranjeevi, P., Reddy, C. N., Rohit, M., Kumar, A. N., & Sarkar, O. (2016). Waste biorefinery models towards sustainable circular bioeconomy: Critical review and future perspectives. Bioresource Technology,215, 2-12. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2016.03.130
  • Nizami, A., Rehan, M., Waqas, M., Naqvi, M., Ouda, O., Shahzad, K., . . . Pant, D. (2017). Waste biorefineries: Enabling circular economies in developing countries. Bioresource Technology,241, 1101-1117. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2017.05.097
  • Nizami, A., Shahzad, K., Rehan, M., Ouda, O., Khan, M., Ismail, I., . . . Demirbas, A. (2017). Developing waste biorefinery in Makkah: A way forward to convert urban waste into renewable energy. Applied Energy,186, 189-196. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.04.116
  • Sánchez, A. S., Silva, Y. L., Kalid, R. A., Cohim, E., & Torres, E. A. (2017). Waste bio-refineries for the cassava starch industry: New trends and review of alternatives. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,73, 1265-1275. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2017.02.007
  • Yazan, D. M., Mandras, G., & Garau, G. (2017). Environmental and economic sustainability of integrated production in bio-refineries: The thistle case in Sardinia. Renewable Energy,102, 349-360. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2016.10.055

Refinery HSE

The refinery probably one of the most dangerous industry sectors in the oil and gas business, which have most precise safety programs. The refinery consists with a lot of processes that are under high pressure, flammable chemicals and powerful equipment which can lead to hazardous and deadly incidents. It is very important for safety supervisors and managers to communicate and identify safety controls and hazards that exist on each work to the employee before starting the job (Safety in oil and gas industry, n.d.).

The most effective measures to control, prevent and mitigate such events is the Provision of clear, concise and accurate operating procedures. The diagram below is about the Risk Evaluation and Management Process (HSE – Basic Concepts, n.d.)

 

The implantation of HSE Policy on Management is obligated in all processes during any job in the refinery. safety get decreased if there is an inappropriate design between the machine and man. Moreover, management error caused by the inappropriate design of the system. Besides, human error caused by a work environment harmful factors and management error  (A. Azadeh a).

HSE Components indicates a set of system aspects which are interrelated and assumed to have impact on together and on the performance indicators. Therefore, at an organizational level, injurious factors in the workplace could cause human failure and safety issues which would result in environmental risks (Auob Mirsaeidi*1, 2016). The management and risk assessment techniques are used in industrial activities to reduce accidents by applying preventive methods such as hazard and operability study HAZOP. The HAZOP technique to analyse the chemical process system, software system and complex operations (IRAJ MOHAMMADF AM).

According to Ali, Abdullah & Subramanian (2009), industrial accidents happen in the workplace, when there is no proper combination between the people who tend to be safe and unsafe behaviour as per Their feedback. Distinguishing observable safe behaviours upstream in the process are the first behaviour based process and then, identifying the antecedents for workers to follow it and encourage these safe behaviours. Also, recognising the accidents that discourage that safety alarm behaviour to remove them (B.Sekara*, 2015).

Total efficiency can improve by ergonomic programs and HSE management system. The primary objective of the total efficiency is defined by determining the efficient operators, ergonomic programs to assess the efficient decision methods and considering HSE management system and ergonomic programs to determine the effectiveness of simulated teamwork (A. Azadeha).

Management paucities and design mismatch are known as the primary cause of the human error (AICE, 1994). Operators must be conscious of inaccurate conditions. It is possible for consequences or failure to occur in the workplace in a particular activity and learning from errors could be useful or stressful for acknowledging in emergencies (Homsma et al., 2008). Human error analysis is when the error of the human rate decreases slowly, the ratio of the human error and the total incidents becomes 20%.  Moreover, it increases the system reliability and continuing the reduction of the ratio. The hazardous conditions must be corrected and identified which is caused by a human interplay. Through the years, emergencies and unexpected events were taken over through the management systems which had an essential role of its method (A. Azadeha).

HSSE management system is a portion of the range of contracts. A various possible contractor has to Experience an HSE prequalification, and the purpose of the HSE Pre-qualification is to screen potential contractors to confirm that they have the necessary capability and to deal with the associated risks effectively and skill to offer the range of work in an HSE effective way (Kuwait National Petroleum Company).

HSE positively affects the economy. Change required as a continuous and strategic process for improving and progressing organisational goals in order to reach economic success. A process model appropriate for management is the crucial element of HSE management systems. It guarantees the continuation of HSE management systems (Hossein Rahmanian Koushkaki1, HSE Quality System Integration by Identifying and Prioritizing Risks Using Fuzzy FMEA Technique and FAHP, 2016) In order to approach sustainable development of HSE and economy is to have sustainable management systems by Indirect and intangible costs, Role of insurance systems in risk transfer and Green industry and economy (SARKHEIL* & RAHBARI, 2015).

The factors of the economic role in term of financial consequences that associate with safety such as the hazard, compensation based on the accidents which are significant. On the hand, money can’t be compensated for the sole of any employee who lost his life but can only momentarily relieve the grief. The factors of the economy depends on the organisational policies and could differ from company to another. Hence there is a different procedure for reimbursement for the person regarding overtime such as profit sharing and bonuses, which besides trigger the worker and support the worker’s operational responsibilities within the company. Suitable types of equipment and other necessary safety prevention tools can improve the occupational safety of the economic factor (A. Azadeh a).

An explosion and fire occurred at the Conoco Humber Refinery in England.  In 1970 It was commissioned, and the SaturateGas Plant (SGP) came online in 1981 as part of an ongoing expansion. The refinery capacity was about 22,500 US barrels of crude oil daily and around 11.4 a million tonnes yearly, and it produced a full range of products from LPG to petroleum coke. It was a top-tier site under the UK implementation of Seveso 2 through the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 1999.  There were 71 civil injury claims from workers and members of the public made. It was an industry corrosion issue, and because of the lack of HSE, it turned to a disaster and a loss of money (Humberside refinery accident – 15 years on, December 2016).

Another accident of an oil refinery occurred in Skikda which influenced to a significant explosion and losses of human been life. The refinery has four operating refineries with an annual approach volume of 27 million tonnes. The primary cause of the accident was from equipment failure. The most injuries and deaths occurred in Skikda refinery, on January 2004, where a set of explosions made the of deaths of 27 people and a further 74 injuries (Samia Chettouh a, 2016).

HSE policy must be installed in all refinery units and in view of all employees, and notify to staff directly and indirectly (Vosoughi Sh.* PhD). to eliminate any probability of an incidence which leads to an accident.

REFERENCES

  • Azadeh, A., Saberi, M., Rouzbahman, M., & Valianpour, F. (2015). A neuro-fuzzy algorithm for assessment of health, safety, environment and ergonomics in a large petrochemical plant. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries,34, 100-114. doi:10.1016/j.jlp.2015.01.008
  • Azadeh, A., Mokhtari, Z., Sharahi, Z. J., & Zarrin, M. (2015). An integrated experiment for identification of best decision styles and teamworks with respect to HSE and ergonomics program: The case of a large oil refinery. Accident Analysis & Prevention,85, 30-44. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2015.08.016
  • Azadeh, A., Saberi, M., Rouzbahman, M., & Valianpour, F. (2015). A neuro-fuzzy algorithm for assessment of health, safety, environment and ergonomics in a large petrochemical plant. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries,34, 100-114. doi:10.1016/j.jlp.2015.01.008
  • Baybutt, P. (2015). A critique of the Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) study. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries,33, 52-58. doi:10.1016/j.jlp.2014.11.010
  • Behavior-Based Safety. (2015). Safety Professionals Reference and Study Guide, Second Edition,585-588. doi:10.1201/b18125-28
  • Chakrapani, R., & Al-Qallaf, Y. (2015). Contractor Safety Management. SPE Kuwait Oil and Gas Show and Conference. doi:10.2118/175253-ms
  • Chettouh, S., Hamzi, R., & Benaroua, K. (2016). Examination of fire and related accidents in Skikda Oil Refinery for the period 2002–2013. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries,41, 186-193. doi:10.1016/j.jlp.2016.03.014
  • Haider, F. F., Ortiz-Volcan, J. L., & Pichery, L. A. (2015). HSE Integrated Risk Assessment For A Steamflood Pilot Program. SPE Kuwait Oil and Gas Show and Conference. doi:10.2118/175376-ms
  • HSE – Basic Concepts. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.oil-gasportal.com/environmental-issues/hse-basic-concepts/
  • Human Instrumental Ltd, J. W. (2016, December). Loss Prevention Bulletin 252[Scholarly project]. In Icheme. Retrieved from https://www.icheme.org/shop/lpb/2016/issue 252/humberside refinery accident 15 years on.aspx
  • Maria, G. G., & Manuela, L. F. (2017). Combined fuzzy TOPSIS and AHP-based methodology for the prioritization of maintenance key performance indicators: Application to an oil refinery plant. 2017 2nd International Conference on System Reliability and Safety (ICSRS). doi:10.1109/icsrs.2017.8272845
  • Marzaleh, M. A., Vosoughi, S., Kavousi, A., & Bozorg, H. J. (2016). Effect of Awareness about Health, Safety and Environment Management System on Safety Climate and Risk Perception in Oil Refinery Employees. International Archives of Health Sciences,3(3), 107-112. doi:10.18869/iahs.3.3.107
  • Smith, S. (2018, January 04). Safety Practices in the Oil and Gas Industry (Infographic). Retrieved from https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/safety-practices-oil-and-gas-industry-infographic
  • Yousefi, S., Alizadeh, A., Hayati, J., & Baghery, M. (2018). HSE risk prioritization using robust DEA-FMEA approach with undesirable outputs: A study of automotive parts industry in Iran. Safety Science,102, 144-158. doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2017.10.015

 

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