Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Assessing the Thermoeconomic Viability of Microalgae-Based Biofertilizers for Sustainable Agriculture: Economic and Environmental Benefits.
Submission Author:
Nicholas Melenek , PR
Co-Authors:
Nicholas Melenek, Beatriz Jacob Furlan, Anne Defranceschi Oliveira, Gabriela Conor Figueiredo, Rafael Silva Ribeiro Gonçalves, Murilo Gasparin Rampi, Kauê Melenek, Diego Corrêa, JOSÉ VIRIATO COELHO VARGAS
Presenter: Gabriela Conor Figueiredo
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-0383
Abstract
As the global population grows, the use of fertilizers to improve land use and increase food production has become essential. However, the environmental damage caused by chemical fertilizers has led to a growing interest in sustainable alternatives, such as biofertilizers. This scientific paper presents a thermoeconomic analysis that evaluates the potential use of biomass microalgae as a biofertilizer in agriculture. Thermoeconomics involves applying thermodynamic principles, such as exergy which is a measure of the maximum amount of work that can be extracted from a thermodynamic system to economic systems. The analysis provides a detailed assessment of the economic and thermodynamic aspects of the process, considering the costs associated with the production, transportation, and application of the microalgae-based biofertilizer. The evaluated system includes an incinerator, heat exchanger, fixation column, photobioreactor, flocculator, centrifuge, dryer, and the final step of using the biomass produced as fertilizer. The results of the study show that microalgae-based biofertilizers offer significant economic benefits, including reductions in the use of chemical fertilizers and improvements in crop yields. Additionally, the study evaluates the environmental impact of the process and finds that microalgae-based biofertilizers can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and overall environmental impacts compared to traditional chemical fertilizers. In conclusion, the authors suggest that further research is necessary to optimize the production and application of microalgae-based biofertilizers. Nevertheless, the potential economic and environmental benefits make this an important area of study for sustainable agriculture.
Keywords
Biomass, microalgae, Exergy Analysis, thermoeconomics, photobioreactor
