A techno-economical evaluation for energy exploitation of wastes from agro-processing industries: a case study of cotton processing wastes

The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of obtaining energy from cotton processing waste oil and heating demand in the cotton oil processing. For the techno-economical feasibility, Cukobirlik cotton union, located in Adana, Turkey was selected considering capacity per annum. The techno-economical feasibility of cotton processing wastes for fossil fuel substitution running three scenarios was examined. The case study constitutes of the following parts, background information and description of the company activities, the existing facilities and its energy requirements, the second the technical options for the exploitation of biomass and the results of their financial appraisal, environmental considerations, risks and assumptions and finally conclusions and recommendations. The economic and financial assessment of the investment for biomass utilization in Cukobirlik cotton union includes the calculation of the economic viability parameters and cash flow analysis table and investment return indices. An economical solution was determined to be scenario 2 for Cukurova cotton union. The values of discounted payback period, net present value, internal rate of return and benefit to cost ratio were calculated as 3.28 years, 2 832 421 €, 34.07% and 3.31 for scenario 2. Based on the results of the pre-feasibility study, it seems that the installation of a 5 MW biomass boiler to Cukobirlik for substitution of fuel oil (scenario 2) is a very attractive investment and is still favorite in comparison with the installation of a natural gas boiler to meet the same needs when the natural gas price is higher than 0.37 €/Nm³.