Aspen Plus® simulation and techno-economic analysis of condensation and fractional distillation of plastic waste pyrolysis oil for sustainable aviation fuel production

The techno-economic feasibility of generating sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) via the pyrolysis of plastic waste, including the subsequent fractionation of plastic derived oil (PDO), was investigated. The fractional distillation of a selection of PDOs was simulated in Aspen Plus® V14.0, based on reported chemical compositions, in contrast to the conventional practice of simulating crude oils via pseudo-components. The biases when simulating the fuel properties from chemical compositions were determined and as a result, the process simulations could more reliably predict key fuel properties such as boiling points and combustion energies for the produced PDO fractions, for comparison to the SAF standard. The subsequent selling of the SAF fraction of PDO and accompanying side-products displayed improved profitability compared to solely producing crude PDO or gasoline/diesel fractions, as well as showing superior profitability compared to producing SAF from biomaterials. With the assumptions of a $430 per kg feedstock price, 240 tonne per day plant scale and 20% internal rate of return (IRR), this study demonstrated a minimum selling price (MSP) between $1.06 and $2.02 per kg, well below the SAF market price of $2.77. Besides the effects of feedstock pricing and product sales prices on financial viability, profitability was also improved by heat integration, electricity co-generation and increasing product quality through fractionation.

Grantor dc:publisher

Stellenbosh : Stellenbosch University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Hanekom, Nicol Jesse

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Schwarz, Cara
• Gorgens, Johann

Language dc:language.iso

en

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/136053

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/136053