Exergoeconomic Analysis of the Utilisation of Microalgae Derived Biostimulants for Sustainable Agriculture

This study addresses a biorefinery system that enables the production of microalgae derived biostimulants, which includes a municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerator, heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), an emissions fixation column, a photobioreactor, a flocculator, a centrifuge, and a dryer. The output is dry biomass to be utilised as fertiliser. The system technical and economic viability is investigated via an exergoeconomic analysis, which evaluates the system's performance accounting for energy consumption, exergy losses, and economic features related to each stage. The exergoeconomic evaluation established an exergetic cost of 1.022 × 10-3 US$/kJ, 1.645 × 10-3 US$/kJ, and 3.324 × 10-3 US$/kJ for microalgae production, dry biomass production, and utilisation of microalgae biomass as a biostimulant, respectively. As a result, it is reasonable to state that the innovative approach proposed herein is a potential solution to address the ecologically correct agricultural practices, sustainable energy and food production global growing demand.