Multi-objective optimization of co-processing of algae hydrothermal liquefaction oil and vacuum gas oil: a survey of algal oil co-processing ratio and gasoline selling price

Abstract The co-processing of algae hydrothermal liquefaction oil (AHTLO) and vacuum gas oil (VGO) in an existing refinery has been proposed to decrease the production cost of algal bio-fuels by utilizing existing infrastructures of the refinery. Techno-economic analysis of the co-processing of AHTLO and VGO shown that the larger AHTLO co-processing ratio, the higher minimum selling price. In this work, an investigation between the AHTLO co-processing ratio and minimum selling price is conducted by multi-objective optimization (MOO). The proposed MOO model is solved to obtain the Pareto fronts by e-constraint method. The trade-off solution for the co-processing technology is obtained using function evaluation method. The effects of the weight factor on the trade-off solution are also carried out.