Supply chain collection model development and feasibility analysis of coffee grind resource for biofuel production

Corica, Steven (2016) Supply chain collection model development and feasibility analysis of coffee grind resource for biofuel production. Honours thesis, Murdoch University.

Abstract

As the world’s conventional source of energy is predominantly reliant on depleting non-renewable fuel sources; the necessity to introduce a cleaner viable fuel alternative to the market to reduce the dependency of conventional fuel is considered imperative for a sustainable future. An opportunity to utilise the coffee grinds waste as a feedstock for biodiesel production has been considered as an alternative source of energy. The objective of the paper is to evaluate whether or not this opportunity can be considered as a economically viable option.

The paper assesses the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) per year pre-tax over the expected lifespan of the project as a quantitative measure for economic feasibility for different production, collection and logistic schemes for major cities within Australia. The available waste coffee residue (WCR) has been calculated using assumption factors to mathematically model the likely collection of the resource for a specific area. A sensitivity analysis has scrutinised the key assumption factors to find the affect that differing independent variables have on the final project outcome.

The yields that have been further analysed throughout the paper represent material acquired from M. Haile [1] in which 19.73% of oil is extracted from the WCR and a value of 80.4% conversion to biofuel from the waste coffee oil.

The findings of the paper suggest that all Australian cities aside from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane can be dismissed as feasible locations for the project due to the operational expenditure for collection of the dispersed resource exceeding potential revenue from the sale of the biofuel and biomass of the remaining WCR.

Depending on initial investment and model selection, viable IRR can be expected in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The feasible IRR values are directly related to the quantity of the resource available within the city offsetting the operational and production expenditure.

Item Type:	Thesis (Honours)
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Engineering and Information Technology
Supervisor(s):	Bahri, Parisa and De Boer, Karne
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/33937

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