Techno-economic analysis of microalgae production with simultaneous dairy effluent treatment using a pilot-scale High Volume V-shape pond system

In this study techno-economic evaluation of scaled-up microalgae production and simultaneous dairy effluent treatment was performed. It includes ‘Base case’ comprising a 3 m3 High Volume V-shape Pond (HVVP) and ‘Projected case(s)’ in million liters per day (MLD) treatment capacity plant of ≤0.25, ∼0.5 and ≥ 1.0 MLD dairy industries for 10-, 20- and 30-yrs lifetime span, respectively. Economic analysis includes capital expenditure (CapEx), operational expenditure (OpEx), payback period, internal rate of return (IRR), net present value and minimum biomass production price. As expected, centrifuge and its electricity consumption charges are major contributors of CapEx and OpEx, respectively. ≥1 MLD plant for 20 yrs showed most feasible with an IRR and payback period of 118% and 1.9 yrs, respectively. Annual algal production was 504 ton at $0.482/kg with ∼240,000 m3 of treated clean water. HVVP is found to be one of the cost-effective and area efficient microalgal cultivation systems for mass production. Besides, the process aids in resolving environmental concerns associated with current practices of direct discharge of dairy effluents. This study aims to overcome some of the key hindering factors viz., high land foot-print and cost-intensive cultivation systems that are associated in commercialization of microalgae production.