Technological screening of algae-based biorefinery for sustainable biofuels production using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with feature scaling normalisation

Abstract

Algal biomass has recently attracted attention as a promising source for renewable energy production due to its capability to grow on non-arable land, and assist on carbon sequestration and wastewater remediation. Although algal biomass has the potential to be utilised as a feedstock for biorefinery, there have been no definite technological pathways adopted for algae processing and biofuels production. Thus, a technological screening framework using multi criteria decision making approach based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with feature scaling normalisation is proposed to select the optimum processing pathway for sustainable biofuels production of an algae-based biorefinery. The technological alternatives are evaluated by defining the main criteria of the system and assigning sub-criteria under each main criterion to analyse the impacts of each criterion on the biorefinery system. The main criteria considered in this study are economic viability, and environmental and safety impacts. The sub-criteria are evaluated using pairwise comparison matrices, whereby the inputs are the numerical data normalised using the feature scaling method. A case study is presented to illustrate the normalised AHP-based technological screening methodology.