Techno-economic analysis of the deacetylation and disk refining process: characterizing the effect of refining energy and enzyme usage on minimum sugar selling price and minimum ethanol selling price

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a polysaccharide of alternating d-glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine residues present in the extracellular matrix of connective, epithelial, and nervous tissues. Due to its singular hydrating, rheological and adhesive properties, HA has found numerous cosmetic and medical applications. However, techno-economic analyses of high value-added bioproducts such as HA are scarce in the literature. Here, we present a techno-economic analysis of a process for producing HA using Streptococcus zooepidemicus, simulated in SuperPro Designer. In the baseline scenario, HA is produced by batch fermentation, reaching 2.5 g/L after 24 h. It is then centrifuged, diafiltered, treated with activated carbon and precipitated with isopropanol. The product is suitable for topical formulations and its production cost was estimated as 1115 $/kg. A similar scenario, based on fed-batch culture and assuming a titer of 5.0 g/L, led to a lower cost of 946 $/kg. Moreover, in two additional scenarios, 10% of the precipitated HA is diverted to the production of a highly pure and high-molecular weight HA, suitable for injectable applications. These scenarios resulted in higher capital and operating costs, but also in higher profits, because HA for injectable use has a higher selling price that more than compensates for its higher production costs.

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Techno-Economic Analysis of Biomass Energy Utilization through Gasification Technology for Sustainable Energy Production and Economic Development in Nigeria

Journal of Energy ◽

10.1155/2018/4860252 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Gbeminiyi M. Sobamowo ◽

Sunday J. Ojolo

Keyword(s):

Economic Analysis ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Financial Incentives ◽

Capital Investment ◽

Biomass Gasification ◽

Biomass Energy ◽

Energy Utilization ◽

Maintenance Cost ◽

Selling Price ◽

Gasification Technology

Nigeria has not been able to provide enough electric power to her about 200 million people. The last effort by the federal government to generate 6000 MW power by the end of 2009 failed. Even with the available less than 6000 MW of electricity generated in the country, only about 40% of the population have access to the electricity from the National Grid, out of which, urban centers have more than 80% accessibility while rural areas, which constitute about 70% of the total population, have less than 20% of accessibility to electricity. This paper addresses the possibility of meeting the energy demand in Nigeria through biomass gasification technology. The techno-economic analysis of biomass energy is demonstrated and the advantages of the biomass gasification technology are presented. Following the technical analysis, Nigeria is projected to have total potential of biomass of about 5.5 EJ in 2020 which has been forecast to increase to about 29.8 EJ by 2050. Based on a planned selling price of $0.727/kWh, the net present value of the project was found to be positive, the cost benefit ratio is greater than 1, and the payback period of the project is 10.14 years. These economic indicators established the economic viability of the project at the given cost. However, economic analysis shows a selling price of $0.727/kWh. Therefore, the capital investment cost, operation and maintenance cost, and fuel cost can be reduced through the development of the gasification system using local materials, purposeful and efficient plantation of biomass for the energy generation, giving out of financial incentives by the government to the investors, and locating the power plant very close to the source of feedstock generation.

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A Techno-Economic Analysis of PEV Battery Second Use: Repurposed-Battery Selling Price and Commercial and Industrial End-User Value

10.4271/2012-01-0349 ◽

2012 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Jeremy S. Neubauer ◽

Ahmad Pesaran ◽

Brett Williams ◽

Mike Ferry ◽

Jim Eyer

Keyword(s):

Economic Analysis ◽

Selling Price ◽

End User ◽

User Value ◽

Battery Second Use ◽

Second Use

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Economic analysis of up-to-date sour cherry or in Hungary

International Journal of Horticultural Science ◽

10.31421/ijhs/14/1-2./789 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 14 (1-2.) ◽

Author(s):

F. Apáti

Keyword(s):

Economic Analysis ◽

Sour Cherry ◽

High Standard ◽

Production Costs ◽

Major Portion ◽

Selling Price ◽

Average Yield ◽

Direct Production ◽

Personal Cost ◽

Profit Analysis

In this study cost-profit analysis is carried out to up-to-date Hungarian sour cherry orchards. These orchards cover only 1 to 3 thousand hectares from the sour cherry territory of 16 thousand hectares. In a many-year-average a yield of 15 tons per hectare may be reached in up-to-date sour cherry orchards cultivated under high standard conditions. Per hectare direct production costs take up of approximately 1000 thousand HUF, from which the major portion (60%) is accounted for the personal cost of harvesting. Regarding the above mentioned average yield and a selling price of 100 HUF per kilogram a revenue of 1 500 thousand HUF may be realized, which results in a per hectare contribution of 500 thousand HUF. To sum up, regarding the present extremely unfavourable selling price only reaching an average yield of 15 to 20 tons per hectare may lead to appropriate profit.

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Is Sugarcane a Convenient Feedstock to Provide Ethanol to Oxygenate Gasolines in Mexico? A Process Simulation and Techno-Economic-Based Analysis

Frontiers in Energy Research ◽

10.3389/fenrg.2020.612647 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Jorge Aburto ◽

Elías Martínez-Hernández

Keyword(s):

Production Capacity ◽

Economic Assessment ◽

Methyl Tert Butyl Ether ◽

Selling Price ◽

Sugar Production ◽

Butyl Ether ◽

Southern Mexico ◽

Market Prices ◽

Gasoline Demand ◽

Minimum Ethanol Selling Price

Sugarcane is a major crop produced in many tropical countries including Mexico and has been the basis of a well-established agroindustry. However, the variation in market prices and health concerns over the consumption of sugar are challenging the economics and sustainability of sugarcane growers and mills. This paper presents a techno-economic assessment of using existing production capacity of sugarcane in Mexico and the correspondent Mexican sugarcane mills for producing ethanol as gasoline oxygenate, in comparison to the export of excess sugar production. Using the most recent statistics, we found out that the bioethanol potential is of 849,260,499 L/year which can cover for 100% of the premium and magna gasoline demand in metropolitan area (MA) and 48% of premium gasoline in rest of the country areas (RoCAs) at 5.8% w/v blending (2.7% O2 w/v). This can be done by diverting the 20% sugar production excess to ethanol with the benefit of a higher gross netback of 308.3 USD/ton of sugarcane in comparison to 222.5 USD/ton of sugarcane when it is exported. Furthermore, a minimum ethanol-selling price (MESP) of 0.5211 USD/L was estimated, showing that ethanol might be competitive against methyl tert-butyl ether (0.50 USD/L FOB Gulf price) as gasoline oxygenate agent. Decarbonizing gasoline in Mexico through the use of ethanol might allow the abatement of 5,766.8 kg CO2/day when 20% sugar is used. Concerning the underconstruction Dos Bocas refinery in Tabasco State, southern Mexico, ethanol blend at 5.8% in gasolines might but also contribute to the abatement of 6.1% of CO2 emissions and the required sugarcane was estimated at 1 million tons per year. All these indicate that sugarcane has a great potential as a feedstock to produce first-generation ethanol as a gasoline oxygenate agent in Mexico.

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Economic Analysis of a New Business for Liposome Manufacturing Using a High-Pressure System

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr8121604 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 1604

Author(s):

Paolo Trucillo ◽

Roberta Campardelli ◽

Silvia Iuorio ◽

Paolo De Stefanis ◽

Ernesto Reverchon

Keyword(s):

Economic Analysis ◽

Flow Analysis ◽

Industrial Applications ◽

Selling Price ◽

Personnel Cost ◽

Pressure System ◽

Goods And Services ◽

Payback Time ◽

New Business ◽

Return On Sales

Supercritical assisted Liposome formation (SuperLip) is a lab-scale process for the production of liposomes. SuperLip was recognized as being a versatile supercritical assisted technique for the encapsulation of molecules for different industrial applications, such as pharmaceutic, cosmetic, textile, and nutraceutic purposes. The aim of this work was to perform an economic analysis to assess the profitability of the SuperLip process. The liposomes market was analyzed and the SuperLip process was compared to other techniques in terms of manufacturing advantages using the Canvas and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Treats (S.W.O.T.) models. SuperLip Plant Capital Expenditures (CAPEX) were estimated, and plant Operating Expenditures (OPEX) were also evaluated and integrated with personnel cost and other plant goods and services. A profit and loss statement was generated, together with a cash flow analysis. According to the market average selling price, liposome price is 1.8 €/mL; in order to join the market rapidly, the selling price of liposomes produced using SuperLip was set at 1.1 €/mL. A payback time has been identified at the fourth year of business. Economic indexes such as ROI and ROS were calculated on a 10-year business prospect, obtaining about a 230% return on investment and a 26.7% return on sales.

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Techno-Economic Analysis of Bioethanol Plant By-Product Valorization: Exploring Market Opportunities with Protein-Rich Fungal Biomass Production

Fermentation ◽

10.3390/fermentation6040099 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 99

Author(s):

Gülru Bulkan ◽

Jorge A. Ferreira ◽

Karthik Rajendran ◽

Mohammad J. Taherzadeh

Keyword(s):

Economic Analysis ◽

Fungal Biomass ◽

Net Present Value ◽

Animal Feed ◽

Base Case ◽

Selling Price ◽

Food Markets ◽

Human Food ◽

Protein Rich ◽

By Products

The feasibility of dry-grind bioethanol plants is extremely dependent on selling prices of ethanol and by-products, known as Dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), and sold as animal feed. Increasing the amount and quality of the by-products can widen potential feed and food markets and improve the process economy and robustness to price fluctuations of ethanol and grain. In this study, the techno-economic analysis of a bioethanol plant was investigated. Integration of edible filamentous fungi into the process leading to the conversion of sidestreams into ethanol and protein-rich fungal biomass for food and feed applications was considered, and its impact was investigated. Sensitivity analysis considered variations on process capacity, on the price of grain and ethanol, and on the price of fungal biomass considering its use for various animal feed (e.g., pig and fish) and human food markets. Selling the fungal biomass in the human food market resulted in 5.56 times higher NPV (net present value) than the base case bioethanol plant after 20 years. Integration of a low-performing strain towards ethanol, followed by the usage of the fungal biomass in the food sector, was found to be the most resistant scenario to the low ethanol selling price and increasing grain price. This study showed that the competitiveness of ethanol plants in the fuel market could be reinforced while meeting the increasing demand for protein sources.

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Technoeconomic Assessment of Hybrid Organosolv–Steam Explosion Pretreatment of Woody Biomass

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12214206 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (21) ◽

pp. 4206 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Sennai Mesfun ◽

Leonidas Matsakas ◽

Ulrika Rova ◽

Paul Christakopoulos

Keyword(s):

Steam Explosion ◽

Process Model ◽

Selling Price ◽

Organosolv Lignin ◽

Steam Explosion Pretreatment ◽

Lignocellulosic Feedstocks ◽

Hemicellulose Degradation ◽

Minimum Ethanol Selling Price ◽

Design Software ◽

Mathematical Process

This study investigates technoeconomic performance of standalone biorefinery concepts that utilize hybrid organic solvent and steam explosion pretreatment technique. The assessments were made based on a mathematical process model developed in UniSim Design software using inhouse experimental data. The work was motivated by successful experimental applications of the hybrid pretreatment technique on lignocellulosic feedstocks that demonstrated high fractionation efficiency into a cellulose-rich, a hemicellulose-rich and lignin streams. For the biorefinery concepts studied here, the targeted final products were ethanol, organosolv lignin and hemicellulose syrup. Minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) and Internal rate of return (IRR) were evaluated as economic indicators of the investigated biorefinery concepts. Depending on the configuration, and allocating all costs to ethanol, MESP in the range 0.53–0.95 €/L were required for the biorefinery concepts to break even. Under the assumed ethanol reference price of 0.55 €/L, the corresponding IRR were found to be in the range −1.75–10.7%. Hemicellulose degradation and high steam demand identified as major sources of inefficiencies for the process and economic performance, respectively. Sensitivity of MESP and IRR towards the most influential technical, economic and market parameters performed.

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