Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock

This paper reports a techno-economic assessment for industrial scale bio-flocculant production with okra as biomass feedstock. The sludge dewatering ability of the bio-flocculant was evaluated prior to economic analysis. Several optimisation strategies were investigated in order to lower the bio-flo...

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Main Authors: Lee, Chai Siah, Chong, Mei Fong, Binner, Eleanor, Gomes, Rachel L., Robinson, John P.
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50940/
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author Lee, Chai Siah
Chong, Mei Fong
Binner, Eleanor
Gomes, Rachel L.
Robinson, John P.
author_facet Lee, Chai Siah
Chong, Mei Fong
Binner, Eleanor
Gomes, Rachel L.
Robinson, John P.
author_sort Lee, Chai Siah
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper reports a techno-economic assessment for industrial scale bio-flocculant production with okra as biomass feedstock. The sludge dewatering ability of the bio-flocculant was evaluated prior to economic analysis. Several optimisation strategies were investigated in order to lower the bio-flocculant production cost. The results showed that continuous mode microwave extraction was more economically beneficial than conventional extraction in batch and continuous modes. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the production cost was significantly affected by annual production and extract yield, and moderately influenced by raw material price. The optimised scheme for bio-flocculant production was continuous mode microwave extraction at 90° C, a residence time of 10 minutes, a water loading of 3.5 w/w and production rate of 220 tonnes per year. The economic assessment showed that the gross margin was positive, return on investment was in the expected range of 20 to 30% and payback time was within 5 years.
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publishDate 2018
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recordtype eprints
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spelling nottingham-509402020-05-04T19:34:33Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50940/ Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock Lee, Chai Siah Chong, Mei Fong Binner, Eleanor Gomes, Rachel L. Robinson, John P. This paper reports a techno-economic assessment for industrial scale bio-flocculant production with okra as biomass feedstock. The sludge dewatering ability of the bio-flocculant was evaluated prior to economic analysis. Several optimisation strategies were investigated in order to lower the bio-flocculant production cost. The results showed that continuous mode microwave extraction was more economically beneficial than conventional extraction in batch and continuous modes. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the production cost was significantly affected by annual production and extract yield, and moderately influenced by raw material price. The optimised scheme for bio-flocculant production was continuous mode microwave extraction at 90° C, a residence time of 10 minutes, a water loading of 3.5 w/w and production rate of 220 tonnes per year. The economic assessment showed that the gross margin was positive, return on investment was in the expected range of 20 to 30% and payback time was within 5 years. Elsevier 2018-04-30 Article PeerReviewed Lee, Chai Siah, Chong, Mei Fong, Binner, Eleanor, Gomes, Rachel L. and Robinson, John P. (2018) Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 132 . pp. 358-369. ISSN 1744-3563 Extraction; Okra bio-flocculant; Sludge dewatering; SuperPro Designer; Economic analysis; Scale-up https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2018.01.050 doi:10.1016/j.cherd.2018.01.050 doi:10.1016/j.cherd.2018.01.050
spellingShingle Extraction; Okra bio-flocculant; Sludge dewatering; SuperPro Designer; Economic analysis; Scale-up
Lee, Chai Siah
Chong, Mei Fong
Binner, Eleanor
Gomes, Rachel L.
Robinson, John P.
Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock
title Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock
title_full Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock
title_fullStr Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock
title_full_unstemmed Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock
title_short Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock
title_sort techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock
topic Extraction; Okra bio-flocculant; Sludge dewatering; SuperPro Designer; Economic analysis; Scale-up
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50940/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50940/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50940/