Regular article
A simple and efficient model for calculating fixed capital investment and utilities consumption of large-scale biotransformation processes

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2019.107462Get rights and content

Highlights

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    A linear statistical model for comparing the economic performance of different bio-based chemicals.

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    Functional dependency of bioprocess economics on fermentation time, titer and aeration rate.

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    Fixed capital investment and utilities consumption of a biotransformation technology.

Abstract

Environmental concerns and the depletion of fossil resources are the major factors that boost modern society towards bio-based and circular economy. To this end, the development of mathematical tools that can be used to perform rapid comparative analysis across multiple technology options is necessary. The aim of this work is to present a simple and accurate mathematical model, which describes the economics of the bioreaction section of a typical biotransformation technology. The functional dependency of fixed capital investment (FCI) and utilities consumption from parameters determined experimentally is developed using a regression model. The proposed model, which consists only of three equations, can be used to compare the economic performance of different bio-based technologies that could potentially reach commercialization. More specifically, it can be used to estimate, at the early stages of process development, the effect of final broth concentration (titer), fermentation time and aeration rate on overall process economics.

Introduction

Nowadays, the world faces a number of major environmental, economic and social challenges, which have to be properly addressed and confronted if new generations are to enjoy a safe and prosperous future. Bio-based economy aims at contributing in this effort by developing new technologies, which will alleviate our dependence on fossil resources by using biomass as an alternative, renewable raw material [1]. The global bio-based chemical market is anticipated to grow from $6.474 billion in 2016 to $23.976 billion by 2025 [2]. The industrial applications of bio-based chemicals can be identified in the sectors of agriculture, bio-fuels, bioplastics, and the pharmaceutical industry. Biofuels sector have generated the highest revenue of $3.69 billion in 2016 while bioplastics are anticipated to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.43 %. The pharmaceutical industry is characterized as an end-user industry for the consumption of bio-based chemicals in the sector of developing medicines and therapies. The faster growth of bio-based chemicals at a CAGR of 16.48 %, is predicted to be in agricultural applications [2].

Bio-based industry should overcome technological, economic, environmental and social barriers in order to sustainably transform the future economy. Several factors affect the commercialization of a bio-refinery process but the most important one is that the production process should be economically competitive and environmentally superior to petroleum refinery industry. This very young industry must compete head-on with the petrochemical-based industry, which has perfected its processes. Thus, optimizing the performance of microorganisms with respect to the titer, fermentation time and product yield are necessary in order to successfully achieve commercialization [3,4]. In addition, the recycling and re-use of materials are complementary to bio-economy. Technological innovations in combination with regulations and policies should be developed to promote waste valorization and management, and new jobs creation [5]. Moreover, renewable and bio-based products do not necessarily mean better for the environment. The quality of the new developed products would be improved with smarter and timelier regulations [3]. The Circular Economy Action Plan consists of legislative proposals on waste and an action plan covering the whole life cycle of products and materials. In addition, the improvement of the environmental impact of the new developed bio-based products could be achieved by promoting reparability, durability, recyclability and the reuse of secondary materials [6].

Many factors need to be considered and optimized in order to produce food, chemicals and energy from bio-based processes. Major advances in design, development and demonstration are necessary to engineer predictable, controllable and cost effective process systems [7]. To accurately predict the production cost of bio-based processes, the direct capital equipment inputs should be available from equipment vendors. However, the latter are not always readily available. Therefore, techno-economic analysis (TEA) and the development of mathematical tools are necessary to facilitate rapid comparative analysis across multiple technology options [8]. So far, commercial software, such as Aspen Plus, UniSim and SuperPro Designer that offer several capabilities for process simulation, design, optimization, economic analysis and operation have been developed [9,10].

The objective of this work is to develop an accurate, yet simple mathematical model, that can be used to investigate and quantify the effect of decisions taken at the process development phase on process economics and to evaluate the potentials for commercialization of a typical biotransformation technology. More specifically the model that will be presented below relies solely on parameters determined experimentally, such as fermentation time (τf), final broth concentration (titer, Cf) and aeration rate (vvm). According to Van Dien [11] and Koutinas et al. [12] the commercialization of bioprocesses is strongly related to the key performance metrics of titer (g/L product), fermentation time (h), yield (g product per g substrate), aeration rate (vvm) and agitation intensity (kW/m3). Other considerations include the byproduct profile and strain robustness, but in this study, these parameters have not been taken into account. Having defined the above parameters of the bioreaction section of a bio-based process, process economics can be specified through a set of three equations as shown in this work. These equations calculate the fixed capital investment and the utilities consumption in order to produce a bio-based product. The proposed equations are based on a recent model developed by the same authors for the efficient and optimal design of the biotransformation section of a biochemical process [13]. The aim is to be able to investigate and quantify quickly the effect of decisions taken at the process development phase on the process economics and the potential for commercialization. In addition, the proposed model makes the effect of potential process improvements on process economics more transparent and quantifiable.

Section snippets

Bioreactor section design

A mathematical model, which describes the optimal design and scheduling of operations in the bioreaction section, has been developed in a recent publication by the same authors [13]. This is an optimization-based model for solving the bioprocess design and operation problem, that involves a large number of equality and inequality constraints and a large number of continuous and binary optimization variables. The model can be solved in GAMS by minimizing an approximation of the total annual cost

Results and discussion

In this work a simple but accurate model consisting of only three equations is proposed that can be used to approximate quickly the FCI and the utilities consumption of biotransformation technologies. This is achieved through RSM, using the results of a previously developed detailed optimization model developed by the same authors. The detailed model is used to generate primary data for the equipment purchase cost and the utilities consumption that are then utilized in an RSM framework in order

Conclusions

The aim of this work is to offer a simplified and easy to utilize methodology in order to estimate, with acceptable accuracy, the cost associated with the construction and operation of a typical bioreaction section in a biochemical process. The proposed methodology for achieving the stated objective is based on a previous work by the same authors where a detailed and complex mathematical programming model is used. The well-established fact that only three parameters, that are usually determined

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge support of this work by the project “Research Infrastructure on Food Bioprocessing Development and Innovation Exploitation – Food Innovation RI” (MIS 5027222), which is implemented under the Action “Reinforcement of the Research and Innovation Infrastructure”, funded by the Operational Programme "Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation" (NSRF 2014-2020) and co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund).

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