Techno-Economic Evaluation of Food Waste Fermentation for Value-Added Products

Noor Intan Shafinas Muhammad and Kurt A. Rosentrater
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Noor Intan Shafinas Muhammad: Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering Department, Iowa State University, Elings Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Kurt A. Rosentrater: Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering Department, Iowa State University, Elings Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: Food waste (FW) is one of the most critical problems in the world. Most FW will be sent to landfills, generally accompanying some significant disadvantages to the surrounding environment. Fermentation is considered as another disposal method to deal with FW. In this study, using a techno-economic analysis (TEA) method, an evaluation of the economic impact of three different scenarios of FW fermentation is carried out. A SuperPro Designer V9.0 simulation was used to model a commercial scale processing plant for each scenario, namely, a FW fermentation process producing hydrolysis enzymes and featuring a 2-step distillation system, a FW fermentation process without enzymes, using a 2-step distillation system, and a FW fermentation process without enzymes, using a 1-step distillation system. Discounted cash flow analysis is used to estimate the minimum ethanol selling price (MESP), where the lowest MESP result of $2.41/gal ($0.64/L) of ethanol is found for the second aforementioned scenario, showing that, even without enzymes in FW fermentation, the product cost can be competitive when compared to the other scenarios considered in this study. This project thus reflects a significant positive economic impact while minimizing the environmental footprint of a commercial production facility.

Keywords: food waste; simulation; ethanol; TEA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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