Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
9th Meeting on Chemistry & Life, Brno, Çek Cumhuriyeti, 12 - 13 Eylül 2024, ss.45
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a well-known family of
bacteria-based biodegradable plastics that offer an
approach to carbon neutrality and contribute to a more
sustainable future. PHAs are a crucial platform chemical
and can serve as an environmentally friendly candidate for
replacing petrochemical plastics [1]. It can be used in
several industries, including bioplastics, the medical and
pharmaceutical industry, textile and fibers, and
agriculture. Some bacteria, such as Halomonas halophila
and Caldimonas thermodepolymerans can produce PHAs
from a wide range of carbon sources such as lignocellulosic
biomass, food waste, and sugar sources, and similar to
other biotechnological processes, several challenges affect
the feasibility and marketability of the PHAs [2]. Scale-up
difficulties, strain development for high PHAs production
capabilities, energy-intensive downstream, and yield could
be considered significant challenges for a feasible process.
Therefore, process simulation and comprehensive
economic evaluation are promising approaches for
potential industrial-scale production. In this study, softwood and rice straws were used as lignocellulosic
substrates and converted into PHA via halophilic and
thermophilic conditions. The key parameters and data for
the economic evaluation and process simulation were
obtained from experimental studies and available
literature. The industrial-scale PHA production scenarios
were prepared with these data using SuperPro Designer
software v11.0 (Intelligen Inc., Scotch Plains, NJ, USA). The
project lifetime was set at 20 years with an 8000-h working
time per year [3-4]. The flowsheets for the industrial-scale
PHAs production process were prepared to process 50,000
tons of lignocellulosic biomass annually [5]. As a result,
these two processes were comprehensively evaluated
regarding process bottlenecks, the economic burden of
the plant, and saving strategies, including by-product
utilization and virtual heat integration. The results clarified
that halophilic PHA production from soft-wood was a more
economically favorable option compared to thermophilic
PHA production from rice straw due to higher NPV (213.2
million $), IRR (13.5%), ROI (16.4%), GM (62.4%), and
shorter PBP (5.07 years).