Nutraceuticals production under a water-food-energy-waste integration concept

CARLA V. GARCÍA PRIETO; FERNANDO D. RAMOS; VANINA ESTRADA; DIAZ, MARÍA S.

Computer Aided Chemical Engineering

Elsevier

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2018

1570-7946

In this work, we address the optimization of an integrated microalgae-based biorefinery through the formulation of a mixed integer nonlinear programming model (MINLP) for the production of astaxanthin and co-products (renewable fuels, bioplastics and green chemical products) reducing the dependency of external energy sources. The proposed model is implemented in GAMS to maximize net present value. Numerical results show the economic feasibility of microalgae-based nutraceuticals production in an integrated biorefinery under the water-food-energy-waste nexus concept (NPV: 336 MM$). Gross profit of the optimal integrated biorefinery is $8,434 per kg of astaxanthin, approximately 30% higher than the obtained when astaxanthin is produced as a single product, with no considerations on water-food-energy and waste nexus.