Supercritical fluid extraction of astaxanthin-rich extracts from Haematococcus pluvialis: Economic assessment

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 361; p. 127706
• Main Authors: Vardanega, Renata, Cerezal-Mezquita, Pedro, Veggi, Priscilla Carvalho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2022
• Subjects: Astaxanthin; Economic evaluation; Sensitivity study; Supercritical fluid extraction; Supercritical fluid extraction; Astaxanthin; Sensitivity study; Economic evaluation
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127706

[Display omitted] •Production of astaxanthin-rich extracts by SFE in Chile was economically evaluated.•The effect of different CO2 flow rates on the cost of manufacturing were studied.•The process scale-up was evaluated.•The industrial process requires a longer extraction time due to pump capacity limitations.•The SFE process was feasible to obtain astaxanthin-rich extracts industrially. The study evaluated the techno-economic feasibility of an industrial SFE plant to produce astaxanthin-rich extracts in Chile based on previously published data. A kinetic study comparing two solvent flow rates (3.62 and 7.24 g/min) at a scale production of 2 × 10 L showed the FER period as the more economically feasible with a cost of manufacturing (COM) of US$ 656.31/kg at 7.24 g/min. The study also demonstrated that the extraction times used at a laboratory scale were not industrially feasible due to the flowrate limits of industrial pumps. After adjusting extraction time to real industrial conditions, the results demonstrated that a 5-fold scale increase (2 × 10 L to 2 × 50 L) decreased the COM by 30 % and the process was profitable at all production scales. Finally, the sensitivity study demonstrated that it is possible to reduce the selling price by 25 % at 2 × 50 L scale.