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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Techno-Economic Analysis and Feasibility Study of Malic Acid Production Using Crude Glycerol from Biodiesel Refineries
I. Abernaebenezer Selvakumari 1
,
 
J. Jayamuthunagai 1
,
 
B. Bharathiraja 2
 
 
 
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1
Centre for Biotechnology, Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University, Chennai-25, India
 
2
Department of Biotechnology, SRM Easwari Engineering College, Ramapuram, Chennai 600089, India
 
 
Submission date: 2024-12-08
 
 
Final revision date: 2025-05-23
 
 
Acceptance date: 2025-10-02
 
 
Online publication date: 2025-12-03
 
 
Corresponding author
J. Jayamuthunagai   

Biotechnology, Alagappa College of Technology Anna University, Guindy, 600025, Chennai, India
 
 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15244/pjoes/211640
 
 
Article (PDF)
References (34)
 
KEYWORDS
crude glycerol
malic acid
simulation
techno-economic analysis
 
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The present investigation undertakes a comprehensive techno-economic analysis to assess the viability of producing malic acid sustainably from crude glycerol, obtained as a byproduct of biodiesel refining, at an industrial scale of 100 MT/day, utilizing simulation models developed from earlier studies. In this process, 4.1 MT of malic acid and 0.45 MT of bioethanol were produced per day. The high-value malic acid production plant is projected to require a total capital investment of $20.46 M, accompanied by annual operating expenses of $45.46 M. The annual revenue is estimated at $61.60 M, with key economic indicators including an internal rate of return (IRR) of 10.93%, a payback period of 6.71 years, a return on investment (ROI) of 14.90%, and a net present value (NPV) of $11.90 M. The minimum selling price (MSP) of malic acid is $3.6/kg, with the minimized achievable margin of the MSP at $2.9/kg at 30% solid loading, demonstrating the process’s economic viability and potential for low-cost malic acid production.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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