Wheat Straw Fermentation for the Production of Lactic Acid in the Beauty Industry
Abstract:
This project aims to design a lactic acid production plant with an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes of lactic acid per year. Agricultural waste, specifically wheat straw, is used as a novel feedstock for this process. The process itself is broken up into 3 main sections, pretreatment, fermentation, and purification. Pretreatment involves breaking down the wheat straw into fermentable sugars, fermentation uses lactic acid bacteria to convert the sugar into lactic acid, and purification removes impurities from the fermentation broth and concentrates the final product. In-depth unit designs were conducted on the hydrolysis unit, the fermenter, the ultrafilter, and the evaporator in the purification section. Possible hazards were identified including wheat straw flammability, sodium hydroxide toxicity and corrosivity, Pediococcus acidilactici contamination, lactic acid toxicity, high temperature concerns, and over pressurization. Environmental considerations regarding waste streams are also discussed. A review of the process economics was conducted which included determining the capital investment costs and the manufacturing costs and then a profitability analysis was performed. It was determined that the design of this process is not presently economically feasible due to current cellulase enzyme prices but it shows promise for creating a more circular economy in the future.
Students:
Malak Dali, Arden Geyer, Seonguk Jung, Murwan Osman
