Process scale-up and technoeconomic analysis of phospholipid extraction from a dairy byproduct (whey protein phospholipid concentrate)

Dairy byproducts such as whey protein phospholipid concentrate (WPPC) and buttermilk contain phospholipids (PL). A solvent extraction process (simultaneous texturization and extraction of phospholipids, STEP method) to extract PL present in WPPC, using ethanol, recovers about 70% of PL in the raw material. To understand the commercial feasibility of this technology, we simulated a scaled-up version of the process to industrial production of 3.26 kt/yr in the SuperPro Designer (version 10, http://www.intelligen.com) process simulation platform. Economic analysis revealed that PL can be produced at a minimum selling price (MSP) of $92.98/kg, using the scaled-up STEP method. The total investment on capital and annual operating costs were $15.51 million and $14.49 million, respectively. The uncertainty in product cost due to variations in process variables, including PL composition in raw material, product recovery, labor, and raw material costs was analyzed through sensitivity analysis. Phospholipids MSP was most sensitive to product recovery and its composition in WPPC. A reduction of almost 5% in MSP was achieved by improving either of the process parameters by 10%. By increasing the plant size 1.5 times, the product MSP could be decreased by 30% to $65.14/kg. Finally, based on our analysis, recommendations were made for scale-up and commercialization of PL extraction using the STEP method.