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Article

Techno-Economic Analysis of Bioethanol Plant By-Product Valorization: Exploring Market Opportunities with Protein-Rich Fungal Biomass Production

by
Gülru Bulkan
1,
Jorge A. Ferreira
1,
Karthik Rajendran
2 and
Mohammad J. Taherzadeh
1,*
1
Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, 50190 Borås, Sweden
2
Department of Environmental Science, SRM University-AP, Amaravati 522502, India
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Fermentation 2020, 6(4), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation6040099
Submission received: 14 September 2020 / Revised: 5 October 2020 / Accepted: 19 October 2020 / Published: 21 October 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ethanol and Value-Added Co-Products 2.0)

Abstract

The feasibility of dry-grind bioethanol plants is extremely dependent on selling prices of ethanol and by-products, known as Dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), and sold as animal feed. Increasing the amount and quality of the by-products can widen potential feed and food markets and improve the process economy and robustness to price fluctuations of ethanol and grain. In this study, the techno-economic analysis of a bioethanol plant was investigated. Integration of edible filamentous fungi into the process leading to the conversion of sidestreams into ethanol and protein-rich fungal biomass for food and feed applications was considered, and its impact was investigated. Sensitivity analysis considered variations on process capacity, on the price of grain and ethanol, and on the price of fungal biomass considering its use for various animal feed (e.g., pig and fish) and human food markets. Selling the fungal biomass in the human food market resulted in 5.56 times higher NPV (net present value) than the base case bioethanol plant after 20 years. Integration of a low-performing strain towards ethanol, followed by the usage of the fungal biomass in the food sector, was found to be the most resistant scenario to the low ethanol selling price and increasing grain price. This study showed that the competitiveness of ethanol plants in the fuel market could be reinforced while meeting the increasing demand for protein sources.
Keywords: bioethanol process; grains: filamentous fungi; feed; food; thin stillage bioethanol process; grains: filamentous fungi; feed; food; thin stillage

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MDPI and ACS Style

Bulkan, G.; Ferreira, J.A.; Rajendran, K.; Taherzadeh, M.J. Techno-Economic Analysis of Bioethanol Plant By-Product Valorization: Exploring Market Opportunities with Protein-Rich Fungal Biomass Production. Fermentation 2020, 6, 99. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation6040099

AMA Style

Bulkan G, Ferreira JA, Rajendran K, Taherzadeh MJ. Techno-Economic Analysis of Bioethanol Plant By-Product Valorization: Exploring Market Opportunities with Protein-Rich Fungal Biomass Production. Fermentation. 2020; 6(4):99. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation6040099

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bulkan, Gülru, Jorge A. Ferreira, Karthik Rajendran, and Mohammad J. Taherzadeh. 2020. "Techno-Economic Analysis of Bioethanol Plant By-Product Valorization: Exploring Market Opportunities with Protein-Rich Fungal Biomass Production" Fermentation 6, no. 4: 99. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation6040099

APA Style

Bulkan, G., Ferreira, J. A., Rajendran, K., & Taherzadeh, M. J. (2020). Techno-Economic Analysis of Bioethanol Plant By-Product Valorization: Exploring Market Opportunities with Protein-Rich Fungal Biomass Production. Fermentation, 6(4), 99. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation6040099

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