RESEARCH ARTICLE

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 35 (4) December 2023, p. 682-693

ECONOMICAL STUDY OF BIO-BASED POLYBUTYLENE SUCCINATE PRODUCTION FROM OIL PALM BIOMASS

ROHANI ARPA1; ABDULLAH AMRU INDERA LUTHFI1,2*; NURUL ADELA BUKHARI3; JIAN PING TAN4; SAFA SENAN MAHMOD2 and MUHAMMAD ZULHAZIMAN MAT SALLEH1,2

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2023.0001
Received: 27 July 2022   Accepted: 7 November 2022;   Published Online: 18 January 2023
ABSTRACT

This work demonstrates the economic feasibility of the production of bio-polybutylene succinate (bio-PBS) with 99.69% purity. Based on an extensive literature review, bio-succinic acid (bio-SA) was produced via fermentation from oil palm fronds (OPF), which was then purified via vacuum filtration, evaporated, crystallised and dried to attain 99.27% purity. The purified bio-SA was then hydrogenated to produce 1,4-butanediol (BDO), prior to polymerisation with bio-SA to produce bio-PBS via esterification. The mass balance analysis performed with SuperPro Designer® showed a negligible error. The proposed design gained profit in a short period of time based on 24.14% internal rate of return (IRR), 6.33 years dynamic payback period (DPP) and RM3366.31 million net present value (NPV). Direct comparison between simulation data and manual calculations showed <25.00% difference, which proved the dependability of the simulation results. Sensitivity analysis predicted that an increment in either bio-PBS’s production rate or bio-PBS and by-products pricing can increase the value of NPV and IRR. However, the increment in raw material price and fixed capital investment (CFCI) can lower their values. Collectively, the results highlighted the feasibility of this process on a large scale as it has the potential to generate revenues, ultimately resulting in a sustainable bioplastic industry for packaging applications.

KEYWORDS:


1 Department of Chemical and Process Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

2 Research Centre for Sustainable Process Technology (CESPRO),
Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

3 Malaysian Palm Oil Board,
6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi,
43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.

4 School of Energy and Chemical Engineering,
Xiamen University Malaysia, Jalan Sunsuria,
Bandar Sunsuria, 43900 Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia.

* Corresponding author e-mail: amru@ukm.edu.my