EH2207B

DESIGN PROJECT I (JANUARY 2019)

PRODUCTION OF 10, 000 METRIC TONNE OF POLYHYDROXYALKANOATE

PER YEAR

CHAPTER 1: PROCESS BACKGROUND

GROUP MEMBERS

MUHAMMAD HAZIM BIN HAMIDON 2016250336

NUR SYAFIKA BINTI ABDUL RAZIFF 2016250378
NUR IZIANI BINTI ADBUL RAZAK 2015429678
NUR AFIQAH BINTI MOHAMAD ISKANDAR 2015283166
TG DARWINA IRFANI BT TG KAMARULZAMAN 2015664292
FELLICIA MURING LABO 2016250468

SUPERVISOR:
MADAM UMMI KALTHUM IBRAHIM

FACULTY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
SHAH ALAM
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE
CHAPTER 1 PROCESS BACKGROUND

1.1 Process Background of Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)

1.1.1 Introduction 1
1.1.2 Properties of PHA 3
1.1.3 Application of PHA 3
1.2 Process Selection
1.2.1 Wheat-based feedstock 4
1.2.2 Escherichia Coli (E. coli) as a Glucose 5
1.2.3 Glycerol as Carbon source 6
1.2.4 Screening Method 8
1.3 Process Flow Diagram (PFD) of PHA 9
1.4 Process Details 12
1.5 Supply and Demand
1.5.1 Raw Materials Price in Malaysian Ringgit 17
1.5.2 Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) Global Demand 18
1.5.3 Global Bioplastic Demand by Regional 19
1.6 Break Even Analysis 20
Conclusion 27
References 28
1.1 PROCESS BACKGROUND OF POLYHYDROXYALKANOATES (PHA)
1.1.1 Introduction
Polyhydroxyalkanoate can be described as biodegradable or biocompatible
thermoplastics. Bacteria as a material of intra-cellular storage that contains a large
amount of carbon and energy were used in the production of PHA. As a result, PHA
has a structure of ester linkage (Raza et al., 2018). Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) also
can be produced by accumulation by bacteria. These bacteria using carbon and energy
as source in order under nutrient-limiting condition to synthesize PHA. It also stated
that PHA can be called as linear polyester(Mata Álvarez & Cercós, 2015). PHA has
diverse physical and chemical properties that also classify it as biodegradable in nature
and make it compatible to living systems. The general formula for
polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) is shown in Figure 1.1 below.

Figure 1.1: General Formula for PHA (Anjum et al., 2016)

PHA can be classified into three types which are scl-PHA, mcl-PHA and lcl-
PHA (Biotechnology et al., 2016). Scl-PHA or short chain length PHA is a PHA with
3 to 5 carbon atom while mcl-PHA or medium chain length PHA is a PHA with 6 to 14
carbon atom. For lch-PHA or long chain length PHA can be described as PHA with
more than 14 carbon atoms. Scl-PHA can be produced by using bacteria such as
Cupriavidusnecator or Alcaligeneslatus. For mcl-PHA, it can be produced by using
Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas mendocina as the bacteria to synthesize PHA.
Bacteria such as Shewanellaoneidensis and Aureispira marina can be used to
synthesize lcl-PHA. Figure 1.2 below shows the structures of PHA for short chain
length and medium chain length.
 Figure 1.2: Structure for scl-PHA and mcl-PHA (Raza et al., 2018)

There are many types of bacteria that can be used in order to synthesize PHA. Table
1.1 below show the types of bacteria used in the production of PHA.

Table 1.1. Type of Bacteria in Production of PHA (Nielsen, 2018)

Types of PHA Bacteria
PHV and mcl-PHB Thermus
thermophiles
Polyhydroxybutyrate(PHB) Cupriavidus
necator
Polyhydroxybutyrate-co- Haloferax
hydroxyvalerate(PHBV) mediterranei
Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) Azotobacter
chroococcum
mcl-PHA Psuedomonas
species
PHA Saccharophagus
Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) Bacillus
megaterium
1.1.2 Properties of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)
The properties of PHA are almost the same with polyethylene and
polypropylene. This makes PHA can be used in a variety of application. First, PHA is
brittle, flexible and elastics. By depending on the composition of the monomer, it allows
PHA to be used in many applications (Sharma et al., n.d.). Medium chain length PHA
(mcl-PHA) are flexible, elastic, low crystallinity, low tensile strength and high
elongation-to-break ratios. Compared to short chain length PHAs, mcl-PHA has lower
melting temperature, lower glass transition temperature but a higher elongation-to-
break ratios.
PHA also can be substitutes to non-degradable plastics petroleum-based
plastics. This mainly because PHA is biodegradable and it can be produced by using a
renewable source (Bureau, 2011). Table 1.2 below show the type of PHA and its
properties.

Table 1.2. Types of PHAs and its Properties (Álvarez & Cercós, 2015).
Parameter PHB PHBV PHB4B PHBHx
Melting temperature, oC 177 145 150 127
Glass Transition
2 -1 -7 -10
Temperature, oC
Crystallinity, % 60 56 45 34
Tensile strength, MPa 43 20 26 21
Extension to break, % 5 50 444 400

1.1.3 Application of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)

PHAs can be chosen as a suitable biopolymer to be used in many ways from
household, textile, packaging, foods and also biomedical field due the flexibility of
PHA. Paper coatings, containers and other packaging materials also some of the
application in the industry that used PHA. Nowadays, it has been shown that mcl-PHA
can be used in the coating and also medical industry as a scaffolding for the regeneration
of arteries and nerve axons (Mohanrasru et al., 2017). In pharmaceuticals,
polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) which are one of the PHA is used due to the
biocompatibility and biodegradable properties. PHB is used in slow released carrier for
lasting drug delivery. PHB also was used in the tablet packaging material in the
pharmaceuticals industry.
1.2 PROCESS SELECTION
1.2.1 Wheat-Based Feedstock
In Malaysia, wheat is import from other country in huge quantities and high
demands. Then, it is easy to come out with the raw material. Before use the wheat needs
to be processed to produce feedstock. The process starts with the extraction of the wheat
from the storage tank, the wheat is then milled in a hammer mill and 3 product streams
are generated which are whole wheat flour, fermentation feedstock and pearling. So, it
required more equipment and high costing. The process getting the feedstock is tidies
as we need to control the input stream to not add at the same time as they have different
temperature. For example, in Figure 1.3, the resulting stream from the gelatinization
and dextrinization unit is directed to combined flour hydrolysis and fungal autolysis
tank. This process needs to maintain in 55oC to have successful conversion to a carbon
and nitrogen. The problem happened when the concentration of FAN is decreased
significantly when exposed to temperature above 55oC causing the fungal autolysis and
flour hydrolysis cannot begin together.

Figure 1.3: Process Flow Diagram for PHA production using wheat-based feedstock
(Alnajeebi, 2011)
 In the end of the process, the feedstock stream has a volumetric flow rate of
8m3/h. Many steps that need to undergo to have the wheat as feedstock and to be use in
process in PHB production. The proposed production process yields 4760 tonnes of
PHB year after recovery. This yield requires 23,000 tonnes per year of wheat as the raw
material. The purity of the PHB using wheat-based feedstock is 97.9%. In 2010, the
total operating cost has been determined $71,812,411.25 per year (Leong, 2017).

1.2.2 Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) as a Glucose

The production of PHB using E-Coli as raw material have some advantages
over other bacterial are easier PHA recovery due to cell fragility and huge granule size,
also higher growth rates and PHA production levels. In addition, it has more extensive
research experience and a greater range of tools such as plasmids for genetic
engineering. Then nutrient limitation is not required; hence process control is easier. In
this process, there are five main sections which are feed pre-treatment, fermentation,
homogenization, centrifugation, and drying. In order to lower the equipment cost, two
fermenters operate in parallel and several storage tanks are used.

Figure 1.4: PFD for the PHA production using glucose as feed (Alnajeebi, 2011)
 In Figure 1.4, we can see the arrangement of all the equipment used. This PFD
contains five main sections which are feed pre-treatment, fermentation,
homogenization, centrifugation, and drying. Two fermenters operate in parallel and
several storage tanks are used in order to reduce the equipment cost. All other process
is identical for PHB and PHBV except the fermentation. The uses of propanoic acid
will reduced the cell yield and PHA percentage and PHBV will be costlier than PHB.
So, using this process will increase the cost that need to work on more production and
less capital cost (Leong, 2017)
The purity that has been getting after the process is 90 %. The total operating
cost for this process is $19,700,000 in 1995. Every year, the production reaches 4300
tonnes of PHA.

1.2.3 Glycerol as Carbon source

Glycerol is seen in biological systems as an intermediate in carbohydrate and
lipid metabolism because surplus carbohydrate can be converted into long chain fatty
acids and esterifies with the three hydroxyl groups. Glycerol can be used as a carbon
source to obtain other valuable microbial product such as PHB. The glycerol
productions are not giving any harm in produce it. Culture broth was collected in the
holding tank was transferred to the thermoseparation tank for thermoseparating ATPE
to take place at 60oC for 15 minutes residence time. The PHAs after thermoseparation
achieved a purification factor of 1.42.
Based on results of the previous work 95% of thermoseparating polymer was
assumed to thermoseparate to the bottom phase which makes up approximately 60
wt/wt% of bottom phase with the remainder being mostly water. Afterward, the bottom
phase was sent for wastewater treatment, while the top phase consisted of mostly water,
and the PHAs product was transferred to a centrifuge to separate PHAs from aqueous
solution. Centrifugation also removes soluble cellular materials (especially nucleic
acids) to improve the efficiency of subsequent downstream processing and reduce the
viscosity of process fluid .Following that, surfactant solution (10% w/v) was added to
the outflow of aqueous solution from centrifuge with surfactant-to-biomass ratio 1:3
and mixed at 55oC for 15 min of mean residence time to obtain recovery yield of 86.6%
and purity of 98% .
PHAs were then separated from the aqueous solution containing dissolved
NPCM by centrifugation. The PHAs were then cleaned with 30% wt/v sodium
hypochlorite solution to achieve purity of 99% with a yield of 95%. After
centrifugation, the PHAs granules were then washed with an equal volume of water and
were finally spray-dried using continuous spray drying system to obtain PHAs products
of 99.9 wt/wt % purity. The PHAs recovery strategy of surfactant–hypochlorite was
employed in this study as it was demonstrated to be more economical and
environmental-friendly than the others. To reduce the equipment cost and optimize the
operating cost, the sizes of the process unit in the isolation and recovery operations
were adjusted so that the entire recovery process could be operated in 54 hours.
In this process using glycerol, the percentage of the purity is 95 %. In 2016,
$51,726,931 had archived in this process and the production rate is 9000 tonnes/year
(Leong, 2017) Figure 1.5 below shows the process flow of the production of PHA
described in this section.

Figure 1.5: Process flow diagram using Glycerol as feed in PHA production ( (Leong,
2017)
1.2.4 Screening Method

Table 1.3: Screening method based on factors and different type of basis
WHEAT
FACTOR BASED GLUCOSE GLYCEROL (AS
BASIS FEEDSTOC (E-COLI) CARBON SOURCE)
K

Substrate 1 2 3

Purity 1 2 3

Production (yield) 3 1 2

Production cost (per year) 1 2 3

Production rate 2 1 3

Total 8 8 14

Legend 1 – POOR 2 – FAIR 3 – GOOD

The criteria that have been issued in screening are source of substrate,
percentage of purity, yield of the production, production cost in year and the rate of the
production in tonnes per year. The score given based on the range 1 to 3. Score 1means
that the criteria do not meet the requirement or poor. 2 is an average score and 3 is the
highest score that can be given in this screening method which it means that if the
criteria given 3 score, then it is the best to be select.
Based on the weightage study and the screening method done, the process using
glycerol as raw material portrays the highest value of 14 compared to wheat-based
feedstock and glucose that use E. Coli. The score of the glycerol mostly 3 for the criteria
that being considered in this screening method. It means that glycerol is the best choice.
Thus, the process using glycerol as raw material was selected as the basis to produce
PHA.
1.3 PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM (PFD) OF POLYHYDROXYALKANOATES (PHA)

Commercial production of PHA is represented by the whole fermentation

process, including the downstream process to obtain granules of the PHA as the
product. In the fermentative production of PHA by Cupriavidus Necator H16
(Kongpeng, Iewkittayakorn, & Chotigeat, 2017), a mineral medium containing nutrient
rich medium (yeast extract, peptone and meat extract), Na2HPO4, KH2PO4.12H2O,
MgSO.7H2O, urea and trace element solution is required for cellular growth in addition
to carbon source (glycerol). The culture was aerobically grown for 22-24h at 30°C and
at pH values of 7 (Kongpeng et al., 2017). Heat generated by aerobic oxidation is cooled
by a cooling water to keep the culture medium at a constant temperature (30°C).
In the downstream process, the PHA granules in the cells are removed out by
thermoseparation coupled with surfactant-hypochlorite digestion. The cells and the
PHA granules are separated from the respective liquid phases through centrifugation.
The PHA granules are finally dried by a spray dryer to obtain the product. In order to
produce PHA commercially, we have come out with a process flow diagram which is
shown in Figure 1.6.
P-1/ST-101 P-5/T-101 P- P-6/AF- P-16/DS-104 P-3/SFR-101 P-15/V- P-4/FR-101 P-8/HX- P-14/DS-103 P-10/DS-101 P-11/V-
Heat Gas 17/SDR- 101 Centrifugation Seed 103 Fermentation 101 Centrifugation Centrifugation 102
Sterilization Compression 101 Air Fermentation Blending/ Heating Blending/
Spray Filtration Storage P-12/DS-102 Storage
Drying Centrifugation

S-111
S-112

Cupriavidus Necator H16

NaOH

S-103
Culture medium
P-3 / SFR-101
S-101 Seed Fermentation

S-110
P-1 / ST-101 S-102
P-2 / FSP-101
Heat Sterilization S-117 SDS S-120
Flow Splitting S-104 S-108

S-119

S-116
S-118

S-115
S-114
Air P-9 / V-101 P-10 / DS-101
S-105 S-107 P-11 / V-102
S-106 P-6 / AF-101 Decanting Centrif ugation
P-7 / FSP-102 S-109 P-4 / FR-101 S-113 P-8 / HX-101
Blending / Storage
Air Filtration Flow Splitting Fermentation Heating
P-5 / T-101
Gas Expansion S-121

S-129
S-134
S-127 S-126 S-122
S-132 S-131 S-125
S-130

PHA S-128 S-123

P-14 / DS-103 P-12 / DS-102
P-17 / SDR-101 S-133 P-15 / V-103
P-16 / DS-104 P-13 / MX-103
Centrif ugation Centrif ugation
Spray Drying Blending / Storage
Centrif ugation Mixing S-124
Steam

NaOCl

Figure 1.6: Process Flow Diagram (PFD) of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production

 Table 1.4: Equipment Condition
Equipment Temperature (oC) Pressure Phase
In Out (bar) In Out
Heat sterilization In: 25 30 1 liquid liquid
(ST-101) Operating:
121
Seed Fermenter 30 30 1 liquid liquid
(SFR-101)
Fermenter (FR- 30 30 1 liquid liquid
101)
Heater (HX-101) 30 60 liquid liquid
Decanter (V-101) 30 30 1 liquid solid and
liquid
Blending/Storage 30 30 1 liquid liquid
(V-102)
Blending/Storage 30 30 1 liquid liquid
(V-103)
Centrifuge (DS- 30 30 1 liquid solid and
101) liquid
Centrifuge (DS- 30 30 1 liquid Solid
102) and
liquid
Centrifuge (DS- 30 30 1 liquid Solid
103) and
liquid
Centrifuge (DS- 30 30 1 liquid Solid
104) and
liquid
Spray Dryer (SDR- 30 30 1 liquid Solid
101)
1.4 PROCESS DETAILS

Generally, the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) is a biological

process where it involves living cells in the process. The process starts by culturing the medium
and the cultured medium will flow out from the stream S-101 into the heat sterilizer, ST-101.
Medium sterilization is used almost universally for the sterilization of fermentation media. The
main purpose of this process is to eliminate any possibility of contamination by other
microorganism. The destruction of microorganism by steam may be described as a first order
chemical reaction and, thus, may be represented by the following equation:
- dN / dt = kN
where N is number of viable organism present, t is time of sterilization treatment and k is the
reaction rate constant or specific death rate. Integration of the equation above will give
following expression:
Nt / No = e-kt
ln Nt / No = -kt

where Nt is the number of viable organism present after a treatment period, t and No is defined
as the initial number of viable organisms present.
In this particular proposal, the sterilization process is done using hot steam to give a
rise of temperature to 60oC within a short duration (15 minutes). The process of sterilization is
summarized into the steps shown below:

1. Culture medium is heat from ambient temperature, 30oC to 60oC.

2. Culture medium is then cooled to 30oC by cooling water.
3. Last but not the least, the temperature of fermenter will be maintained at 30oC along the
fermentation process for optimal cell growth and production rate.

Next, the sterilized medium will enter the seed fermenter, SFR-101 together with NaOH
and Cupriavidus Necator H16. The inlet temperature of the seed fermenter is at 30oC and in
liquid phase. The process in the seed fermenter take place at 1 bar and the outlet temperature
is at 30oC.
Seed fermenter is a pre-column for microorganism to grow and to colonize before
entering the main fermenter. Inoculum refers to the materials used to introduce a
microorganism into a suitable situation for growth. The role of inoculum in the successful
execution of large-scale fermentation is crucial. The important criterions for a satisfactory
inoculum are:

⚫ The inoculum must be healthy and active so that the duration of the lag phase in the
subsequent fermentation is minimized.

⚫ It must be available in sufficiently large volumes to provide an inoculum of optimum size

(3 – 10% of the medium volume).

⚫ The inoculum must be in a suitable morphological form.

⚫ It must be free of contamination.

⚫ The inoculum must retain its product-forming capabilities.

The inoculum size for bacterial fermentations ranges between 3 and 10 percent of the
main culture volume. Here, we take the volume of inoculum as 10 % from the main fermenter
volume and it will take 22-24 hours to complete the seed fermentation. The calculation of
material balance for seed fermenter has done according to this ratio. Subsequently, we can
determine the amount of Cupriavidus Necator H16 needed from the material balances.

Then the outlet stream of seed fermenter, S-110 will enter the main fermenter, FR-101.
In this project of PHA production, a conventional batch fermenter is used. Batch fermentation
process was chosen due to the moderate production rate of our plant (10 000MTA). A batch
process is more that enough to support the PHA production rate. Production of PHA involves
an aerobic fermentation process. Cupriavidus Necator H16 are preferable in aerobic
environment to produce PHA commercially.

The culture medium used contains Nutrient Rich medium (yeast extract, peptone and
meat extract) Na2HPO4, KH2PO4.12H2O, MgSO.7H2O, urea and trace element solution as well
as glycerol which acts as a carbon source. In main fermenter, the culture was aerobically grown
for 22-24h at 30°C and at pH value of 7.0. In order to facilitate the manual calculation, we use
the values yield obtained from literature.

After the fermentation process, the outlet stream, S-113, will be feed into the heater
(HX-100). The heater is used to increase the process temperature from 30°C to 60°C. Then the
outlet stream from the heater, S-114 will enter the decanter, V-101.
 There are two-phase solution leaving decanter. Decanter is chosen among all the types
of separator available (such as distillation column and flash tank) due to the unique physical
condition of the stream, i.e. two layers of liquids with different density exist in the stream. In
general, for the separation of heterogeneous mixtures, 4 principal methods are considered. They
are settling and sedimentation, flotation, centrifugal separation and filtration. In this case,
settling is preferred. Thus, a gravity settler or decanter is chosen. Compared to other types of
separation, decanter is very economic, simple and relatively efficient. In our PHA plant,
decanter operates at atmospheric conditions. Decanter works based on the density difference
where heavy phase is separated from light phase (water). Biomass and cells coming out from
decanter is then sent for centrifugation. The inlet temperature of the decanter is the same as the
outlet temperature which is 30°C. The decanter operates at 1 bar and the outlet process steam,
S-115 and S-116 are in solid and liquid phase.

Next, stream S-116 will enter centrifuge (DS-101). This is a technique used for large-
scale cell harvesting. Centrifugation is used to isolate solids from liquids or to isolate one liquid
from another. Centrifugation produces a paste and often it yields only a more concentrated
suspension. Centrifugation has advantages for large and dense microorganisms (diameter > 2
m and density > 1.03 g/cm3). For instance, centrifugation is very efficient for harvesting yeast.
Cell loss during centrifugation is typically 1 to 5%.

In this design project, we use centrifuge as our first downstream-processing unit.

Centrifuge has the advantage of simplicity, low capital cost and flexibility. The main objective
of this device is to remove biomass and other solids, which are the undesired product in PHA
production. Cupriavidus Necator H16 is classified as Betaproteobacteria. It is gram-negative
bacteria. Cupriavidus Necator H16 accumulates PHA as insoluble inclusions in the cytoplasm
for storage of carbon and energy.

The product stream, S-118, will further enter the blending and storage tank, V-102 and
then the outlet stream, S-121, enters the second centrifuge (DS-102). This is to further separate
solids from liquids and to isolate one liquid from another. This centrifuge operates at 30oC and
1 bar. The outlet stream (S-123) then enters the mixer (MX-103).

Once the PHA granules are separated from the aqueous solution containing NPCM by
centrifugation, the solution is mix with sodium hypochlorite solution. The PHA granules were
cleaned with 30% wt/v sodium hypochlorite solution to achieve purity of 99% with yield of
95% (Kit, Pau, & Show, 2017).
 After mixing with sodium hypochlorite solution, the PHA granules were then washes
with an equal volume of water. The outlet stream from mixer, S-125, enters the centrifuge (DS-
103) at 30oC and 1 bar. The outlet stream (S-127) then enters the second blending and storage
tank (v-103) at the same temperature and pressure which is at 30oC and 1 bar. Then outlet
stream S-130 enters the fourth centrifuge (DS-104) before undergoing final process in the
production of PHA.

Finally, outlet stream (S-132) from the centrifuge enters spray dryer, SDR-101, for the
final process. The removal of solvent from purified wet product is usually achieved by drying.
In selecting drying conditions, the physical properties of the product, its heat sensitivity, and
the desirable final moisture content must be considered. The parameter affecting drying can be
classified into four categories which are physical properties of the solid liquid system, intrinsic
properties of the solute, conditions of the drying of the drying environment and heat transfer
parameters.

Biomass normally has a limit to the time and temperature to which it can be exposed
without creating unacceptable decomposition. The choice is thus between long drying times at
lower temperatures or brief exposure to more severe conditions. The normal choice is driers
with a short exposure time are typically, flash, drum or spray driers. To be efficient, spray
driers need to operate with a high temperature drop in the drying air feed; a hot air inlet
temperature of 115oC appears practicable. Freeze dryers are also used for products that degrade
at high temperatures. However, freeze dryers require high capital expenditures and should be
avoided if possible.

In this project, we select spray dryer over the other types of driers based on the exclusive
features of spray dryer include:

⚫ Reduced running cost

⚫ No product degradation or charring
⚫ Free flowing powder is assumed
⚫ Drying & particle formation in one process
⚫ High volume processing
⚫ Spray drying produces relatively uniform, spherical particles with nearly the same
proportion of nonvolatile compounds as in the liquid feed.
 Liquid solution (PHA in NaOCl) is dried by steam at 115oC for 45 minutes to constant
weight in spray dryer. A spray dryer, as the name implies, is a device for drying, utilizing a
spray. Indirect dryers transfer heat by indirect contact of the product with the hot air or gases.
Heat transfer from steam is using to accomplish evaporation and produce a free flowing dry
powder. Spray dryers employ atomization and spraying of product solution through a nozzle.
Hot gas inside the coil provides the necessary heat for evaporation of the liquid. The unit
operation of spray drying includes the following key components:

⚫ A method for atomizing a solution or slurry

⚫ An air/gas heater, or a source of hot air
⚫ A gas/spray mixing chamber with adequate residence time and droplet trajectory distance
for achieving the heat and mass transfer
⚫ A means for recovering the solids from the gas stream

During drying process, NaOCl and water will be evaporated, leaving PHA in dry
powder form. NaOCl and water vapor coming out from dryer shall subject to waste treatment.
1.5 SUPPLY AND DEMAND
1.5.1 Raw Materials Price in Malaysian Ringgit
The raw materials used in the PHA production plant were:
- Glycerol
- Water
- Poly (ethylene glycol-ran-propylene glycol) monobutyl ether Mr-3900
(EO50PO50) known as EOPO 3900
- Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl)
- Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS)
- Air (oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen)

But for this production plant, we only buy glycerol, EOPO 3900, NaOCl, SDS,
oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen from supplier. The price of the raw materials that
we bought was calculated and the price had been tabulated in the Table xx below:

Table 1.5: Price of raw materials in Ringgit Malaysia per tonne

Raw Material Phase Price (RM/Tonne)

Glycerol Liquid 3540.00
EOPO 3900 Liquid 5980.00
NaOCl Liquid 5844.00
SDS Liquid 4570.00
Oxygen Gas 1.20
Carbon Dioxide Gas 1083.00
Nitrogen Gas 2.40
1.5.2 Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) Global Demand

Figure 1.7: Global bioplastic packaging market by product type in 2017 ( (Pira, 2018)

Figure 1.7 above shows a pie chart showing the global bioplastic packaging
market by product type in 2017. The chart represents the bioplastic used in term of
percentage. As shown in the chart, we can see that the percentage of PHA used in the
global market as bioplastic is 1.4%. The percentage is calculated based on the market
demand of PHA and other bioplastics such as PLA, starch, cellulose and moulded fibre
throughout the year of 2017. In 2017, the most common used bioplastic was PLA which
gave the percentage of 42.5%. Smithers Pira (2018) expects flexible packaging to take
a growing share of the bioplastic packaging market over the next five to ten years and
demand will be driven by the commercialisation of bio-derived PE and PHA, and the
wider availability and improved properties for biaxially oriented PLA (BOPLA) film.
1.5.3 Global Bioplastic Demand in Asia

Figure 1.8: Global Bioplastic Demand by Regional (Gill, 2018)

Figure 1.8 above shows the chart of the global bioplastic demand by regional
in 2011 and 2016. The chart shows the the percentage of bioplastic demand in Asia,
South America, Europe, North America and Australia. The chart at the left shows the
percentage of demand in 2011 and the right chart represent the demand of bioplastic in
the year 2016. PHA was categorized as bioplastic, thus the percentage of the chart also
includes the demand of PHA as bioplastic. In 2011, the percentage of bioplastic demand
in Asia was 34.6% which was the highest demand among the regions. The 34.6% was
calculated and gave around 1,161,200 ton in capacity of the bioplastic for that year. As
in 2016, once again the percentage of bioplastic demand was the highest in Asia which
gave the percentage of 46.3%. 46.3% was about 5,778,500 ton of bioplastic demand in
2016. As we can see, the demand of bioplastic, especially in Asia was increasing
significantly by 37.8% from 2011 to 2016. This shows that, in Asia, bioplastic was
being used at larger volume compared to other region in the world. The used of
bioplastic was expected to keep increasing in future because of the characteristic of the
bioplastic that is environmental friendly and biodegradable (Gill, 2018).
1.6 BREAK EVEN ANALYSIS

Price of raw material

Glycerol= RM3540/tonne
Oxygen= RM1.2/tonne
Hypochlorite Solution=RM 5844/tonne
Surfactant= Rm4570/tonne

Utilities
Water= RM 2.07/m3
Electricity = RM 0.36/kWh (peak period) or RM 0.22/kWh (off-peak period)

Operating Labor
NOL= [6.29+31.7P0.1+0.23Nnp ]0.5
Nnp =∑ Equipment
Compressor
Towers
Reactor
Heater
Exchanger

Table 1.6: Results for estimation of operating labor

Equipment Type Number of Equipment 𝑁𝑛𝑝

Compressor 0 0
Exchangers 3 3
Heaters/Furnace 0 0
Pumps 0 -
Reactors 1 1
Towers 0 0
Vessels 4 -
Total 4
 The value of 𝑁𝑂𝐿 is the number of operators required to run the process unit per
shift. A single operator works on the average 47 weeks (5 weeks off for vacation and
sick leave) a year, 8-hour shifts a week. This amounts to:

47 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑠 5 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑠 235 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑠

× =
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟

The chemical plant operates 24 hours/day thus requires;

No. of shift per year= 2 shift/day × 365 days/year =730 shift/year

The number of operators needed to provide the number of shifts is:

730 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡/𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
= 3.10 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟
𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡
235 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 . 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟

Therefore;

𝑁𝑂𝐿 = [6.29 + 00.1 + 0.23(4)]0.5

= 2.69

The number of labor required per shift = 2.69 × 3.10

= 8 person per shift

Number of labor : 8 person/shift × 2 shift

=16 person

Labor cost in Malaysia = RM24,000/year

Total labor cost = RM432,000/year

(Trading Economic,2018)
Bare Module Cost

Table 1.7: Equipment Cost

Equipment Unit Cost/Unit (RM) Total Cost (RM)

Bioreactor 1 1,292,133.15 1,292,133.15
Seed Fermenter 1 1,077,676.38 1,077,676.38
Blending/Storage 3 3,326,603.25 9,979,809.75
Heat Exchanger 1 84,204 84,204
Decanter 1 499,552.48 499,552.48
Centrifuge 4 901,360.54 3,605,442.16
Compressor 2 385,553.58 771,107.16
Spray Dryer 1 207,400.03 207,400.03
Mixer 1 1,555,915.05 1,555,915.05
Heat Sterilizer 1 207,510.00 207,510.00
Total Equipment
19,280,750.16
Cost, Ce

Contingency & Fee Cost (3%)

Total Bare Module Cost × 0.03 = RM 578,422.50

Total Module Cost, TMC = Total Bare Module Cost + 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑒𝑒

= RM 19,859,172.66

Auxiliary Facilities (20%)

Bare module cost x 0.2 = RM3,856,150.03

Grassroot Cost (GRC) = TMC + Auxiliary Facilities

= RM 23,715,322.69
 Table 1.8: Total Production Cost

Cost (RM)
Direct Manufacturing Cost Specification
Annually
Raw Material 13,955,200
Waste Treatment 507,276
Utilities 8,896,528.48
Operating Labor 432,000
Purchased Equipment
10% GRC 2,371,532.27
Installation
Piping System Installation 10% GRC 2,371,532.27
Instrumentation and Control 5% GRC 1,185,766.14
Electrical and Material
2% GRC 474,306.45
Installation
Building 5% GRC 1,185,766.14
Yard Improvement 1.5% GRC 355,729.84
Land 1.5% GRC 355,729.84
Service Facilities 1% GRC 237,153.23
Total Direct Manufacturing Cost = 32,328,520.66
Indirect Manufacturing Cost
Contingency 5% GRC 1,185,766.14
Construction Expenses
3% GRC 711459.68

Engineering and Supervision

1% GRC 237,153.23

Contractor’s Fee
1% GRC 237,153.23

Total Indirect Manufacturing Cost = 2,372,132.28

Total Cost = Total Direct Cost + Total Indirect Cost

= RM 32,328,520.66 + RM 2,372,132.28

= RM 34,700652.94

Fix Capital Investment (FCI) = Total Cost + Grassroot Cost (GRC)

= RM 34,700652.94 + RM 23,715,322.69

= RM 58,415,975.63

Working Capital = 10% × FCI

= 10% × RM 58,415,975.63

= RM 5,841,597.56

Startup Cost = 7% × FCI

= 7% × RM 58,415,975.63

= RM 4,089,118.29

Total Capital Investment = FCI + Working Capital + Startup Cost

= RM 58,415,975.63 + RM 5,841,597.56 +

RM 4,089,118.29

= RM 68,346,691.48
 Table 1.9: Break Even Analysis

Fixed operating
Unit cost Total variable cost Total cost Revenue Profit

-
0 20745452.94 20745452.94 20745452.94 0 20745452.94

10000 20745452.94 34700652.94 55446105.88 89619000 341728994.1

20000 20745452.94 69401305.88 90146758.82 179238000 89091241.18

30000 20745452.94 104101958.8 124847411.7 268857000 144009588.3

40000 20745452.94 138802611.7 159548064.6 358476000 198927935.4

50000 20745452.94 173503264.7 194248717.5 448095000 253846282.5

60000 20745452.94 208203917.6 228949370.4 537714000 308764629.6

70000 20745452.94 242904570.5 263650023.4 627333000 363682976.6

80000 20745452.94 277605223.5 298350676.3 716952000 418601323.7

90000 20745452.94 312305876.4 333051329.2 806571000 473519670.8

100000 20745452.94 347006529.3 367751982.1 896190000 528438017.9

 1E+09

900000000

800000000

700000000

600000000
Fixed Cost
RM

500000000 Total Cost

Total Revenue
400000000

300000000

200000000

100000000

0
0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000
UNIT

Figure 1.9: Break Even Analysis Graph

CONCLUSION

This chapter describes about the bioplastic to be produced which is

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a class of diverse
polyesters that are naturally produced by various bacteria. PHA have gained major
importance due to their structural diversity and close analogy to plastics. These are gaining
more and more importance around the world. Their biodegradability makes them extremely
desirable substitutes for synthetic plastics.
The raw material of the process was selected using the screening method. Based on the
weightage study and the screening method done, the process using glycerol as raw material
portrays the highest value of 14 compared to wheat-based feedstock and glucose that use
E. Coli. The score of the glycerol mostly 3 for the criteria that being considered in this
screening method. It means that glycerol is the best choice. Thus, the process using glycerol
as raw material was selected as the basis to produce PHA.
This chapter also provide the process flow diagram and also the details of the process,
including the equipment condition and the stream table. Commercial production of PHA is
represented by the whole fermentation process, including the downstream process to obtain
granules of the PHA as the product. In the downstream process, the PHA granules in the
cells are removed out by thermoseparation coupled with surfactant-hypochlorite digestion.
The cells and the PHA granules are separated from the respective liquid phases through
centrifugation. The PHA granules are finally dried by a spray dryer to obtain the product.
There was also section that discussed about the supply and demand of PHA in Asia and
globally. At the last subtopic in this chapter shows the calculation and graph of the break
even analysis.
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