Techno-economic sensitivity assessment for supercritical CO2 extraction of lycopene from tomato processing waste

Natural lycopene is in demand by food and drug industries, and tomato processing waste (TPW) holds promise as a valuable source. Previous research investigated supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) from TPW in a technoeconomic context, but lacks understanding of how technical and economic factors impact profitability. This study fills the gap by establishing a hierarchy of significance for factors affecting SFE profitability. The investigation encompasses various parameters such as static and dynamic extraction times, extractor volume, CO2 loss, project lifetime, interest rate, corporate tax rate, operator salary, cost of SFE equipment, and prices of CO2, electricity, and extract oil. The parameter boundaries are defined using well-sourced data from relevant literature. Our findings highlight that the SFE facility becomes profitable when the extractor capacity surpasses 42 L. The most influential factors on NPV include the price of the extract, the interest rate, the dynamic time of SFE, and the project lifetime.