Biological conversion of organic municipal solid waste to lactic acid : a techno-economic performance assessment study for commercialization

Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, Technology and Policy Program, 2017.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shin, Jieun, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Other Authors: Gregory Stephanopoulos.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/115031
_version_ 1826210574189461504
author Shin, Jieun, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author2 Gregory Stephanopoulos.
author_facet Gregory Stephanopoulos.
Shin, Jieun, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author_sort Shin, Jieun, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
collection MIT
description Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, Technology and Policy Program, 2017.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T14:51:48Z
format Thesis
id mit-1721.1/115031
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language eng
last_indexed 2024-09-23T14:51:48Z
publishDate 2018
publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/1150312022-01-31T21:25:04Z Biological conversion of organic municipal solid waste to lactic acid : a techno-economic performance assessment study for commercialization Shin, Jieun, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Gregory Stephanopoulos. Technology and Policy Program. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society Technology and Policy Program Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. Engineering Systems Division. Technology and Policy Program. Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, Technology and Policy Program, 2017. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 77-82). This thesis assesses the economic viability and commercial potential of a lab-scale microbial technology to produce lactic acid (LA), which was developed as a novel technology option for organic waste treatment. Among various available technologies for the separation and purification of LA, the method of esterification-hydrolysis with reactive distillation was selected for this assessment. The process from organic waste to high-purity LA was designed and modeled using Aspen Plus, from which material and energy balances, equipment costs, and utility costs were derived. An economic performance assessment model was developed to estimate capital and operating expenses as well as net present value (NPV), for evaluating the economic feasibility under various scenarios. Monte Carlo techniques were incorporated into the model to take into account the effect of identified uncertainties on the economic performance, which generates distribution profiles rather than single-value estimates. The baseline NPV for polymer-grade LA (99%) production was estimated to be USD 1.95 million in the U.S. and USD 1.31 million in India. Even though the estimated capital and operating expenses are much lower in India, the process was found to be less profitable than in the U.S. The main reason for this is because landfill tipping fees cannot be relied on as a stable revenue source in India. Moreover, two other applications, which this technology could be potentially commercialized for, were also evaluated using the developed models, and the economic performance of each application was compared. Finally, this thesis proposes a Technology Commercialization Assessment Matrix (TCAM), based on the results and insights gained from the assessment conducted. by Jieun Shin. S.M. in Technology and Policy 2018-04-27T18:10:49Z 2018-04-27T18:10:49Z 2017 2017 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/115031 1031850345 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 82 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Institute for Data, Systems, and Society.
Engineering Systems Division.
Technology and Policy Program.
Shin, Jieun, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Biological conversion of organic municipal solid waste to lactic acid : a techno-economic performance assessment study for commercialization
title Biological conversion of organic municipal solid waste to lactic acid : a techno-economic performance assessment study for commercialization
title_full Biological conversion of organic municipal solid waste to lactic acid : a techno-economic performance assessment study for commercialization
title_fullStr Biological conversion of organic municipal solid waste to lactic acid : a techno-economic performance assessment study for commercialization
title_full_unstemmed Biological conversion of organic municipal solid waste to lactic acid : a techno-economic performance assessment study for commercialization
title_short Biological conversion of organic municipal solid waste to lactic acid : a techno-economic performance assessment study for commercialization
title_sort biological conversion of organic municipal solid waste to lactic acid a techno economic performance assessment study for commercialization
topic Institute for Data, Systems, and Society.
Engineering Systems Division.
Technology and Policy Program.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/115031
work_keys_str_mv AT shinjieunsmmassachusettsinstituteoftechnology biologicalconversionoforganicmunicipalsolidwastetolacticacidatechnoeconomicperformanceassessmentstudyforcommercialization