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Abstract

Brewers’ spent grain (BSG) and palm kernel meal (PKM) can be used to integrate protein extraction and ethanol production into a conceptual biorefinery process. The conceptual procedure is intended for an industrial-scale biorefinery that annually processes 8000 production hours of 20 kt dry weight BSG and 50 kt dry weight PKM for techno-economic performance analysis.

The techno-financial investigation showed that the biorefinery of BSG has a high monetary potential with an inside pace of return of 24 %. However, the PKM biorefinery maintains a positive internal rate of return of 12% despite the high costs of raw materials [1].

By combining the production of a valuable product, like protein powder for food applications, with the production of biofuel, like ethanol, from the remaining biomass, the presented virtual biorefinery demonstrated the economic potential of valorizing a larger portion of the biomass at the same cost of raw materials.