An integrated biorefinery approach via material recycle/reuse networks for the extraction of value-added components from shrimp: Computer-aided simulation and environmental assessment

The cleaner production of value-added products from shrimp under biorefinery concept requires the application of mass integration techniques to conserve resources and reduce waste generation. This work aims to develop an integrated approach of shrimp biorefinery using rigorous graphical targeting approach for material recycle/reuse networks. The simulation of the integrated process and the environmental analysis are conducted using Aspen Plus (R) software and waste reduction (WAR) algorithm to evaluate technical and environmental performance. Targets for minimum fresh resources usage and minimum waste discharge for the network were calculated at 911.18 kg/h and 1546.68 kg/h, respectively. The integrated biorefinery has the capacity to process 469.22 kg/h of fresh shrimp while reducing 56.63% in fresh resources consumption compared with non-integrated approach. The chitin and chitosan production rates were increased up to 3.783 and 3.061 kg/h, respectively, by the material recovery in residual water recycle. The environmental study showed reductions in atmospheric and toxicological categories estimated at 7.8 and 3.48% for potential environmental impacts (PEI) output, while the impacts generated within the process reach values up to 3.51 and 7.97%. The highest impacts were observed for atmospheric categories, being the photochemical oxidation potential the larger contributor. The environmental friendliness of the proposed approach is confirmed by the negative values in PEI generation. The high freshwater savings reveal the potential benefits of incorporating recycle/reuse networks within shrimp valorization strategies for resources conservation. (C) 2021 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study aims to develop an integrated approach of shrimp biorefinery using mass integration techniques for resource conservation and waste reduction. The integrated biorefinery has the potential to reduce fresh resource consumption while increasing chitin and chitosan production rates through material recovery. Environmental analysis showed reductions in atmospheric and toxicological impacts, with the proposed approach confirming environmental friendliness and high freshwater savings.