Techno-economic evaluation of pulsed electric field technology in polyphenol extraction from red grape pomace
Farid Soltanipour, Francesco Donsı̀, Giovanna Ferrari
Abstract
This study presents a techno-economic analysis of incorporating Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) technology as a pretreatment in Solid-Liquid Extraction (SLE) process to recover polyphenols from red grape pomace using hydroalcoholic solvents. Using SuperPro Designer software, five scenarios were analyzed: a baseline SLE process at optimal conditions without PEF (SLE-01), a PEF-assisted SLE process optimized for higher yield (PEF-02), and three PEF pretreatment scenarios designed to match the yield of SLE-01 while operating at milder conditions—lower extraction temperature (PEF-03), reduced processing time (PEF-04), and lower ethanol concentration (PEF-05). The production scale for SLE-01 was established through a scale-up procedure, targeting 22 kg/batch of antioxidant extracts (168 t/year) to minimize unit production costs (UPC). Economic analysis revealed that PEF-02 was the most cost-effective option when the product price was below 249 $/kg. At a product price of 233 $/kg—derived from a pure total polyphenol content (TPC) price of 500 $/kg—PEF-02 reduced UPC by 2.72% and increased return on investment (ROI) by 8.11% compared to SLE-01. The SLE-01 scenario remained favorable only for product prices ≥ 250 $/kg. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses using Monte Carlo simulations in Oracle Crystal Ball software indicated a 28.51% probability of achieving a 17.19% ROI in PEF-02. Key factors influencing ROI included TPC price (+48.2%), ethanol concentration in solvent (+31.1%), ethanol price (-8.5%), and solid-to-liquid ratio (+4.9%). These findings highlight PEF as a promising technology for improving yield and cost-effectiveness in polyphenol extraction.