Techno-economic analysis of glucosamine and lipid production from marine diatom Cyclotella sp.

A techno-economic analysis (TEA) was performed on glucosamine and lipid production from a marine diatom Cyclotella sp. in raceway open pond (RWP) and tubular photobioreactor (PBR) cultivation systems. Two PBR operating schemes were assessed: one to produce high lipid (HL) content, and another to produce high chitin (HC) content. In order to generate 1 kg of glucosamine, 9700 kg (RWP)/1050 kg (PBR HL) freshwater, 40 kg CO2, 0.70 kg nitrogen, 0.18 kg phosphorus, and 1.2 kg silicon nutrients are required for algae cultivation with water and nutrient recovery. With a price of $1.5 for lipid as coproduct, the projected selling price of glucosamine were $35/kg, $106/kg and $82/kg for RWP, PBR HL, and PBR HC systems, respectively. Currently, these prices are not competitive with industrial shellfish-derived glucosamine, but can be reduced by technology improvements such as producing food grade lipid, increasing algal productivity or chitin content.