New considerations in the economic evaluation of supercritical processes: Separation of bioactive compounds from multicomponent mixtures

The economic feasibility of supercritical processes by a business plan strategy has been investigated using as a model the continuous CO2 fraction of liquid capsicum oleoresin. First, the SWOT matrix of the process has been determined from internal and external analyses, revealing the interest of the process for industrial application and the necessity of a detailed economic analysis. In a second step, the investment and financial analyses have been determined for two different scenarios related to the location of the plant, i.e. within the facilities of the university on the one hand, or as an enlargement of an existent paprika factory, on the other. In this second scenario the pay-back period for the capital investment is 3.5 years and the margin of safety ratios over the accounting period 2011–2015 varies in the interval 2–3, indicating the healthy situation of the project. Finally, sensitivity analysis extends the robustness of the economic evaluation described in this work by revealing slight differences in payback periods and financial ratios when underestimations of 10% of the fixed capital investment and operating costs and of the 5% interest rate are considered. The presented results conclude the economic feasibility of this supercritical process and extend conventional economic analysis by the use of a business plan strategy.