Simulation of moringa oil production plant using superpro designer process simulator

Abstract

At the present work the simulation of a moringa oil production plant having a processing capacity of 450 kilograms of moringa pods per batch is carried out. Two sensitivity studies were accomplished consistent of 1) assessment the influence of increasing the moringa oil selling price from USD $ 30 per liter ($/kg) to USD $ 50/kg, keeping constant the plant processing capacity in 450 kilograms of moringa pods per batch (kg/batch), over the main economic indicators of the plant, that is, Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Payback Time (PT), among other indicators, and 2) determine the influence of incrementing the plant processing rate from 300 to 800 kg/batch, maintaining constant the moringa oil selling price in USD $ 35/kg, over the indicators NPV, IRR and PT, among other parameters. It’s needed about USD $ 2 million of investment to construct the plant. The project will have annual net profits of $ 534 000, with IRR, PT and NPV values of 17, 2 %, 3.65 years and $ 1 132 000, respectively. SuperPro Designer® process simulator was employed to carry out the simulation of the production process.