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Xanthan Gum Production via Fermentation - Process Modeling and Techno-

Economic Assessment (TEA) using SuperPro Designer

Preprint · May 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.36384.74245

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 Xanthan Gum Production
Modeling and Evaluation with
SuperPro Designer®
by

Nikiforos Misailidis and Demetri Petrides

This is the ReadMe file of a SuperPro Designer example that deals with process modeling, cost analysis
and optimization of Xanthan Gum Production via Fermentation. The flowsheet of the process is appended
to the bottom of this document. You may test-drive the model by downloading the functional evaluation
edition of SuperPro Designer from the downloads page of our website (www.intelligen.com). The files of
this example can be found in the Examples \ Bio-Materials \ XanthanGum folder. The default
installation path of the SuperPro Designer Examples folder follows below.

C:\ Users \ Public \ Public Documents \ Intelligen \ SuperPro Designer \ v11 \ Process Library \ Examples

If you have any questions about this example and SuperPro Designer in general, please send an email
message to dpetrides@intelligen.com

INTELLIGEN, INC.
Simulation, Design, and Scheduling Tools
For the Process Manufacturing Industries
www.intelligen.com

Intelligen, Inc. Page 1

Introduction
This example analyzes the production of Xanthan gum from glucose via fermentation. Xanthan gum is a
water-soluble thickening and stabilizing agent, widely used in the food, healthcare, and oil industries.
Xanthan gum is a hetero-polysaccharide with a primary structure consisting of repeating penta-
saccharides formed by two units of glucose, two units of mannose, and one glucuronic acid, with a
sequence of glucose-glucose-mannose-glucuronic acid-mannose (see Figure 1). The main chain of the
polymer is identical, with cellulose consisting of D-glucose units linked with β (1→4) bonds. The difference
is that every second glucose unit is linked at the O-3 position with the tri-saccharide mannose-glucuronic
acid-mannose. Moreover, approximately every second terminal mannose unit is linked with pyruvic acid
via a keto-group at the 4 and 6 positions, while every mannose unit near the main glucose chain is linked
with an acetyl group at position 6. Each molecule consists of these stiff chains linked together, and it
interacts with other molecules to form a complex. The final molecular weight varies from 2 to 20 million
Dalton (Garcia-Ochoa et al., 2000).

Figure 1 Structure of the xanthan gum molecule.

This complicated structure imparts xanthan gum with unique rheological properties. For example, xanthan
gum substantially increases the viscosity of aqueous solutions, even at concentrations as low as 0.5%
w/w, and therefore it is characterized as a thickening agent (thickener). Thickeners are used in many
applications of the food and pharmaceutical industry, for instance to reduce the fat content in processed
foods or to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions/suspensions, creams, milk, lotions, shampoos, toothpastes,
etc. (Zatz and Knapp, 1984). The rheology of xanthan gum is even more interesting because its viscosity
reduces with shear (Gibinski et al., 2006). This shear-thinning behavior, in combination with its stability
over a wide range of pH and temperatures, together with its viscosity-enhancing behavior when combined
with other thickening agents, renders xanthan gum an essential additive for many products such as salad

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dressings, dry mixes, syrups, beverages, dairy, as well as baked and frozen foods (Gibinski et al., 2006;
Saha and Bhattacharya, 2010).

Xanthan gum is produced by fermentation of bacteria of the Xanthomonas genus. Xanthomonas

microorganisms are plant pathogens that infect a large variety of plants including cabbage, beans etc.
The most common microorganism employed for the industrial production of xanthan gum is the
Xanthomonas Campestris (Souw and Demain, 1979; Garcia-Ochoa et al., 2000). Glucose or sucrose is
typically used as the carbon source for the fermentation process. The nitrogen sources can be either
organic or inorganic compounds. The xanthan gum production rate mainly depends on the concentration
of carbon, whereas the biomass growth rate is inhibited by increasing carbon concentrations and instead
primarily depends on the concentration of nitrogen (Souw and Demain, 1980; Dondo and Marques, 2002;
Garcia-Ochoa et al., 2000). The fermentation is aerobic with typical aeration rates in the range of 0.5-1
volumes of air per volume of liquid per minute (VVM). Adequate agitation of the thick fermentation broth is
required in order to sufficiently aerate the broth and facilitate the transfer of oxygen in the fermentor.
Because Xanthan gum contains acid groups in its molecular structure, a base (e.g., sodium hydroxide) is
added in order to restore its pH to a neutral value in water (Garcia-Ochoa et al., 2000).

Both the yield and the final quality of xanthan gum are influenced by a variety of factors such as the
substrate utilized, the particular strain, the mode of operation (batch, continuous, or fed-batch), the
aeration rate, the residence time, as well as the operating conditions maintained throughout the
fermentation process. The pyruvic acid and acetyl groups in the molecules of xanthan gum influence its
rheological properties, and therefore influence its end-use properties as well (Gibinski et al., 2006; Saha
and Bhattacharya, 2010). Please note that the purity and product quality requirements of the xanthan
gum vary per application: the oil industry, for example, has lower quality requirements than the food and
healthcare sectors.

The global xanthan gum market demand is expanding rapidly (Bixler, 1996). This trend is mainly due to
the global evolution of eating habits as people in developed and developing countries are starting to
prefer processed foods with particular textures. Figure 2 depicts the increasing global xanthan gum
market demand in its key industries (Grand View Research). Note that the oil/gas and food/beverages
sectors combined account for over 80% of the xanthan gum market volume.

Intelligen, Inc. Page 3

 250

200

150

100

50

Figure 2 Global xanthan gum market volume by industry 2012-2020 (kilo-tons).

The sections that follow describe and analyze a xanthan gum production process modeled in SuperPro
Designer. The development of the model was based on data available in the patent and technical
literature supported by our experience with related processes and our engineering judgment.

Process Description
In order to facilitate reporting and analysis, the flowsheet was divided into four sections representing the
various sets of related processing steps, namely:

➢ Fermentation
➢ Biomass Removal
➢ Product Purification
➢ Isopropanol (IPA) Recovery
Flowsheet sections in SuperPro are simply sets of related unit procedures (processing steps). The unit
procedure icons of the Fermentation, Biomass Removal, Product Purification, and IPA Recovery sections
are displayed in black, brown, blue, and dark green color, respectively. For information on how to specify
flowsheet sections and edit their properties, please consult Chapter 8.1 of the SuperPro manual.

Intelligen, Inc. Page 4

Fermentation

The flowsheet of the entire process is appended to the bottom of this document. The process begins with
the preparation of the fermentation media, which contains glucose (~20% w/w) and nutrients such as
citric acid, potassium di-hydrogen phosphate (KH2PO), ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), and various other
salts in concentrations consistent with their literature values (Souw and Demain, 1980; Dondo and
Marques, 2002; Garcia-Ochoa et al., 2000). The media is prepared in a blending tank (V-101). For the
shake of simplicity, V-101 is modeled as a continuous tank with an average residence time of 5 h, which
is equivalent (in terms of equipment size) to a batch vessel operating in cycles with 5-hour durations.

The fermentation media is subsequently transferred to a storage tank (V-102) which serves as a buffer
that feeds the small and large seed fermentors as well as the production fermentors. To ensure adequate
media is available to feed each starting batch, the cycle time of V-102 is set to be equal to the effective
cycle time of the main fermentation (16 h).

The substrate (media) solution is then passed through a continuous sterilizer (PZ-101), which sterilizes
the media before it is sent into the seed and production fermentors. The fermentation water follows its
own buffering and sterilization path (V-103 and PZ-102).

Note: at each scale of the fermentation (small seed, large seed, and production scale), five identical
fermentors which operate in staggered mode are utilized. The specification and use of staggered mode in
SuperPro models will be explained in greater detail in the Process Scheduling section of this document.

The inoculum for each batch is prepared in two seed fermentors operating in series. Biomass growth
initially starts in a small 1.13 m3 seed fermentor (SFR-101, 102, 103, 104, or 105) to allow for increased
controllability as well as the potential to remove contaminated batches. The main inoculum preparation
takes place in the large seed fermentors (SFR-201, 202, 203, 204, or 205) which each have a volume of
19 m3. The fermentation times of the two sets of seed fermentors are 47 and 60 h, respectively. The
temperature is maintained at 29°C during each seed fermentation. The conversion of glucose to xanthan
gum and biomass in the seed fermentors is described by the following mass stoichiometric reaction:

1.3 Ammonium Nitrate + 2.4 Citric Acid + 100 Glucose + 3.5 KH2PO4 + 64 Oxygen + 0.8 Salts →
50 Biomass + 88 Carbon Dioxide + 14 Water + 20 Xanthan

The Fermentation operation in the production fermentors (FR-101, 102, 103, 104, and 105) lasts 72 h,
during which oxygen is constantly supplied to the vessel by means of a compressor (G-101) at an
average aeration rate of 0.5 VVM (volumes of air per volume of liquid per minute). The temperature is
maintained at 31 ◦C, which has been shown to favor xanthan gum production over biomass growth (Souw
and Demain, 1980; Dondo and Marques, 2002; Garcia-Ochoa et al., 2000). The conversion of glucose to
biomass and xanthan gum in the production fermentors is described by the following mass stoichiometric
reaction:

Intelligen, Inc. Page 5

1.3 Ammonium Nitrate + 2.4 Citric Acid + 100 Glucose + 3.5 KH2PO4 + 50 Oxygen + 0.8 Salts →
20 Biomass + 18 Carbon Dioxide + 60 Water + 60 Xanthan

The main production fermentor cycle duration is 80 h. In order to accommodate the desired production
capacity, 5 identical units are operated in staggered mode, which translates into an effective cycle time of
16 h (80/5).

The seed fermentors (SFR-101 and SFR-201) and the main fermentor (FR-101) have the following
operations:
- SIP (Steam-In-Place). At the beginning of each batch, an SIP operation ensures sterile
conditions prior to pulling in the substrate, water, and inoculum.
- Pull-In Water. Water pulled in from the water header FDIS-102 is fed to the seed and production
fermentors to achieve a glucose concentration just below 40 g/L.
- Pull-In Substrate. A suitable amount of substrate (glucose) is charged.
- Pull-In Inoculum. The Inoculum is pulled in from the previous seed fermentor. (In the case of the
small seed fermentor, the inoculum may be transferred from a container in a lab – that container
is not included in this flowsheet, although SuperPro does have inoculum preparation procedures
available under the Unit Procedures menu.)
- Ferment. Fermentation starts as soon as water, substrate and inoculum have been charged in
the fermentor. A fed-batch policy for the additional supply of glucose is followed in both the seed
and the production fermentors. Specifically, about 25% of the initial glucose amount is added by
fed-batch feeding in the seed fermentors, while in the production fermentors the percentage is
roughly 50%.
- Pull-In NaOH. The pH is maintained at a value around 7, which is recommended for the
fermentation, by the addition of NaOH.
- Transfer-Out. At the end of the fermentation the vessel is emptied.
- CIP (Clean-In-Place). A CIP operation takes place at the end of each batch, which includes an
initial water flush, a wash with NaOH, and a final wash with water.

In order to facilitate the oxygen transfer and diffusion in the second seed and production fermentors, air is
introduced under 4 bar pressure with the use of a compressor (P-12 / G-101). The temperature of the
compressed air is extremely high (i.e., 228°C) and must be cooled down to 33°C before being introduced
to the fermentors. The cooling takes place in cooler P-13 (HX-101), which requires a substantial cooling
load of 2970 kW. This large value creates an opportunity for energy integration in the process (see the
energy integration section below).

The broth of the production fermentors is transferred to a storage tank (V-104), which serves as a buffer
between the Fermentation and the Biomass Removal sections. The residence time of the tank was set to
16 h. In other words, tank V-104 stores the broth of one full batch and feeds the downstream processing
sections for 16 h.

Intelligen, Inc. Page 6

Biomass Removal
After the completion of fermentation, cell mass must be deactivated and separated from the fermentation
broth. Cell mass deactivation takes place in a pasteurizer (PZ-103) where it is heated with steam to 90°C
and then cooled to 50°C. The inactivated cells are subsequently sent to a centrifuge (DC-101) where they
are separated from the product stream. In order to recover the considerable quantity of xanthan gum that
is lost during centrifugation, the solids stream (S-136) is mixed with water and centrifuged again in DC-
102. The biomass recovered by the centrifuges is then dried to a final water content of 10% in a rotary
drier (RDR-101), and subsequently sold as fertilizer at a price of $50/MT.

Product Purification
The product streams from the centrifuges (S-137 and S-141) are combined and sent to the purification
section. There the product is precipitated out of solution with the help of salts at a concentration of 1 g/L
(Smith, 1983) and isopropanol (IPA) at a concentration of 42% w/w (Smith, 1983). The precipitation takes
place in a plug flow reactor (PFR-101), and the precipitation process is represented by the following
“reaction” with a specified conversion of 97%:
1 Xanthan → 1 Xanthan Solids

The precipitated product stream, which has significantly lower viscosity, is sent to a centrifuge (DC-103)
that separates the xanthan gum from the liquid. To minimize loss of the non-precipitated xanthan gum, a
fraction of the filtrate is recycled back to mixer MX-104 at the beginning of the product purification section.
The choice of the recycle percentage is a tradeoff between the ‘acceptable’ xanthan gum loss and the
size (capacity) of the product purification section; the larger the recycled fraction, the higher the
equipment and operating cost of the purification section. For the purposes of this example, an 80%
recycle was specified in flow splitter P-27 and the remaining 20% is directed to the IPA recovery section.
In that section, IPA is added to the precipitated xanthan gum stream (in MX-106) to a final IPA
concentration of 60%. The treated stream (S-155) is concentrated to a total solids content of 50% w/w in
a belt filter (BF-101) and the liquid portion is recycled back to the beginning of the product purification
section. The filtered product is dried in a drum dryer (DDR-101) and the vapor stream, which contains
mostly IPA, is condensed with chilled water in a condenser (HX-102) and sent to the IPA recovery
section. The product stream has a flow of 620 kg/h and contains around 88% xanthan gum by weight.

IPA Recovery
IPA is used in the product purification section to facilitate the precipitation of xanthan gum and to wash
the precipitated product in the belt filter. Precipitation is by far the largest IPA consumer, given that the
solution needs to reach 42% IPA by weight. It is important to mention that ~18 MT/h of IPA is needed to
produce ~620 kg/h of xanthan gum, a ratio of about 29:1. Consequently, recovery and reuse of IPA is
critical for the economic viability of the process.

Intelligen, Inc. Page 7

As mentioned above, 20% of the filtrate from centrifuge DC-103 (containing most of the excess salts,
nutrients, and metabolites from fermentation) is sent to the IPA recovery section. The recovery takes
place in a distillation column (C-101) where a distillate with 85% IPA by weight is achieved. In order to
minimize energy consumption, the feed stream S-163 is preheated before entering the distillation column,
initially against the distillate stream S-166, and subsequently against the bottoms stream S-167. The feed
stream enters the distillation column at a temperature of around 80°C, which is close to the bubble point
temperature of the mixture.

The bottoms stream, after exchanging heat with the feed of the column, is cooled to 40°C in a cooler (HX-
105), and is subsequently sent to a virtual wastewater receiving storage unit. The addition and use of
receiving storage units is described in a subsequent section of this document.

Finally, an IPA makeup stream with a flowrate of approximately 6 kg/h is introduced in the process, to
compensate for the IPA losses.

Process Scheduling
The overall batch time for this process is approximately eight days. This is the elapsed time from the start
of a given batch (i.e., the preparation of the first seed fermentor) to the end of that particular batch (the
generation of the final product). However, the actual batch cycle time is only 16 hours due to the fact that
the individual procedures in this process are much shorter than the overall batch time, and multiple
(staggered) equipment items are used in various parts of the process.

To visualize the process schedule, click Charts \ Equipment Occupancy \ Multiple Batches. This will
generate the Equipment Occupancy Chart (EOC). A portion of the EOC, showing 15 consecutive batches
of this process, is displayed in Error! Reference source not found.. The EOC is a valuable tool for
identifying scheduling bottlenecks (the equipment with the longest occupancy time) and performing
appropriate adjustments in order to reduce the cycle time of batch portions of a process and consequently
increase its throughput. For instance, Figure 3 shows that within the batch Fermentation section of this
process, the production fermentors (FR-101 through 105) have no gap between consecutive batches.
Therefore they are the current production bottleneck. It is also clear from this chart that operating these
five fermentors in staggered mode enables the plant to initiate a new batch every 16 hours. Note that the
remainder of this process operates continuously, and by default the continuous unit procedures are not
displayed on the EOC (although they can be included, if desired, by right-clicking an open area of the
EOC and visiting the Include/Exclude/Order Equipment dialog).

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 Five small-scale seed
fermentors operating in
staggered mode

Five large-scale seed

fermentors operating
in staggered mode

Five
production
fermentors
operating
in
staggered
mode
Figure 3 The Equipment Occupancy Chart for 15 batches, showing the Fermentation section.

Another view of the process schedule is provided by the Operations Gantt chart. This chart displays
detailed scheduling information for one or multiple batches. The Gantt chart is generated by selecting
Charts \ Gantt Charts \ Operations GC. Figure 4 displays the Gantt chart, illustrating the scheduling of
the operations for a single batch within the two seed fermenters and the production fermentor. The brown
bar at the top represents the duration of the entire batch recipe while the dark blue and cyan bars
represent the durations of procedures and operations, respectively.

The Gantt chart enables users to visualize the execution of a batch process in detail. It also facilitates
editing of batch recipes. Double clicking on any of its bars brings up the dialog of the corresponding entity
(e.g., operation, procedure, recipe, etc.). The simulation calculations can then be redone and the chart

can be updated by clicking on the refresh button of the chart ( ).

Furthermore, SuperPro can export its scheduling data to MS Project by selecting File \ Export to MS
Project XML File. Likewise, SuperPro can export its recipe data to SchedulePro by selecting File \
Export to SchedulePro’s Recipe DB. SchedulePro is a resource management, production planning and
scheduling tool available from Intelligen. Please consult the SuperPro manual or its Help facility for
information on these two exporting options.

Intelligen, Inc. Page 9

Figure 4 Operations Gantt chart.

Specifying Equipment in Staggered Mode

As mentioned in the process description section, the fermentation steps (small seed, large seed, and
production fermentation) are each carried out by 5 identical fermentors that operate in staggered mode
(out of phase). The Fermentation section feeds a continuous purification train.

The addition of extra equipment items that operate in staggered mode is done through the equipment
data dialog of a procedure, which is accessed by right-clicking on the procedure icon and selecting
Equipment Data. Figure 5 displays the equipment data dialog of the fermentor (FR-101). The Stagger
Mode frame is located on the lower left corner of the dialog. To specify staggered equipment, check the
On box of that frame and specify the number of extra pieces of equipment that are required (four extra
units, in this case). The names of the extra equipment items can be edited by clicking on the Names
button in this same frame. Notice that the total number of equipment units available to the procedure is
equal to the number of units in stagger mode, plus one. When a unit procedure is set to Stagger mode, a
new icon ( ) will appear by the lower left corner of that procedure’s icon on the flowsheet.

Intelligen, Inc. Page 10

Figure 5 Equipment Data Dialog for Fermentor FR-101.

Storage Units
Storage units (SUs) are virtual units (i.e., they are not displayed on the flowsheet) that allow the user to
supply or collect materials needed or generated during a process. For example, supply SUs may be used
to provide the cleaning material required by cleaning-in-place (CIP) operations, while receiving SUs may
be used to collect the waste from output streams or CIP operations.

Storage units can be added to a SuperPro model by selecting Tasks \ Other Resources \ Material
Storage Units or by right-clicking on an empty space on the flowsheet and selecting Resources \
Material Storage Units. In the dialog window that appears, supply and receiving storage units are
displayed on separate tabs. To add a new unit, click on the Add New Receiving (or Supply) Storage Unit

button ( ). Selecting a unit and clicking on the spectacles button ( ) brings up a dialog through which
you can view and modify the properties of the unit. The properties dialog includes several tabs. The first is

Intelligen, Inc. Page 11

the Properties tab through which you can specify the name of the unit, the material supplied or deposited
and information related to its cost. The second tab allows you to specify the Availability Limits of the
storage unit. The third tab is the Inventory Data tab which will be discussed in detail below, and the final

tab is the Comments tab. By clicking the button, the program will display a dialog indicating the
locations (i.e., procedures, operations, and streams) where the storage unit is engaged. The Receiving

units tab contains two more buttons, one for displaying the contents of the storage unit ( ) and another

for displaying the environmental properties of its contents after a user-specified operation ( ). The
properties of storage units can also be accessed through the “SUs” tab of the Process Explorer pane.
The Process Explorer pane is displayed by selecting View \ Process Explorer or by clicking on the
Process Explorer button ( ) of the main toolbar.

To assign a Supply storage unit to an input stream, right-click on the stream and select Assign Supply
Storage Unit (note that this option is only available in projects which already contain at least one Supply
storage unit). The stream composition is automatically set in accordance with the contents of the Supply
storage unit. In addition, Supply storage units can be assigned to CIP operations by selecting the
appropriate unit in the Drawn from Storage Unit dropdown list in the Operating Conditions tab. In this
example, a supply storage unit named NaOH Supply Unit is used by the streams associated with the Pull-
In NaOH operations as well as the post-fermentation “Wash with NaOH” CIP sub-steps within the seed
and production fermentors.

To assign a receiving storage unit to an output stream, right-click on the stream and select Assign
Receiving Storage Unit (note that this option is only available in projects which already contain at least
one Receiving storage unit). Receiving storage units can also be assigned to a CIP operation by the
Waste Deposited to Storage Unit dropdown list in the operating conditions tab. Notice that in this case,
the waste is automatically classified according to the type of waste which has been defined for the
receiving unit (e.g., aqueous waste, organic waste, etc.). Moreover, if the Remove Contents as Waste
with Disposed Agent option is checked for a CIP step, any material present in the equipment prior to the
CIP operation is removed as CIP waste. In this example, a receiving storage unit named Wastewater
Tank is used to collect the Aq-Waste stream coming out of the P-36 cooler in the IPA Recovery section as
well as the liquid wastes generated by the CIP operations in the fermentors.

Once the material balances have been solved, the program offers the possibility to create storage unit
receiving and inventory charts. To generate a receiving unit chart, click Charts \ Storage Units \
Receiving \ Multiple Batches and select the storage unit of interest. Figure 6 displays the receiving chart
of the Wastewater Tank storage unit for 15 consecutive batches. The red lines represent the
instantaneous deposit rate and correspond to the y-axis on the left hand side. The green lines represent
the daily deposit amounts and correspond to the y-axis on the right hand side.

Intelligen, Inc. Page 12

 40000
450000

35000 400000

30000 350000
Mass Flow in kg/h

300000

Mass in kg
25000

250000
20000
200000
15000
150000
10000
100000

5000 50000

0
h 48 96 144 192 240 288 336 384 432 480 h

day 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 day

Figure 6 Wastewater Receiving Storage Unit Chart.

Energy Integration
In the xanthan gum process, there are multiple operations that either consume or generate heat. In order
to improve the efficiency and economics of the process by reducing the overall utility usage and
associated costs, heat can be exchanged between hot streams (heat sources) and cold streams (heat
sinks). This can be accomplished in SuperPro Designer by one of the following methods:

1) You can add heat exchanging procedures directly to the flowsheet by selecting Unit Procedures
\ Heat Exchange \ Heat Exchanging from the main menu, connecting the relevant input and
output streams, and defining the operational data for the operation.
2) You can specify a virtual (i.e., not displayed on the flowsheet) heat recovery network by right-
clicking on the flowsheet and selecting Energy Recovery.
The first method is used in the IPA recovery section of the process. The distillation feed is preheated, in
sequence, against both the distillate and the bottoms streams coming out of the distillation column. As a
result, its temperature rises to 80°C, thereby reducing the reboiler thermal requirement of the column. At
the same time, the temperature of the aqueous waste stream is reduced from 100°C to 76°C, which
results in a decrease of the cooling load for the P-36 cooler.

The second method is used to exploit the extremely large thermal load needed for the cooling of the
pressurized fermentation air in P-13 (~2973 kW) in order to fully accommodate the heating requirements
of the two dryers of the process, P-21 (~1358 kW) and P-30 (~130 kW). This method allows for a simple

Intelligen, Inc. Page 13

and quick set-up of a heat recovery network that can be easily inspected and modified from a single
dialog and eliminates the need for additional stream lines and unit procedure icons on the flowsheet.

To access the Energy Recovery dialog, right-click on a blank area of the flowsheet and select Energy
Recovery from the menu that appears. The Energy Recovery Opportunities window (see Figure 7)
displays all operations in the model that require cooling, the respective cooling loads, as well as their inlet
and outlet temperatures. For instance, the COOL-1 operation in procedure P-13 requires 47,565.8
kWh/batch (which is equivalent to 2972 kW because a new batch is initiated every 16 h) in order to
reduce the temperature of the fermentation air from 228.4°C to 33°C.

Figure 7 The Energy Recovery dialog window.

A heat integration network can be specified by matching operations that require cooling with operations
that require heating. To display the operations that require heating, click on the Show Recipients of
Energy Recovered >> button on the bottom left of the dialog. This will expand the Energy Recovery
dialog.

As shown in the expanded Energy Recovery dialog (Figure 8), the COOL-1 operation requires an amount
of cooling that is sufficient (and at an appropriately high initial temperature) to satisfy the heating loads of
the drying operations in both P-21 and P-30. To set up a heat exchange match between these operations,
first click on the checkbox in the Recovered column for the P-13/COOL-1 operation so that its ellipse

button ( ) in the View/Edit column is activated. By clicking the ellipse button for the P-13/COOL-1
operation, the Recovered Energy Matches dialog window appears (Figure 9).

Intelligen, Inc. Page 14

The Recovered Energy Matches dialog displays the available operations that could potentially act as heat
recipients for the P-13/COOL-1 operation. In order to select a heat recipient operation to match with the
COOL-1 operation in P-13, double-click on the respective Match check box. Notice that the “Match %” is
calculated and displayed on-the-fly in the respective column. As can be seen from Figure 9, the utility
requirements for the drying operations in P-21 and P-30 can be satisfied completely, thereby eliminating
the hearing requirements of the dryers. In addition, the matching reduces the cooling requirement of P-13
by 50%.

The heat integration savings are reported directly beneath the Utilities Cost table of the Economic
Evaluation Report (EER). There it can be seen that the utility reduction from the specified match is
approximately $686,000/year.

Figure 8 The expanded Energy Recovery dialog window.

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Figure 9 The Recovered Energy Matches dialog window.

Intelligen, Inc. Page 16

Economic Evaluation
This plant produces 620 kg/h of xanthan gum during an operating period of 8208 hours (342 days) per
year, which corresponds to around 5000 MT/year. Various assumptions were made for the costs of raw
materials, heat transfer agents, wastewater treatment, equipment purchase costs, labor, etc. In addition
to the mass and energy balances, SuperPro Designer calculates the capital investment (CAPEX),
operating expenses (OPEX), the production cost, and the profitability of the project. These results are
reported in the Economic Evaluation (EER), Cash Flow Analysis (CFR), Itemized Cost (ICR), and Excel
Custom reports.
The information on equipment sizes and purchase costs for this process is displayed in Table 1 (extracted
from the EER). User-Defined Equipment Cost Models were specified for the distillation column, the
fermentors, the buffer tanks, and the compressor. Detailed information on how to specify User-Defined
Equipment Cost Models can be found in the corresponding section of the Corn Refinery example’s
ReadMe file.

Table 1 Major equipment specification and FOB cost (2016 prices).

Quantity/ Unit Cost ($) Cost ($)

Name Description
Standby/
1 /0/0
Staggere V-104 Blending Tank 167,000 167,000
d Vessel Volume = 341.38 m3
1/0/0 DC-101 Decanter Centrifuge 258,000 258,000
Throughput = 19332.43 L/h
1/0/0 DC-102 Decanter Centrifuge 258,000 258,000
Throughput = 3998.93 L/h
1/0/0 RDR-101 Rotary Dryer 663,000 663,000
Drying Area = 114.19 m2
1/0/0 PFR-101 Plug Flow Reactor 239,000 239,000
Vessel Volume = 229.28 m3
1/0/0 DC-103 Decanter Centrifuge 258,000 258,000
Throughput = 206358.80 L/h
1/0/0 BF-101 Belt Filter 279,000 279,000
Belt Width = 1.82 m
1/0/0 HX-101 Condenser 34,000 34,000
Condensation Area = 7.15 m2
1/0/0 HX-102 Heat Exchanger 11,000 11,000
Heat Exchange Area = 1.96 m2
1/0/0 HX-103 Heat Exchanger 13,000 13,000
Heat Exchange Area = 2.59 m2
1/0/0 C-101 Distillation Column 1,000,000 1,000,000
Column Volume = 7.55 m3
1/0/0 DDR-101 Drum Dryer 179,000 179,000
Drum Area = 23.65 m2
1/0/2 SFR-101 Seed Fermentor 18,000 54,000
Vessel Volume = 1.13 m3
1/0/3 SFR-201 Seed Fermentor 97,000 388,000

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 Vessel Volume = 18.80 m3
1/0/4 FR-101 Fermentor 592,000 2,960,000
Vessel Volume = 384.03 m3
1/0/0 G-101 Centrifugal Compressor 1,035,000 1,035,000
Compressor Power = 3076.25 kW
1/0/0 V-101 Blending Tank 36,000 36,000
Vessel Volume = 26.33 m3
1/0/0 PZ-101 Pasteurizer 401,000 401,000
Rated Throughput = 4739.93 L/h
1/0/0 V-103 Blending Tank 28,000 28,000
Vessel Volume = 17.20 m3
1/0/0 PZ-102 Pasteurizer 910,000 910,000
Rated Throughput = 15477.00 L/h
1/0/0 V-102 Flat Bottom Tank 72,000 72,000
Vessel Volume = 84.27 m3
1/0/0 HX-104 Heat Exchanger 44,000 44,000
Heat Exchange Area = 18.57 m2
1/0/0 PZ-103 Pasteurizer 127,000 127,000
Rated Throughput = 19202.70 L/h
1/0/0 AF-101 Air Filter 172,000 172,000
Rated Throughput = 45407.35 m3/h
1/0/0 HX-101 Heat Exchanger 63,000 63,000
Heat Exchange Area = 21.51 m2
Unlisted Equipment 1,986,000
TOTAL 11,768,000

Table 2 (also extracted from the EER) provides an estimate of the Fixed Capital Estimate Summary,
which is around $58.8 million.

Table 2 Fixed capital investment summary (2016 prices in $).

2A. Total Plant Direct Cost (TPDC) (physical cost)

1. Equipment Purchase Cost 11,768,000
2. Installation 4,300,000
3. Process Piping 3,015,000
4. Instrumentation 3,236,000
5. Insulation 353,000
6. Electrical 1,177,000
7. Buildings 3,457,000
8. Yard Improvement 1,397,000
9. Auxiliary Facilities 3,236,000
TPDC 31,939,000

2B. Total Plant Indirect Cost (TPIC)

10. Engineering 7,985,000
11. Construction 11,179,000
TPIC 19,163,000

2C. Total Plant Cost (TPC = TPDC+TPIC)

TPC 51,102,000

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2D. Contractor's Fee & Contingency (CFC)
12. Contractor's Fee 2,555,000
13. Contingency 5,110,000
CFC = 12+13 7,665,000

2E. Direct Fixed Capital Cost (DFC = TPC+CFC)

DFC 58,768,000

Table 3 displays information on the cost of raw materials. Glucose is the dominant raw material cost. A
price of $0.40/kg was assumed for glucose. The total annual cost of raw materials is around $4.2 million.
The cost of isopropanol (IPA) is small because the vast majority of IPA is purified and reused in the
process.

Table 3 Materials Cost – Process Summary.

Unit Cost Annual Annual Cost
Bulk Material %
($) Amount ($)
Air 0.00 616,319,102 kg 0 0.00
Amm. Nitrate 0.15 184,533 kg 27,680 0.66
Biomass 0.00 841 kg 0 0.00
Citric Acid 0.50 337,683 kg 168,841 4.03
Glucose 0.40 8,017,777 kg 3,207,111 76.48
Isopropanol 0.60 50,273 kg 30,164 0.72
KH2PO4 0.30 482,475 kg 144,742 3.45
NaOH (20% w/w) 0.01 586,271 kg 4,655 0.11
Salts 0.50 215,439 kg 107,720 2.57
Water 3.00 167,502 MT 502,505 11.98
Xanthan 0.00 153 kg 0 0.00
TOTAL 4,193,419 100.00

NOTE: Bulk material consumption amount includes material used as:

- Raw Material
- Cleaning Agent
- Heat Transfer Agent (if utilities are included in the operating cost)

Table 4 displays the utilities costs. Notice that the steam demand of the process is about 61 MT per MT of
xanthan gum product. The annual expense for utilities is around $16 million, which is roughly four times
the cost of materials. Table 5 displays the cost of labor, which is around $6 million per year.

Table 4 Utilities Cost.

Unit Cost Annual Ref. Annual Cost
Utility %
($) Amount Units ($)
Std Power 0.10 44,220,023 kW-h 4,422,002 27.59
Steam 30.00 305,266 MT 9,157,981 57.15
Cooling Water 0.05 23,528,356 MT 1,176,418 7.34
Chilled Water 0.40 3,172,914 MT 1,269,166 7.92
TOTAL 16,025,567 100.00

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Table 5 Labor Cost – Process Summary.

Unit Cost Annual Annual Cost

Labor Type %
($/h) Amount ($)
Operator 69.00 (h)
85,125 5,873,621 100.00
TOTAL 85,125 5,873,621 100.00

Figure 10 displays the breakdown of the annual operating cost. It can be seen that the utilities, followed
by the facility-dependent costs (annualized fixed capital investment, maintenance, etc.) have the highest
contribution to the total annual operating costs.

Figure 10 Annual Operating Cost Breakdown (%).

The executive summary of the project is presented in Table 6. The total CAPEX for such a plant is around
$64 million. The annual operating cost is around $38.5 million, which corresponds to a unit production
cost of around $7.56/kg. This is a realistic figure for a non-depreciated facility. Assuming a selling price of
$9/kg for xanthan gum, the expected payback time is around 6.4 years.

Table 6 Executive Summary (2016 prices).

Total Capital Investment 64,023,000 $

Capital Investment Charged to This Project 64,023,000 $
Operating Cost 38,533,000 $/yr
Savings (due to Heat Recovery) 868,491 $/yr
Main Revenue 44,851,000 $/yr

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Other Revenues 102,678 $/yr
Total Revenues 44,954,000 $/yr
Cost Basis Annual Rate 4,983,474 kg MP/yr
Unit Production Cost 7.73 $/kg MP
Net Unit Production Cost 7.56 $/kg MP
Unit Production Revenue 9.02 $/kg MP
Gross Margin 16.22 %
Return On Investment 15.55 %
Payback Time 6.43 years
IRR (After Taxes) 7.73 %
NPV (at 7.0% Interest) 3,125,000 $
MP = Total Flow of Stream 'Xanthan Gum Product'

Summary
Our objective in this example was to present a simple xanthan gum process model in SuperPro Designer,
which can be used as a reference for modeling similar types of processes. Key results based on the
assumptions in this model include the determination that a manufacturing plant with a capacity of 5000
MT/year requires a total CAPEX of around $64 million and annual operating expenditures (including
depreciation) of around $38.5 million. Moreover, for every kg of xanthan gum produced, the process
requires around 33.5 kg of water, 61 kg of steam, 29 kg of IPA and 5.3 m3 of circulated cooling and
chilling water.

Intelligen, Inc. Page 21

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Garcia-Ochoa, F., Santos, V. E., Casas, J. A., & Gomez, E. (2000). Xanthan gum: production, recovery,
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