Towards a biorefinery processing waste from plantain agro-industry: assessment of the production of dairy cattle feed through process simulation

Abstract

The aim of this work was to design and analyse technoeconomically and nutritionally the production of nutrient blocks and silage from waste of DominicoHartón plantain through process simulation in the framework of the design of a future biorefinery based on residues from plantain agro-industry. All systems were scaled to flows that would be realistically encountered in fullscale production systems, and several scenarios covering the production of supplementary feed blocks, fermented blocks, and silage for cattle feeding were considered. Plantain waste composition was determined experimentally. SuperPro Designer was used to simulate the process flowsheets. Process net present values were estimated using a project life of 15 years and an interest rate of 5.36%. Results suggested that fresh residues from plantain agro-industry are not recommended for dairy cattle consumption due to their high contents of moisture and neutral and acid detergent fibres, which provide few nutrients. Amending the residues with 19% maize forage resulted in a far better feed, with an estimated nutritional content of (on a dry basis): 28.34% neutral detergent fibre, 17.08% acid detergent fibre, 30.40% nonfibrous carbohydrates, and 34.52% moisture. The process flowsheets were modified by including a new step for moisture extraction as well. The feasible process for utilising plantain waste with the highest net present value (15.0 M$) was the production of supplementary feed blocks using screw press moisture extraction technology. This process can be incorporated as an alternative processing pathway into the design of a biorefinery using plantain waste as feedstock.