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Economic analysis of a freeze-drying cycle

Authors :
Stratta, Lorenzo
Capozzi, Luigi C.
Franzino, Simone
Pisano, Roberto
Stratta, Lorenzo
Capozzi, Luigi C.
Franzino, Simone
Pisano, Roberto
Publication Year :
2020

Abstract

Freeze-drying has always been considered an extremely expensive procedure to dehydrate food or pharmaceutical products, and for this reason, it has been employed only if strictly necessary or when the high added value of the final product could justify the costs. However, little effort has been made to analyze the factors that make this technology so unaffordable. In this work, a model was proposed to calculate in detail the operational (OC) and capital costs (CC) of a freeze-drying cycle and an evaluation of the process bottlenecks was made. The main result is that the process itself, contrary to the classic belief, is not the most expensive part of freeze-drying, while the initial investment is the real limiting factor. Under this consideration, the optimization of a freeze-drying cycle should be formulated in order to fit more cycles in the lifespan of the apparatus, instead of merely reducing the power consumption of the machine.

Details

Database :
OAIster
Notes :
Stratta, Lorenzo and Capozzi, Luigi C. and Franzino, Simone and Pisano, Roberto (2020) Economic analysis of a freeze-drying cycle. Processes, 8 (11): 1399. pp. 1-17. ISSN 2227-9717
Publication Type :
Electronic Resource
Accession number :
edsoai.on1425776612
Document Type :
Electronic Resource