Techno-Economic Evaluation of a Commercial c-Phycocyanin Extraction Process
type: CreativeWork
description: Growing health concerns over synthetically produced pigments have led to the development of natural pigment products from phycobiliproteins, a family of proteins found in cyanobacteria. One such phycobiliprotein is c-phycocyanin (cPC), a bright blue pigment that has already found widespread application in the food and pharmaceutical industries. It can also be used in the cosmetics industry, an application which has not been as extensively explored. Spirulina platensis (Spirulina), a cyanobacterium known for its relatively economical and easy cultivation, is a popular source for the production of cPC. The Centre for Bioprocess Engineering Research (CeBER) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has patented a novel process for extracting and purifying cPC from Spirulina (Fagan-Endres et al., 2019). A manufacturer of raw materials for the cosmetics and consumer products industries in South Africa (anonymously referred to as ‘Company A' in this dissertation), possesses the necessary resources, expertise, and market access to establish a cPC extraction and purification process. The global market for cPC for cosmetics use, valued at $27 million in 2020 with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10%, presents a lucrative opportunity. Therefore, a detailed techno-economic analysis was conducted on three cPC extraction and purification processes to assess their commercial viability. Process 1 was the example process presented in the UCT patent and thus considered the base design. In this process, following liberation of the cPC into a buffer solution and separation of the cell debris, the cPC was purified using a PEG-MDX aqueous two-phase separation (ATPS) and an ammonium sulphate precipitation train before the product was dried. Process 2 was an extension of the base process design based on work done by Hockey (2022) and included an additional citrate-PEG ATPS at the start of the purification unit operations. Process 3 was another extension on the base process des…
abstract: Growing health concerns over synthetically produced pigments have led to the development of natural pigment products from phycobiliproteins, a family of proteins found in cyanobacteria. One such phycobiliprotein is c-phycocyanin (cPC), a bright blue pigment that has already found widespread application in the food and pharmaceutical industries. It can also be used in the cosmetics industry, an application which has not been as extensively explored. Spirulina platensis (Spirulina), a cyanobacterium known for its relatively economical and easy cultivation, is a popular source for the production of cPC. The Centre for Bioprocess Engineering Research (CeBER) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has patented a novel process for extracting and purifying cPC from Spirulina (Fagan-Endres et al., 2019). A manufacturer of raw materials for the cosmetics and consumer products industries in South Africa (anonymously referred to as ‘Company A' in this dissertation), possesses the necessary resources, expertise, and market access to establish a cPC extraction and purification process. The global market for cPC for cosmetics use, valued at $27 million in 2020 with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10%, presents a lucrative opportunity. Therefore, a detailed techno-economic analysis was conducted on three cPC extraction and purification processes to assess their commercial viability. Process 1 was the example process presented in the UCT patent and thus considered the base design. In this process, following liberation of the cPC into a buffer solution and separation of the cell debris, the cPC was purified using a PEG-MDX aqueous two-phase separation (ATPS) and an ammonium sulphate precipitation train before the product was dried. Process 2 was an extension of the base process design based on work done by Hockey (2022) and included an additional citrate-PEG ATPS at the start of the purification unit operations. Process 3 was another extension on the base process des…
author: Williams, Aqeel
language: en
keywords: Engineering
date published: 2024
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:45Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Chemical Engineering

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41194