Feasibility Study for a Castor oil Extraction Plant in South Africa
A feasibility study for the design and construction of a
pilot plant for the extraction of castor oil in South Africa was
conducted. The study emphasized the four critical aspects of project
feasibility analysis, namely technical, financial, market and
managerial aspects. The technical aspect involved research on
existing oil extraction technologies, namely: mechanical pressing and
solvent extraction, as well as assessment of the proposed production
site for both short and long term viability of the project. The site is
on the outskirts of Nkomazi village in the Mpumalanga province,
where connections for water and electricity are currently underway,
potential raw material supply proves to be reliable since the province
is known for its commercial farming. The managerial aspect was
evaluated based on the fact that the current producer of castor oil will
be fully involved in the project while receiving training and technical
assistance from Sasol Technology, the TSC and SEDA. Market and
financial aspects were evaluated and the project was considered
financially viable with a Net Present Value (NPV) of R2 731 687 and
an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 18% at an annual interest rate of
10.5%. The payback time is 6years for analysis over the first 10
years with a net income of R1 971 000 in the first year. The project
was thus found to be feasible with high chance of success while
contributing to socio-economic development. It was recommended
for lab tests to be conducted to establish process kinetics that would
be used in the initial design of the plant.
[1] Kirk-Othmer, "Encyclopaedia of Chemical Technology," New York,
Wiley & Sons, Vol. 5, 1979.
[2] D. S. Ogunniyi, "Castor Oil: A vital Industrial Raw Material"
Bioresource Technology, vol. 97, pp. 1086-1091, 2006.
[3] D. Hofstrand and M. Holz-Clause (2009). Ag Decision Maker: What is a
Feasibility Study? http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm. Accessed
August 20, 2010. IOWA State University: University Extension.
[4] E. E. Gilbert, "The Unique Chemistry of Castor Oil," J. Chem. Edu., vol.
18, no. 7, pp. 338 - 343, 1941.
[5] V. Scholtz and J. N. Da Silva, "Prospects and risks of the use of Castor
oil as a fuel", Biomass and Bioenergy, vol 32, pp. 95-100, 2008.
[6] V. Coopman, M. De Leeuw, J. Cordonnier and W. Jacobs, "Suicidal
Death after Injection of a Castor Bean Extract (Ricinus Communis L.),"
Forensic Science International, vol 189, pp. 13-20, 2009.
[7] N. Santhanam, (2006), "Castor oil," www.castoroil.in. Accessed August
30, 2010.
[8] W. Hamm, "Extraction, Liquid-Solid," Kirk-Othmer Encyclopaedia of
Chemical Technology, Interscience, New York, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 724,
1980.
[9] J. Rydberg, M. Cox, C. Musikas and R. Choppin, "Solvent Extraction
Principles and Practice", 2nd Edition," New York, Marcel Dekker Inc.,
2004.
[10] A. Martinho, H. A. Matos, R. Gani, B. Sarup and W. Youngreen,
"Modelling and Simulation of vegetable oil processes," Food and
Bioproducts Processing, vol 86, no. 2, pp. 87-95, 2008.
[11] O. H. Cincinnati, "Vegetable Oil Production (Meal Processing) Emission
Test Report," Cargill Incorporated (EastPlant), Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
PEDCo Environmental Inc., 1979.
[1] Kirk-Othmer, "Encyclopaedia of Chemical Technology," New York,
Wiley & Sons, Vol. 5, 1979.
[2] D. S. Ogunniyi, "Castor Oil: A vital Industrial Raw Material"
Bioresource Technology, vol. 97, pp. 1086-1091, 2006.
[3] D. Hofstrand and M. Holz-Clause (2009). Ag Decision Maker: What is a
Feasibility Study? http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm. Accessed
August 20, 2010. IOWA State University: University Extension.
[4] E. E. Gilbert, "The Unique Chemistry of Castor Oil," J. Chem. Edu., vol.
18, no. 7, pp. 338 - 343, 1941.
[5] V. Scholtz and J. N. Da Silva, "Prospects and risks of the use of Castor
oil as a fuel", Biomass and Bioenergy, vol 32, pp. 95-100, 2008.
[6] V. Coopman, M. De Leeuw, J. Cordonnier and W. Jacobs, "Suicidal
Death after Injection of a Castor Bean Extract (Ricinus Communis L.),"
Forensic Science International, vol 189, pp. 13-20, 2009.
[7] N. Santhanam, (2006), "Castor oil," www.castoroil.in. Accessed August
30, 2010.
[8] W. Hamm, "Extraction, Liquid-Solid," Kirk-Othmer Encyclopaedia of
Chemical Technology, Interscience, New York, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 724,
1980.
[9] J. Rydberg, M. Cox, C. Musikas and R. Choppin, "Solvent Extraction
Principles and Practice", 2nd Edition," New York, Marcel Dekker Inc.,
2004.
[10] A. Martinho, H. A. Matos, R. Gani, B. Sarup and W. Youngreen,
"Modelling and Simulation of vegetable oil processes," Food and
Bioproducts Processing, vol 86, no. 2, pp. 87-95, 2008.
[11] O. H. Cincinnati, "Vegetable Oil Production (Meal Processing) Emission
Test Report," Cargill Incorporated (EastPlant), Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
PEDCo Environmental Inc., 1979.
@article{"International Journal of Chemical, Materials and Biomolecular Sciences:62476", author = "Mohamed Belaid and Edison Muzenda and Getrude Mitilene and Mansoor Mollagee", title = "Feasibility Study for a Castor oil Extraction Plant in South Africa", abstract = "A feasibility study for the design and construction of a
pilot plant for the extraction of castor oil in South Africa was
conducted. The study emphasized the four critical aspects of project
feasibility analysis, namely technical, financial, market and
managerial aspects. The technical aspect involved research on
existing oil extraction technologies, namely: mechanical pressing and
solvent extraction, as well as assessment of the proposed production
site for both short and long term viability of the project. The site is
on the outskirts of Nkomazi village in the Mpumalanga province,
where connections for water and electricity are currently underway,
potential raw material supply proves to be reliable since the province
is known for its commercial farming. The managerial aspect was
evaluated based on the fact that the current producer of castor oil will
be fully involved in the project while receiving training and technical
assistance from Sasol Technology, the TSC and SEDA. Market and
financial aspects were evaluated and the project was considered
financially viable with a Net Present Value (NPV) of R2 731 687 and
an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 18% at an annual interest rate of
10.5%. The payback time is 6years for analysis over the first 10
years with a net income of R1 971 000 in the first year. The project
was thus found to be feasible with high chance of success while
contributing to socio-economic development. It was recommended
for lab tests to be conducted to establish process kinetics that would
be used in the initial design of the plant.", keywords = "Mechanical pressing, Net Present Value, Oilextraction, Project feasibility, Solvent extraction", volume = "5", number = "4", pages = "375-5", }