From Algae to a Functional Food

Project Team Members

Travis Dallas

Eric Graves

Joaquin Martinez

Christopher McNinch

Ramune Otterson-Meskyte

Charu Saini

Mentors

Dan Rusinak, PE, Middough Inc.

Dr. Jeffery Perl, PhD, PE, CHMM

Table of Contents

Executive Summary / 3
Discussion / 4-5
Conclusions and Recommendations / 6
Appendix 1 Design Basis / 7
Appendix 2 Chemistry of DHA / 8-10
Appendix 3 Block Flow / 11-13
Appendix 4 PFDs / 14-38
Appendix 5 Stream Information / 39-53
Appendix 6 Material and Energy Balance / 54-55
Appendix 7 Calculations / 56-59
Appendix 8 Annotated Equipment List / 60-62
Appendix 9 Economic Evaluation Factored from Equipment Costs / 63-67
Appendix 10 Utilities / 68-70
Appendix 11 Conceptual Control Scheme / 72-92
Appendix 12 General Arrangement – Major Equipment Layout / 92-95
Appendix 13 Distribution and End Use Review / 96-97
Appendix 14 Constraints Review / 98-99
Appendix 15 Applicable Standards / 100-103
Appendix 16 Project Communications / 104-113
Appendix 17 Information Sources and References / 111-114

Executive Summary

AlphaAlgae has designed a plant that will produce a margarine fortified with a popular omega-3 fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), from growing and cultivating a specific algae species, Crypthecodinium Cohnii. The plant design incorporates all aspects of functional food production, from growing the algae, to refining raw soybean oil (SBO), to making the margarine, with each branch of the food production complying with strict sanitary design guidelines. The final product, Golden Premium Spread, will be the only margarine fortified with DHA available at mainstream health food markets in the United States, allowing the product to obtain a large percentage of the market share rapidly. 10.4 million tubs of margarine per year will be produced, with each tub having 426 grams of margarine. This means that the plant will produce about 2.3 million kilograms of product in the first year.

This plant will be located in Cedar Rapids, IA, giving the facility easy access to a Cargill ethanol plant. The Cargill ethanol plant will be utilized for margarine ingredients, food for the algae, and waste disposal. AlphaAlgae’s Premium Golden Spread production facility will cost $ 42 million to build and will cost $ 15 million per year in operating costs. The payback period for this proposed facility is 5.7 years, and the net present value of the project is $ 84,727,200 million.

Discussion

The health food market has exploded recently, from relatively niche corner stores to mainstream grocery markets like Whole Foods. Along with the growth in the health food market, the public’s knowledge and interest in having a healthy lifestyle has also increased. Golden Premium Spread will fulfill the daily requirements for omega-3 fatty acids and will be of interest to many consumers who shop regularly at health food markets. Our ideal consumer population, people who are invested in healthy eating habits and lifestyle, is increasing and very well informed of any new healthy eating products.

The table spread market enjoys $ 5.2 billion in sales per year. It is a mature market that has decreased slightly in the last decade due to concerns with the health of eating table margarine. A new margarine product advertised as a healthy product will then be able to obtain consumers who do not usually purchase table spread and capture consumers who usually purchase other brands. Premium Golden Spread will enjoy $ 18.4 million per year if it takes 1 % of the table spread market.

Healthy eating is a rapidly growing industry in the 21st century, with more consumers becoming aware of the need for a balanced and nutritious diet. Omega-3 fatty acids are becoming a more integral part of this healthy diet. One specifically, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is linked to the healthy development of infants, and the lack of DHA is affiliated with Alzheimer’s disease. DHA in the past has come from fish oils, but there is potential for mercury or dioxins contamination as well as a fishy odor and taste. Recently, it has been found that DHA can be extracted from algae instead of fish oils. Specific algae strains with high concentrations of DHA can be grown in a controlled environment and then processed, providing an uncontaminated, highly concentrated, and completely vegetarian source of DHA. Once extracted, the DHA-rich oils can then be utilized to create a healthy margarine. About $5.4 billion worth of margarines and table spreads are sold every year, however a DHA-fortified margarine is not currently sold in the United States. As word about the benefits of DHA spreads, it is apparent that the desire for foods fortified with this omega-3 fatty acid will grow. A margarine that is fortified in DHA will be both profitable in industry and beneficial to a public hungry for a healthy diet.

DHA is generally regarded as safe (GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration, so the product will not need to go through any extra tests or vetting. Sanitation at the facility is of the highest importance, and the production plant has been carefully designed with sanitation kept firmly at the forefront of consideration. Each piece of equipment in the food processing section of the facility is built with polished stainless steel, and each section of the plant will be cleaned regularly with a clean in place (CIP) system, ensuring that no microbes will exist in the final product. It is vital that the company enter into the health food market as soon as possible in order to take advantage of the fractured table spread market, in which many different companies vie for a small piece of the overall market, to create and control the niche of healthy table spread. Our product would be the first of its type easily available, and it is thought that our product would make a large impression on the table spread market.

Conclusions and Recommendations

It is believed that this product will perform extraordinarily well in the marketplace. The rise of healthy eating awareness has created a huge demand for healthier versions of common foods, and a healthy table spread would interest a huge percentage of consumers. The payback period of 5 years is then a conservative estimate. It is recommended that production of the plant begin as soon as possible in order to ensure that Golden Premium Spread be the first margarine in the market that can offer the amount of DHA. The table spread market, though large, is a fractured market. This means that there are many different companies that each control a very small percentage of the overall sales. It is relatively easy, then, for a new product, especially one marketed as having health benefits, to break into the market. In conclusion, a product of this type would be very successful in the market and would attract a very large consumer base extremely quickly. It is recommended that the plant be built.

Appendix 1

Design Basis

The size of all equipment and the economic evaluations are based on a 1 % market share in the $ 5.2 billion table spread market. This equates to $ 52 million retail. The product will sell at the market for $ 5, so selling the tubs wholesale will net $ 1.75. In order to satisfy the 1 % market share, 18.4 million tubs of margarine will be produced every year. However, much of the equipment is not running at full capacity, making increased production if the market share increases easy.

Appendix 2

Chemistry and Biology of Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Lipids are molecules used by the body for energy storage, for cell membrane structural building, and for signaling. Lipids include many different categories, and one kind of lipid is the fatty acid. Fatty acids are long chains of hydrocarbons which terminate at a carboxylic acid group. A carboxylic acid is a carbon double bonded to an oxygen molecule and an alcohol, and it creates a hydrophilic end to the fatty acid molecule. The other end, the hydrocarbon chain, is hydrophobic, which allows for the lipid to create cell walls and other structures. The hydrophobic hydrocarbon chain can be saturated or unsaturated. An unsaturated chain includes one or more double bonds while the saturated chain has only single bonds. The term saturated refers to the hydrogens attached to the carbons, and a saturated fatty acid then has the maximum amount of hydrogens bonded to the carbons. For unsaturated fatty acids, the double bond or bonds occur in either cis or trans formation, with cis being the primary form found in nature. Trans bonds in the fatty acid form mostly as a result of processing techniques like partial hydrogenation, though a very small amount does exist naturally as well. A cis double bond has the adjacent hydrogen molecules on the same side of the bond and creates a kink in the hydrocarbon chain. Trans formation, then, is just the opposite, with the adjacent hydrogens appearing on opposite sides of the bond and maintaining the chain’s linear shape. It has been found that trans-fatty acids, primarily because these kind of bonds in fatty acids do not naturally occur, are unhealthy to consume, difficult for the body to process, and lead to such things as coronary heart disease and obesity. Since the discovery of the health risks of trans fats, the public has become very invested in excising these fats from all processed food products, leading to the need for new techniques to replace things like partial hydrogenation.

The body is unable to synthesize double bonds in the fatty acid beyond carbons 9 and 10, so fatty acids like linoleic acid (LA) and alpha-linoleic acid (ALA) are essential. Though omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) can be synthesized from LA and ALA, it is a slow and energy intensive process. Therefore, it is much easier and more beneficial to acquire long chain omega-3 fatty acids, which are used in a variety of bodily functions and processes, through the diet. Omega-3 fatty acids are named for the double bond that exists in the third bond from the methyl end of the carbon chain. Some examples of omega-3 fatty acids are Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), Docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and Docosahexaenoic acid(DHA). Marine oils in particular contain a large amount of these omega-3 fatty acids, but fish, like humans, are unable to synthesize these fatty acids directly. Instead, the fish acquire these fatty acids from consuming algae, and humans acquire the fatty acids from the fish.

This is the DHA molecule. The omega-3 bond at the methyl end of the carbon chain is depicted. The methyl end is denoted as the omega end of the molecule since it is considered the terminal end. Since there are multiple double bonds, DHA is considered a PUFA, and these double bonds are naturally in the cis formation. In cis formation, the hydrogens bonded to adjacent carbons in double bonds are situated on the same side of the bond. This makes the molecule bend or kink, making it easier for the body to process. The figure also depicts the carboxylic acid that is on the other terminal end of the molecule.

Omega-3 fatty acids have been found to be an extremely beneficial part of the diet, with many health benefits that come from consuming an adequate amount of these fatty acids. Some examples of health benefits from consuming omega-3 fatty acids are heart health, cancer prevention, and brain growth and health. DHA in particular has been singled out as a very healthy and beneficial omega-3 fatty acid. DHA, like other omega-3 fatty acids, can be found in various food products, but is found most concentrated in fish oils. These fish oils are highly concentrated in DHA not because the fish can synthesize omega-3 fatty acids, but because the fish consume these fatty acids from microalgae that do produce omega-3 fatty acids.

Appendix 3

Block Flow Diagram

Block Flow Description

Algae is grown in the fermentation stage, and C. Cohnii is the algae type that will be grown in the fermentation stage. This species of algae has been chosen because of the high concentration of DHA that exists in its lipids. After the algae is grown, the algae bodies are separated from the liquid using dissolved air floatation. This process uses air to push the algae to the top of the broth. After the algae is concentrated at the top of the broth, it is separated from the bulk fluid by a scraper. This next step of the process is cell lysing. This step is necessary because the DHA is inside the cell and the cell must be broken in order to extract the oil. This process uses CO2 to pop open the cells using a pressure differential. A centrifuge will then separate the oil from the water, leaving the algae oil that will be used in the margarine process.

The margarine uses refined soybean oil (SBO) that is specially made in a process that leaves zero trans fatty acids. Crude SBO is bought from Cargill in order to be processed in our refining plant. The crude SBO is first degummed because the gums contained in the SBO interfere with the rest of the process. A centrifuge then separates the SBO from the gums. After the gums are separated, the SBO is bleached and deodorized so that the final margarine process has a quality taste. Also in this process, free fatty acids are taken out of the SBO so that the margarine has the correct “mouth feel.” Finally, the last block of the SBO refining process is interesterification. This is a chemical reaction by which the glycerides contained in the SBO are randomly reordered in the triglyceride. This helps the SBO have the right form at the right temperature. If the SBO is too hard, the margarine would not melt at mouth temperature, creating an unpleasant sensation when eaten. If the SBO is too soft, then the margarine would liquefy inside the refrigerator, making it very difficult to spread. The interesterification is used because the more classic method to create margarine that melts and hardens at the right temperatures utilized partial hydrogenation. This created trans fatty acids inside the margarine, which are unhealthy and are avoided in this process.