Integrated Water–Energy–Product Assessment of Creole-Antillean Avocado Oil Processing

Northern Colombian Creole-Antillean avocado constitutes a promising agroindustrial resource because of its lipid-rich composition and regional availability. Despite this potential, the industrial exploitation of this biomass remains limited, particularly regarding the technical assessment of large-scale oil production systems. In this study, an avocado oil production process was evaluated through computer-aided simulation combined with the Water–Energy–Product (WEP) methodology to assess operational behavior, resource utilization, and process efficiency from an integrated technical perspective. The evaluated system achieved an overall production yield of 9.43%, mainly affected by the elevated raw material requirements associated with oil generation. Nevertheless, the extraction stage exhibited favorable technical performance, reaching an oil recovery efficiency of 81.42%. Concerning water management, the process required 26.85 m3/t of freshwater and generated wastewater equivalent to 96.05% of the total water consumed, revealing important limitations related to water integration and recirculation within the process configuration. From an energy perspective, the system presented a specific energy intensity of 19,929 MJ/t, with natural gas representing the predominant energy source throughout the operation. Overall, the obtained results demonstrate that the proposed process is technically viable for avocado oil production while also identifying critical opportunities for improving resource utilization, decreasing water demand, and enhancing the operational sustainability of the system.