From marine invaders to advanced materials: A techno-economic blueprint for commercial-scale cellulose nanocrystals from tunicate biomass

This study aimed to assess the technical feasibility and economic viability of cellulose nanocrystals produced from a marine animal, i.e., tunicate. An industrial-scale process simulation model was developed with a 50 tonne/day production capacity of tunicate-based cellulose nanocrystals, at 1% solid. The system boundary included preprocessing and pretreatment of raw tunicate, acid hydrolysis, filtration, and concentration. The minimum selling price of tunicate-based cellulose nanocrystals (1% solids) in the baseline scenario was estimated to be $1.16/kg, and it could be reduced to $0.77/kg by improving the process design parameters in alternative scenarios. Increasing the production scale was identified as an alternative option to further reduce the production costs and minimum selling price of tunicate-based cellulose nanocrystals. The outcomes of this research would help establish the performance targets needed to reach the viability of cellulose nanocrystals production from tunicate at the commercial scale.