| dc.description.abstract | Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol commonly used as a low-calorie sweetener and additive
in food and pharmaceutical products. In the context of commercial sorbitol
production, catalytic hydrogenation process is preferred due to its significant
advantages in terms of economics, conversion, and selectivity. The main objective
of this preliminary design of a sorbitol production plant is to assess its feasibility.
The plant is designed with a production capacity of 14,000 tons/year, using
dextrose monohydrate and hydrogen gas as raw materials. The hydrogenation
reaction is carried out at a pressure of 120 atm and a temperature of 115 ºC, using
ruthenium catalyst supportted on silica in a trickle bed reactor. To fulfill market
demands, sorbitol is concentrated using a short tube evaporator to obtain a 70%
sorbitol solution. The plant is planned to be established in the Medan Industrial
Area, North Sumatra, with a land area of 14,357 m2 and a workforce of 171
employees. The utility requirements for plant operation include medium pressure
steam of 1,556.6708 kg/h, cooling water of 30,011.7837 kg/h, electricity of 350 kW,
and diesel fuel of 69.5294 kg/h. The establishment and operation of this plant
require an investment capital of Rp387,834,735,576 and production costs of
Rp344,414,618,495. Based on the feasibility analysis, the plant has Breakeven
Point (BEP) of 52.9023%, Return on Investment (ROI) after tax of 33.1688%,
Payout Time (POT) after tax of 3 years, Return on Net Worth (RONW) of 58.6147%,
and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 37.0390%. Based on the review and feasibility
analysis conducted, the sorbitol producing plant from dextrose monohydrate and
hydrogen gas using ruthenium catalyst supported on silica with production
capacity of 14,000 tons/year is deemed worthy of further investigation. | en_US |
