Process model and techno-economic analysis of natural astaxanthin production from microalgae incorporating geospatial variabilities

Microalgae possess tremendous potential to meet the ever-increasing demand for food, feed, energy and fuels in a sustainable manner. Microalgae-based natural products are poised to compete with synthetic products in the market. A comprehensive theoretical approach was developed to determine economic feasibility of natural astaxanthin production from microalgae at various locations in the United States. A detailed economic analysis was conducted to determine natural astaxanthin production costs considering residual biomass utilization for various locations. Baseline production costs of astaxanthin were found to range from 1400 to 5000 $ kg−1 for the different locations. The results suggest that both microalgae productivity potential and astaxanthin production costs are heavily influenced by geographic location and type of bioreactor used. While production costs of natural astaxanthin are found to be higher than those of synthetic astaxanthin, economic analysis reveals significant opportunity for the economic viability of natural microalgae-based astaxanthin production in commercial scales.