Produção de ácido levulínico a partir do bagaço da laranja para a obtenção de γ-valerolactona

Abstract

The objective of the present work was to design an industrial unit producing γ-valerolactone using levulinic acid obtained from the orange pomace. The venture created is the first producing industry in Brazil and the only supplier of the product to the Brazilian domestic market, operating with a daily production of 20 tons in the industrial district of the city of Araraquara, in the interior of the State of São Paulo. The plant's capacity aims to circumvent the use of orange pomace from the state of São Paulo for low-profit purposes, such as animal feed production. The commercialization price of γ-valerolactone was defined as R$ 8716,80/kg and the initial investment is R$ 22.201.729,66. When estimating the useful life of the project at 10 years, the payback obtained was 4-5 years, NPV equivalent to R$ 5,58E+12 and IRR equal to 66%. It was concluded that the project is economically viable and due to the large amount of orange pomace available in the country, it would be possible to expand and even create new units.