Research Information System
Waste Management, vol.211, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
This study conducts a comprehensive techno-economic assessment of chitosan and mold extract recovery from fungal biomass waste by integrating process simulation with advanced experimental design methodologies. Simulation scenarios, developed using the simplex lattice mixture design (SLMD), evaluated the influence of biomass composition on economic performance. Higher chitosan, protein, and glucan levels markedly improved profitability, while optimization via experimental design established a robust basis for scale-up and industrial deployment. Additionally, a two-stage approach combining Taguchi and Box–Behnken designs systematically examined the effects of critical operational parameters on process efficiency and profitability. For a plant processing 773 tons/year of feedstock, the total investment cost was estimated at $3.7 million with a 1.8-year payback. Profitability was found to plateau beyond a certain installed capacity. The proposed framework advances sustainable bioprocessing strategies utilizing agro-industrial and fungal fermentation residues. Ultimately, this work suggests the “Reverse Bioprocess Design” paradigm as a transformative approach for co-optimizing primary and secondary streams toward sustainable, high-value industrial bioprocessing.