Zero CO₂emission preliminary plant design of cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) surfactant from hydrogenated palm kernel oil (HPKO)

Cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) is major raw material to generate surfactant and there is only one plant in Indonesia producing CAPB. It is predicted the demand of CAPB in Indonesia reach 53,000 ton annually. Following this journal, a surfactant plant with zero CO2 emission is designed which located at Special Economic Region (KEK) Sei Mangkei, North Sumatra with 70,000 TPA capacity production. Based on the analysis of mass and heat balance need 14,500 TPA HPKO, 81,500 TPA CWS, 6,000 TPA LPS, 2,650 TPA MPS. According to equipment specification, 49,564.34 kJ/hr electricity is needed for this plant. Processing HPKO into CAPB has 2 main reactions, amidation and quaternization. Amidation is reaction to create intermediate product, amidoamine from reaction of HPKO with DMAPA using batch stirred reactor with 96% conversion at 3.5 barg and 140°C. Quaternization is reaction between amidoamine and sodium monochloroacetic acid (SMCA) using 2 series plug flow reactor to reach 96% conversion. The result of reaction is CAPB 30% which cooled first, then distribute to the consumers. Total Capital Investment required is $37,359,880.75 where consists of 3 years construction and 20 years production with IRR 39.64%, Pay Out Time 5.65 years, and WACC 13%.