Abstract
This study evaluates the environmental performance of a heat-integrated avocado oil biorefinery using a combined process-integration and life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. Heat-integration strategies were implemented to improve resource efficiency and reduce the environmental impacts associated with the valorization of avocado processing side streams. Foreground data were obtained from detailed process simulations, while background systems were modeled using the ecoinvent database under a cradle-to-gate system boundary. The heat-integrated design achieves substantial reductions in utility demand, with external heating and cooling requirements decreased by approximately 90–95%, resulting in significantly lower steam and cooling-water consumption in the life cycle inventory. Compared with a previously published non-integrated baseline, the integrated system demonstrates marked environmental benefits, including an approximately 50% reduction in climate-change impacts, with similar reductions across other impact categories driven by decreased energy use. Overall, the results highlight the importance of energy optimization and heat integration in improving the sustainability of emerging biorefinery systems and circular agri-food value chains.
