Abstract
The increasing production and consumption of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) have led to the generation of large amounts of agro-industrial residues, creating the need for sustainable, safe, and economically viable valorization alternatives. In this context, biorefineries represent an attractive approach for converting avocado hard waste into value-added products; however, their implementation requires a rigorous evaluation of process safety to prevent accidents and operational risks. This study presents an inherent safety assessment of a multiproduct biorefinery based on avocado hard waste from southern Colombia, designed to produce starch and two bio-based films, using the Numerical Descriptive Inherent Safety Technique (NuDIST). Unlike traditional index-based methods, NuDIST employs numerical scoring to evaluate chemical and process-related hazards, including flammability, explosiveness, toxicity, operating temperature, pressure, and heat of reaction. Technical data were compiled from literature sources, safety data sheets, and specialized databases to support the categorization of hazards and the definition of evaluation ranges. The results yielded a total NuDIST score of 333.9, indicating a moderate but acceptable inherent safety level when compared with similar processes reported in the literature. Chemical hazards were found to dominate the overall risk profile, mainly due to the use of sulfuric acid, while operating conditions contributed less significantly to the total score. Additionally, the biorefinery achieved an overall production yield of 78%, demonstrating that the process is not only inherently safe but also technically and environmentally feasible. These findings highlight the usefulness of NuDIST as a simple, consistent, and less subjective tool for inherent safety assessment in emerging biorefinery systems and contribute to closing existing gaps in the application of inherent safety methodologies to agro-industrial waste valorization processes.
