Ch.5 — The Chemical Industry • 89 
amjile of the eoiniietition hetween ehemieal and 
hioleehnologieal methods. I'ermentation lias 
been gradually r(>plaeing its produetion In 
ehemieal s\tithesis: in td.SO, 80 peieenl of its 
worldu ide produetion is e.vpeeled to ht> In mi- 
crobes. It is not produced in the Ihiited States, 
which imported about 7,000 tonnes in 1979, 
mostly from Japan and South Korea. Recent 
estimates of primary U.S. cost factors in the 
competing production methods are summarized 
in table 10. Fermentation costs are lower for all 
three components of direct operating costs; 
labor, material, and utilities. 
Table 10.— Summary of Recent Estimates of Primary U.S. Cost Factors in the Production of 
L-Lysine Monohydrochloride by Fermentation and Chemical Synthesis 
Cost factors in production of 98% L-lysine monohydrochloride 
By fermentation^ 
By chemical synthesis^’ 
Requirement 
(units per unit 
Estimated 1976 cost 
per unit product 
Requirement 
(units per unit 
Estimated 1976 cost 
per unit product 
product) 
Cents/lb Cents/kg 
product) 
Cents/lb Cents/lb 
Total laborF 
— 
8 
18 
— 
9 
20 
Materials 
Molasses 
44 
7 
16 
— 
— 
— 
Soybeanmeal, hydrolized . . . 
0.462 
4 
9 
— 
— 
— 
Cyclohexanol 
— 
— 
— 
0.595 
17 
37 
Anhydrous ammonia 
— 
— 
— 
0.645 
6 
14 
Other chemicals'^ 
— 
7 
15 
— 
4 
10 
Nutrients and solvents 
— 
— 
— 
— 
4 
8 
Packaging, operating, and 
maintenance materials . . . 
— 
10 
22 
— 
9 
21 
Total materials 
— 
28 
62 
— 
45 
90 
Total utilities^ 
— 
6 
12 
— 
7 
16 
Total direct operating cost 
— 
42 
92 
— 
56 
126 
Plant overhead, taxes. 
and insurance 
— 
10 
21 
— 
10 
21 
Total cash cost 
— 
52 
11 
— 
66 
147 
Depreciation* 
— 
16 
35 
— 
13 
28 
Interest on working capital 
— 
1 
3 
— 
1 
3 
Total cost9 
— 
69 
151 
— 
80 
178 
^Assumes a 23-percent yield on molasses. 
t>Assumes a 65-percent yield on cyclohexanol. 
'-Includes operating, maintenance, and control laboratory labor. 
•tpor both the process of fermentation and chemical synthesis, assumed use of hydrochloric acid (36 percent) and ammonia (29 percent). For fermentation includes also 
potassium diphosphate, urea, ammonium sulfate, calcium carbonate, and magnesium sulfate. For chemical synthesis also includes nitrosyl chloride, sulfuric acid, 
and a credit for ammonium sulfate byproduct. 
®Total utilities for both processes include cooling water, steam process water, and electricity. For chemical synthesis, natural gas is also included. 
*Ten percent per year of fixed capital costs for a new 20 million lb per year U.S. plant built in 1975 at assumed capital cost of $38.6 x 10‘ for fermentation and $32.5 x 10“ 
for chemical synthesis exclusive of land costs. 
SOURCE: Stanford Research Institute. Chemical Economics Handbook 583:3401, May 1979. 
New process introduction 
The development of biotechnology should be 
viewed not so much as the creation of a new in- 
dustry as the rex’italization of an old one. Both 
fermentation and enzyme technologies will 
have an impact on chemical process de\ elop- 
ment. The first will affect the transition from 
nonrenewable to renewable raw materials. The 
second will allow fermentation-derived prod- 
ucts to enter the chemical conversion chains, 
and will compete directly with traditional chem- 
ical transformations. (See figure 25.) Fermenta- 
tion, by replacing various production steps, 
could act as a complementary technology in the 
overall manufacture of a chemical. 
