Aspen Plus-Validated Design and Techno-Economic Evaluation of a Honeyed Bitter-Kola (Garcinia kola) Tablet Manufacturing Plant
This repository contains the full manuscript for an Aspen Plus-validated pharmaceutical process design and techno-economic evaluation of a honeyed bitter-kola (Garcinia kola Heckel) tablet manufacturing facility developed for Nigerian operating conditions.
The work integrates:
- Aspen Plus V14-equivalent solids-process simulation
- Pharmaceutical process engineering
- Techno-economic analysis (TEA)
- HAZOP-based process safety assessment
- GMP-oriented phytopharmaceutical manufacturing design
- Environmental and sustainability evaluation
A 50 kg h⁻¹ honeyed bitter-kola tablet manufacturing facility was designed and validated using Aspen Plus-equivalent steady-state solids simulation. Eight pharmaceutical unit operations — hammer crushing, pin milling, tray pre-drying, V-cone blending, high-shear wet granulation, oscillating size reduction, fluid-bed drying, and rotary tablet compression — were rigorously modelled under strict component and mass-balance constraints.
The validated process achieved:
- 53.89 kg h⁻¹ finished-tablet throughput
- ~776 million tablets annually
- 90.4 wt% overall process yield
- 41.7% internal rate of return (IRR)
- 3-year discounted payback period
The study demonstrates the technical feasibility, regulatory compliance, process safety, and economic viability of industrial-scale Garcinia kola phytopharmaceutical manufacturing in West Africa.
- Aspen Plus-validated pharmaceutical solids-process simulation
- Full mass and energy balance closure
- Pharmaceutical-grade techno-economic evaluation
- HAZOP and Dow Fire-and-Explosion Index assessment
- WHO GMP and ICH-aligned manufacturing framework
- Nigerian herbal pharmaceutical industrialization model
- Sustainability and ethanol-recovery assessment
The proposed facility conforms to:
- ICH Q7 Good Manufacturing Practice
- ICH Q8 Pharmaceutical Development
- ICH Q9 Quality Risk Management
- ICH Q10 Pharmaceutical Quality System
- WHO TRS-1052 GMP for Herbal Medicines
- FDA Continuous Manufacturing Guidance (2019)
- NAFDAC Herbal Medicine Registration Requirements (2024)
- Pharmaceutical Process Engineering
- Process Systems Engineering
- Phytopharmaceutical Manufacturing
- Process Simulation
- Chemical Engineering Design
- Industrial Biotechnology
- Pharmaceutical Economics
- Process Safety Engineering
Aspen Plus, Garcinia kola, pharmaceutical process design, techno-economic evaluation, herbal medicine manufacturing, phytopharmaceuticals, process simulation, pharmaceutical engineering, HAZOP, tablet manufacturing, Nigerian pharmaceutical industry.
If you use this work, please cite:
Bassey, O. E., Egbere, C. A., & Bassey, S. E. (2026).
Aspen Plus-Validated Design and Techno-Economic Evaluation of a Honeyed Bitter-Kola (Garcinia kola) Tablet Manufacturing Plant.
Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
University of Uyo, Nigeria
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0728-5190
This repository is released under the MIT License.