Alfalfa Dehydration, Separation and Storage: Costs and Capital Requirements

Cost per ton for separating chopped alfalfa into high protein and high fiber fractions ranged from $3.24 in the smallest model producing 4,950 tons per year to $0.30 in the largest producing 17,325 tons per year. Operating costs were synthesized using the economic-engineering approach to determine the economic feasibility of the USDA-developed separating technique. Cost for three alternative separation flows in six models of different capacities were analyzed. Investment per plant increased between $64,000 to $81,500 for additional equipment and storage facilities. The total cost of dehydration and separation was the greatest in the smaller models, $21.61 per ton. The largest model had the lowest cost, $11.31 per ton. Assuming 60 percent of each models output was stored, average per ton cost increased to $26.22 in the smaller and to $14.72 in the larger model.