The Design of an Intensified Process and Production Plant for Cosmetic Emulsions Using Amazonian Oils

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors,

The study focuses on applying process intensification (PI) which is a modern engineering approach aimed at making chemical processes more efficient, compact, and sustainable. The use of PI to extract plant oils from Morete and Ungurahua for cosmetic emulsion production is a novel and forward-thinking approach, especially in the context of the cosmetics industry, which often relies on traditional extraction methods.

As the target are specific Amazonian fruits (Morete and Ungurahua) as raw materials, this aspect also suggests innovation in sustainable sourcing and potential valorization of underutilized biodiversity.

Besides, The study combines sustainability, digital simulation, process intensification, and economic viability, and all of which point to a clearly innovative approach within the fields of process engineering and cosmetic product manufacturing.

Therefore i highly recommand the publication of this study.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This manuscript presents a significant contribution to sustainable cosmetic production using Amazonian resources. The application of process intensification principles demonstrates clear economic and environmental benefits. With the suggested revisions, particularly regarding methodological details and environmental analysis, this paper would make a valuable addition to the literature on sustainable agro-industrial processes. The work's practical implications for regional development in the Amazon region add further significance to the research.

Here are my comments and suggestions for authors for the minor revision of the manuscript.

1. Title Correction: The title contains a grammatical error ("and Plant and for") that should be corrected.
2. Methodological Details: The paper would benefit from more detailed explanation of the process intensification principles applied. While the sharing of equipment between extraction lines is well-described, other intensification techniques could be more thoroughly discussed.
3. Environmental Analysis: While Table 1 presents environmental indicators, a more comprehensive discussion of these values and their implications would strengthen the sustainability argument. Consider adding comparative benchmarks from similar industries.
4. Economic Analysis Transparency: The economic analysis would benefit from more transparent presentation of assumptions used in calculating NPV and payback period (e.g., discount rate, operational costs breakdown).
5. Future Research Directions: The discussion of emerging technologies in Section 4 (lines 364-372) presents valuable ideas for future research. Consider expanding this into a dedicated section with more specific recommendations.
6. Circular Economy Integration: The discussion of press cake valorization (lines 361-363) could be expanded with more specific examples of potential applications to strengthen the circular economy argument.
7. Layout Principles: The explanation of layout principles (Sections 3.2.1-3.2.6) is thorough but could benefit from more explicit connection to operational efficiency metrics.
8. Figure Quality: Particularly Figure 6 process flow diagrams would benefit from simplified presentation or explanation in figure text to improve readability.
9. Technical Accessibility: Consider adding brief explanations of specialized terminology to make the paper more accessible to readers outside the chemical engineering field.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The current title contains a grammatical issue (“and Plant and for”) that affects clarity. I suggest revising it to:

“Design of an Intensified Process and Production Plant for Cosmetic Emulsions Using Amazonian Oils”

This version improves grammatical accuracy and enhances readability while preserving the original meaning.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript has potential to be consider but I will suggest you few recommendations;

1) included the workflow in better way in the abstract ， the abstract is somehow confusing, it's not represent the contents included.

2) To reduce investment and acquisition costs, process intensification can be consid-106 ered. According to [24], process intensification represents one of the most promising areas 107 for industrial development. This approach involves modifying conventional processes or 108 developing novel technologies to lower energy consumption, enhance yields, and im-109 prove product quality. Include the approach.

3) Figure 1. Life cycle of an integrated design project. Taken from Dimian [26] . If you are reproducing the Dimian method, then what's are the novelty of your work. Atleast modified the method by any unique step or process and show their comparison.

4) Plant layout was developed using Richard Muther’s Systematic Layout Planning 157 (SLP) methodology (1968), as shown in Figure 3. Why old methodology is still applicable, why not you are using new methodology?

5) To estimate the production capacity of cosmetic emulsion from Morete and Ungu-204 rahua, 2.5 kg of Morete and 10.5 kg of Ungurahua were used to produce a total of 18.98 205 kg of cosmetic emulsion, with 13 kg coming from the main ingredients, and the produc-206 tion ratio was calculated by dividing the amount of cream produced by the total ingredi-207 ents, resulting in a production rate of 1.46 kg of cream per kilogram of ingredients. How the amount was calculated , included the whole procedure.

6) Use recent literature.and enhance the conclusion section.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Considerable 

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf