However, we’ve found that payback period is a particularly powerful measurement when a company wants to justify the cost of its investment in the most direct economic terms possible. This post is going to show you why.
Naturally, there are a number of factors that impact a payback period, and the initial cost of the unit is only one of them. To truly understand how much a solvent distillation unit will help you save, you need to consider all of your current solvent-related expenses. This can be determined by asking questions related to these major spend categories below:
Even if some of these figures seem difficult to harvest, simply considering many of them will help justify the initial cost of an industrial still.
Determining payback period in relation to your current solvent spend is arguably the easiest—and most impactful—way to justify the return of your cost for a solvent distillation unit/still. To underscore this point, we’ve provided examples below using two common industrial solvents, acetone and toluene.
In this example, we assumed a modest solvent need (15 gallons daily) and estimated modest solvent costs. Large-volume solvent users will often pay less for solvent purchases than depicted here and, comparatively, small-volume users will have higher costs on a per-gallon basis.
Acetone |
Toluene |
|
Assumed solvent cost per gallon Assumed volume of solvent used daily |
$5.00/G 15 G |
$7.00/G 15 G |
Total solvent cost per day Working days/year |
$75.00/day 200 days |
$105.00/day 200 days |
Total solvent cost/year Solvent recovery yield |
$15,000.00 90+% |
$21,000.00 90+% |
Solvent cost recovered (direct cost) |
$24,300.00 |
$18,900.00 |
15-Gallon Standard Recycler |
< 18 months |
< 10 months |
Again, this is just an example using modest solvent needs/costs. Your payback period will be reduced and your ROI increased if:
Once you've determined how long it will take you to pay back your solvent distillation unit/still, you can start thinking about long-term ROI and how you’ll reinvest that additional savings in your facility. Think of solvent recycling as one crucial part of your lean journey; with these savings, you can invest in other processes such as Five S and Six Sigma.
And while solvent recycling is environmentally friendly, the savings it delivers could be used to invest in additional operational and/or environmental initiatives. Purchasing an industrial solvent recycler/still is one of the best ways to kick off a major green initiative within your facility.
At CBG Biotech, we rely on a set of customer-first core values that promote ethical and honest behavior, personal accountability, and teamwork to deliver the solutions that set customers up for success. If you have a question or would like more info, please call 800-941-9484 (and press option 3 for support) or get in touch with us online today!