Feedstock and biorefinery

Capacity Building Programme

small scale biorefineries24-25 June 2013 Putrajaya

©istockphoto/anna kuzilina

DEFINITION OF BIOMASS

There are several definitions of biomass, the most updated and useful is the

one introduced by the Directive 28/2009 of the European Commission also

known as Renewable Energy Diretive or RED

ARTICLE 2 - DEFINITIONSARTICLE 2 - DEFINITIONS

Point e)

‘biomass’ means the biodegradable fraction of products, waste

and residues from biological origin from agriculture (including

vegetal and animal substances), forestry and related industries

including fisheries and aquaculture, as well as the

biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal waste;

OTHER USEFUL DEFINITIONS INTRODUCED BY THE RENEWABLE ENERGY DIRECTIVE

ARTICLE 2 – DEFINITIONS

(h) ‘bioliquids’ means liquid fuel for energy purposes other than for

transport, including electricity and heating and cooling, produced

from biomass;

(i) ‘biofuels’ means liquid or gaseous fuel for transport produced

from biomass;

CLASSIFICATION OF BIOMASSNatural forests/woodlands. Forests are defined as having a canopy closure

of 80 per cent or more, while woodland has a canopy closure of between 10

and 80 per cent. This category will also include forest residues.

Forest plantations. These plantations include both commercial plantations

(pulp and paper, furniture) and energy plantations (trees dedicated to producing

energy such as charcoal, and other energy uses).

agro-industrial plantations. These are forest plantations specifically designed

to produce agro-industrial raw materials, with wood collected as a byproduct.to produce agro-industrial raw materials, with wood collected as a byproduct.

Examples include tea, coffee, rubber trees, oil and coconut palms,

bamboo plantations and tall grasses

Agricultural crops. These are crops grown specifically for food, fodder, fibre or

energy production

Crop residues. These include crop and plant residues produced in the field.

Examples include cereal straw, leaves and plant stems.

Animal wastes. Pig and cow manure, poultry litter, pig slurry, residues of

slaughterhouses etc.

Unified Bioenergy Terminology – FAO 2004

fao.orgfao.org

Biomass feedstocks

•Polymeric compounds

• High degree of functionality

• High content in heteroatoms such as N,

P and O

Broad chemical classification of

biomass

•Starch

•Triglycerids (oil + fat)

•Cellulose (and lignin)

•Proteins

Ligno-cellulosic biomass

•Holds the highest potential

for biorefineries

•Abudant

•Relatively cheap compared

to oils and starchesto oils and starches

•Can be converted into

many products

Ligno-cellulosic biomass

CELLULOSE

Long chains of ONE type of ”beads” (polymer

of glucose)

•Forming crystals - crystalline

•Same chemical structure in every plant

C6 sugars

Hemicellulose

•Long branched sugar chains (polymer, polysaccharide)

•Amorphous

•Composition varies largely from species to species

•C6 and/or C5 sugars•C6 and/or C5 sugars

Lignin

•Branched long-chain molecule (polymer)

made up of 3 types of monomers

•Amorphous (non-crystalline)

•Composition varies from species to species

•Is the binder in all plants gluing the cellulose •Is the binder in all plants gluing the cellulose

fibres together

NEW VALUE-CHAINS FOR BIOMASS CONVERSION

•The cellulose fibers can efficiently be decomposed enzymatically to a C6

monomer sugar platform. This platform can be used for fermentation into

bioethanol, biochemicals, or biomaterials, e.g.bioplastics. It can also be used for

products such as pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals.

•Hemi-cellulose is a highly complex structure. It is richly branched with side

branches of a multitude of different types of lengths and composition. This branches of a multitude of different types of lengths and composition. This

complexity holds potentials in itself to be developed into products of higher value

than biofuel. A potential which is depleted if it is decomposed into monomer

sugars, loosing all of nature´s complexity. The option is to keep the complexity and

develop it into dietary fibers and prebiotics.

•The lignin has developed into a valuable feedstock for a biorefinery process,

leading to a multitude of different value added products (i.e. Borregaard

biorefinery, Norway (www.lignotech.com).

Source: L.Lange - BE-Sustainable no.3

Different biomass different composition

Biomass from palm EFB

Pre-treatment needed to expose fibers to agents in

biological pathways

BIOREFINING AND LIGNINS

Like the paper industry, the emerging

biorefining industry will produce large

amounts of lignins, which are major

components of ligno-cellulosic biomass

(approximately 20 % dry weight).

A challenge for biorefiners is how to best use

lignins. lignins.

Current use mainly for power generation

However they should be viewed as valuable

chemical phenolic-based intermediates that

can be used to develop a whole range of

added value finalized products

Source: biocore-europe.org

Major structural components of

plants, and confer to woody biomass

its mechanical structure and

resistance to environmental stress

and microbial decay.

From a chemical perspective, lignins

BIOREFINING AND LIGNINS

From a chemical perspective, lignins

are highly complex ramified poly-

phenolic polymers, whose structures

are not completely defined despite

many decades of research.

From an environmental perspective, lignins are a renewable source of

aromatic compounds which can substitute oil-based phenolics.

Source: biocore-europe.org

•Lignins produced by paper pulping processes are the most common and widely

available lignins today (several Mt per annum at the global scale).

•Lignins from Kraft pulping are most common and usually burnt to generate heat

and power.

•Currently, the main source of isolated industrial lignins suitable for different

applicationsis the Sulfite pulping process (approximately 1 Mt per annum) , which

employs sulfur dioxide.

•The growing biorefinery industry is also now set to produce lignins, whose

characteristics will differ from those obtained in conventional paper pulping

processes.

•The prospect of high level production of cellulosic ethanol means that lignins from

biorefineries will become increasingly available, thus creating an even greater

commercial offer and opportunities for new products.

•Rough estimates of future lignin availability indicate that in Europe alone (EU-25),

up to 16 Mt/year of lignin could be produced by biorefineries in the next decades.

Source: biocore-europe.org

Current uses for lignins

Most Kraft lignins are burnt within paper mills to generate heat and power, thus

providing energy autonomy and lowered operating costs.

The majority of lignosulfonates are used as additives in the building sector, where they

provide plasticity and flowability to concrete. Lignosulfonates are also used as binders in

animal feed pellets and can also be used as additives in animal feed preparations.

LIGNINS AND LIGNIN DERIVATIVES AS BIORENEWABLE BUILDING BLOCKS

In future applications lignins can be used in the manufacture of wood panels,

polyurethanes, polyesters and phenolic resins, thus covering both the glue and

bioplastcis sectors.

The CIMV organosolv process provides a lignin fraction (Biolignin™) that displays

BioligninTM based plywood production at CHIMAR lab. Source biocore-europe.org

•The manufacture of various bulk and speciality chemicals, biofuels, materials and other

biomass-derived products in different biorefinery processes depends heavily on the

availability of efficient fractionation, separation and purification processes.

Feedstock and Pre-treatment

•Pre-treatment processes include collection, physical separation (e.g. of bark from

wood) and other processes that yield biomass or biomass fractions with the

appropriate size or shape for further processing

•Currently, various biomass extraction and fractionation processes are used industrially

in volumes ranging from hundreds of kilograms to hundreds of millions of tonnes.

•Several novel fractionation technologies are still under development and are likely to

reach commercial scale in the near future

A key feature of the majority of lignocellulosic biomass fractionation processes is that

they are almost exclusively aimed at producing only one product, while sacrificing

significant proportions of the remaining material.

Fractionation technologies by biomass type

Sugar and Starch crops

mature processes using large volumes raw material include

• sugar extraction from beet and cane,

•fractionation of cereals and other starch-rich crops

•chemical pulping of wood and other lignocellulosic materials.

Used for a very long time and have been well optimised.Used for a very long time and have been well optimised.

Oliseeds

Organic solvents (most commonly hexane), used to extract oil from seeds .

Challenge to develop alternative extraction methods, moving away from petroleum-

derived solvents.

Microwave technology can be used to separate residual oil from the press cake.

This can improve yields of oil, as well as simplifying further processing steps.

Proteins

Grain proteins (gluten, pea protein, rapeseed/sunflower press cake)

are valuable for food and feed after separation.

For oilseeds, proteins in the press cake are used as feed after oil has been extracted.

These processes have been used for very long time and are well optimised.

Ligno-cellulosicLigno-cellulosic

Conventional chemical pulping processes, globally handling over 300 million tonnes of

wood and over 30 million tonnes of non-wood raw materials, are based on two main

methods:

• the dominant Kraft process, working under alkaline conditions,

• the less commonly used acidic sulphite processes.

In both of these processes, cellulose fibres (for papermaking or chemical cellulose

applications) are recovered by reactive extraction of lignin, hemicelluloses, and certain

minor constituents from the feedstock. Under normal process conditions, the

extracted materials typically also undergo various degradation reactions.

Physical

comminution (grinding to particle size) and gamma-ray treatment

Chemical

Use of acids, alkali, organic acids and ionic liquids.

Biological

use of microorganisms (usually fungi) for the degradation of lignin and

Various types of pre-treatment technologies available

use of microorganisms (usually fungi) for the degradation of lignin and

hemicellulose

Multiple usually physical plus chemical:

steam(explosion)treatment,

liquid hot water (170oC to 230oC)

dilute acid (less than 4% by weight) plus heat

ammonia fiber/freeze explosion (AFEX)

lime plus wet oxidation pretreatment

organosolve pretreatment.

Thermochemical value-chains

Biological value-chains