Biomass for future biorefineries

Anne-Belinda Bjerre, senior scientist, ph.d.

Anne-Belinda Bjerre (Thomsen)

Senior research scienist, B.Sc. Chem. Eng.

Ph.d. in biotechnology

25 years of expertise within biological and chemical processes

on waste management including 2G bioethanol production and

biorefinery.

Publications:

68 peer reviewed articles

55 printed abstracts and proccedings

> 60 presentations at international conferences

6 patents

13th of July

Biomass for future biofinery, platforms and classification

Bioethanol from biomass

Pretreatment technologies

IBUS concept

BioGasol concept

LUNCH

Ethanol production from straw (exercise)

Algae for biofuel production (a case study)

EuroBioref

14th of July

Chemicals from biomass

Top 30 list of chemical building blocks and selection criteria.

Star diagrams and conversion technologies of selcted building blocks

Cereal bran biorefinery for value-added products

LUNCH

Biocomposites

Co-production of biogas and fertilizer

Exercise: Identification of collaboration projects in Malaysia and Denmark

State of the art

In 2050, world population will be about

11 billion people

with same requireries for

- food

- energy

-and materials

Today, almost all energy and materials needed depend on depleting oil and natural gas ressources

State of the art

”10% of the oil we extract is used to make organic

chemicals and related materials.

A remarkable additional 10% is used for energy to

drive the chemical reactions.”

Clark & Deswarte 2008

Sustainability - one definition (the first)

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of

the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Brundtland commission, 1987

A step forward to fulfill this goal is..

to replace fossil fuel with renewable fuels and energy

to replace fossil chemicals with biomass based chemicals and materials

The biorefinery

DK 2005

Gasolin: 2,1 mill. m3

Diesel: 2,3 mill. m3

25-30% of total CO2 emision

EU-target – substitution gasolin with med biofuels:

2010: 5,75 %

2020: 10 %

State of the art: transport, DK 2007

Biofuel targets for selcted major economies

(status 2008)

Country (group) Blending target

or mandate

Quantity or

share

Target year

Brazil M 25% ethanol

5% biodiesel

2007

2013

Canada M 5% ethanol

2% biodiesel

2010

2012

China T 15% fuel for

transportation

2020

EU-27 T 10% of

transportation fuel

2020

India M 10% ethanol

5% biodiesel

2008

2012

Japan T 6 billion litres 2020

USA* M 134 billion litres =

36 billion gallons

2022

*currently gasolin market : 140 billion gallons/year

History of bio-ethanol (fuel ethanol)

production in USA

Ethanol Production in US

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

Millo

n o

f G

allo

ns p

er

Year

All 1G ethanol

Estimation of USA’s bioethanol needs

Target in 2022: 36 billion gallons/year

Todays situation (2007 numbers):

Corn ethanol equals 15 billion gallons/year

21 billion gallons/year will come from cellulosic ethanol and

other advanced biofuels.

Why plant biomass?

Plants are stored solar energy and (almost) CO2 neutral

Plant production:

CO2 + H2O + sunlight (chlorophyll) (CH2O)n + O2

Combustion of plants (or plant products):

(CH2O)n + O2 Energy + H2O + CO2

Without fossil oil and gas, plants are the ONLY organic substances for

future energy carriers, materials and chemicals

Biomasses – starch, crops and forrest residues, and waste

Plant cell walls contain sugars and lignin

Cellulose Hemicellulose

Lignin

Feedstocks Recycle time

Algae 1 month

Agricultural crops 3 month – 1 year

Grasses 1 year

Shrubs 1 -5 years

Trees 5 -80 years

Oil, Gas and Coal 200 million years

Recycle (or renewable) times for biomass/chemical feedstocks

From : The enginnering of chemical reactions. 2nd ed. Pp532 Oxford, 2005

Replacement of fossil fuel with biomass

Clark & Deswarte 2008

Chemical compositions: biomass and petroleum

Main differences:

Petroleum components: High reactivity with O2 (higher burning value)

High density (small volume)

Biomass components: Low(er) reactivity with O2

Low density reduction in volume is needed

The most expensive techologies in a biorefinery are pretreatment

and fractionation (≈ 60% of production cost)

Choice of biomass resources for energy

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

MtO

E

2003 2010 2020 2030

Year

Wood

Waste

Crops

IEA

Biorefinery

Definition:

Integrated and combined processes for the conversion of biomass into

a variety of food, feed, chemicals, biomaterials, and energy – at the same

time maximising the value of the biomass and minimising the waste

Biorefinery and the wide range of

products

Kamm and Kamm 2004

Different types of biorefineries

Phase I biorefinery : Single feedstock, single process and single major product

Phase II biorefinery : Single feedstock, multiple processes and multiple products

Phase III biorefinery: Multiple feedstocks, multiple processes and multiple major products

Phase I biorefinery – the biodiesel process

oil

Clark & Deswarte 2008

Oil crops (Rape

+sunflower seeds)

Pressing

Oil

Glycerine Biodiesel Chemicals +

polymers

Chem. reactions Estherification

Animal

feed

Main product

Sofiproteol (France)

state of the art: commercial

stakeholders: private equity fonds,

raw mat suppliers, application

developers

Distillation

DDGS

(fodder)

Yeast

Fermenta-

tion Sugar

Corn

Kernels Starch

Conversion

Fuel ethanol

(main product)

Phase I biorefinery: 1st generation starch

bioethanol

Starch crops (wheat, barley etc.)

Sugar crops

(Sugar beet)

Mechanical

fractionation

Enzymatic hydrolysis

C6 sugars

Fermentation

Bioethanol

Animal feed

Crop energies AG (Germany)

State of the art: Commercial

Owner: Südzucker Bioethanol GmbH

Main product

Classification: C6 sugars refinery (Phase I

BioRef)

Lignocellulose biorefinery: Phase II

Clark & Deswarte 2008

Lignocellulosic

residues (straw)

Pretreatment

C6 sugars

Fermentation

Hydrolysis

C5 sugars Lignin

Combustion

Bioethanol Electricity

+ heat

Animal

feed

Separation/

destillation

Inbicon IBUS (Denmark)

State of the art: Pilot

Owner: Inbicon A/S (subsidiary of

DONG Energy)

Classification: C6/C5 sugars and lignin

refinery (Phase I BioRef)

Lignocellulosic

crops or residues

Pretreatment

C6 sugars

Fermentation

Hydrolysis

C5 sugars Lignin

Bioethanol

Hydrolysis Upgrading

Biomaterials

(lignin)

Chemicals

(furfural)

Lignol (Canada)

State of the art: fully

integrated, continous

process pilot plant

Stakeholders: Sustainable

Development Technology

Canada

Classification: C6/C5 sugars and lignin

refinery (Phase II BioRef)

Lignocellulosic

residues

Pretreatment

Syngas

Synthetic

biofuels (FT)

Gasification

FT synthesis Combustion

Electricity +

heat

alternative pathway

Choren (Germany)

State of the art: Demonstration

Stakeholders: Agriculture, forestry,

chemistry, transports sectors

Classification: Syngas biorefinery (Phase I

BioRef)

Whole crop biorefinery

Starch crops

(wheat, barley etc.)

Lignocellulosic

crops

Mechanical

fractionation Pretreatment

C6 sugars

Chem. conv. to

furanics

Chemicals +

polymers

Enzymatic

hydrolysis

C5 sugars Lignin

Combustion

Synthetic

biofuels

Electricity +

heat

Aventium Furanics (the

Netherlands)

State of the art: Concept

Owners: Private funds, raw mat

suppliers, aplication develoopers

Classification: C6/C5 sugars and lignin

refinery (Phase III BioRef)

A Biorefinery: The rape plant case

Efthalia Arvaniti, Anne Belinda Thomsen Biosystems Division, Risø National Laboratory for sustainable energy, DTU,

P.O. Box 49, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark, thalia.arvaniti@risoe.dk

•Only in 2007, 18 Mt of rape (Brassica napus L.) were harvested in EU for canola oil and biodiesel production

•Biorefineries produce multiple added-value products from a single plant, by recycling streams, and practically exploiting all parts of the plant in the best way

•Applying a biological platform, eco-friendliness and reduced costs are put priority

•Biodiesel is produced by ethanol transesterification of oil with intracellular lipases. Glycerol is a also produced in a pure form

•Rapeseed cake is protein-rich fodder

•Glucosinolates present in rapeseed cake, can be used as soil conditioner and natural herbicide and insecticide, whereas when present in rapeseed cake lower quality of fodder.

•Pretreatment of straw with oxygen removes releases three materials.

•Cellulose (monopolymer of glucose) can be converted to ethanol via yeast fermentation, after hydrolysis of sugars with cellulolytic enzymes

•Hemicellulose (heteropolymer of C-6 sugars) can be converted into biohydrogen via a two stage reaction. In the first one, acetogenic and homoacetogenic bacteria operate on hydrogen production and VFA. And in the second stage, cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) via near-IR photosynthesis convert acetic acid into hydrogen and CO2

•Lignin can be burned for CHP. some part of the lignin that is oxidized in phenols can be processed to biogas, together with produced organic acids produced through the straw process line

The project is funded by Det Strategiske Forskningråd

•Facts of the Bio-REF biorefinery:

• 8 different groups working

• 5 process lines

Drivers for IEA’s ”Strategy Plan 2010-2016”

for member countries

Security of energy supply

Reduce dependency of fossil fuel

Reduce green house gas emission

Develop sustainable, non-food biomass resources for

bioenergy applications

Large scale development and new technologies for bioenergy

production

Support energy policy development

Promoting IEA bodies and their global energy and

environmental strategies

Thank you for your attention!