Commercializing Biorefinery Technology: A Case for the Multi-Product Pathway to a Viable Biorefinery

Abstract

While there may be many reasons why very interesting science ideas never reach commercial practice, one of the more prevalent is that the reaction or process, which is scientifically possible, cannot be made efficient enough to achieve economic viability. One pathway to economic viability for many business sectors is the multi-product portfolio. Research, development, and deployment of viable biorefinery technology must meld sound science with engineering and business economics. It is virtually axiomatic that increased value can be generated by isolating relatively pure substances from heterogeneous raw materials. Woody biomass is a heterogeneous raw material consisting of the major structural components, cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses, as well as minor components, such as extractives and ash. Cellulose is a linear homopolymer of D-glucopyrano-units with β-D(14) connections and is the wood component most resistant to chemical and biological degradation. Lignin is a macromolecule of phenylpropanoid units, second to cellulose in bio-resistance, and is the key component that is sought for removal from woody biomass in chemical pulping. Hemicelluloses are a collection of heteropolysaccharides, comprised mainly of 5-and 6-carbon sugars. Extractives, some of which have high commercial value, are a collection of low molecular weight organic and inorganic woody materials that can be removed, to some extent, under mild conditions. Applied Biorefinery Sciences, LLC (a private, New York, USA based company) is commercializing a OPEN ACCESSForests 2011, 2 930 value-optimization pathway (the ABS Process™) for generating a multi-product portfolio by isolating and recovering homogeneous substances from each of the above mentioned major and minor woody biomass components. The ABS Process™ incorporates the patent pending, core biorefinery technology, -hot water extraction‖, as developed at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). Hot water extraction in the absence of mineral acids and bases is preferred because of its ability to generate multiple high value output products without chemical input, recovery, or disposal costs. Instead of added chemicals in the cooking phase, the ABS Process™ relies upon an autocatalytic reaction in which acetyl groups, bound through an ester linkage to hemicellulose chains, are hydrolyzed at high temperature in water. The resulting acidic conditions (final pH ~3.5) and temperatures of 160-170 C permit further solubilization and diffusion of oligomeric 5-and 6-carbon sugars, acetic acid, aromatic substances, monomeric sugars, and other trace compounds into the extract solution. These conditions also avoid extensive degradation of monosaccharides, enabling membrane fractionation and other chemical separation techniques to be used in the following separations. A range of separation techniques are applied on the extract solution to isolate and purify fermentable sugars, acetic acid, lignin, furfural, formic acid, other hemicellulose ...

Impact of Hot-Water Extraction on Acetone-Water Oxygen Delignification of Paulownia Spp. and Lignin Recovery

“…In our previous study, two levels of scale-up have been accomplished for HWE (2 L M/K digester and 65 ft 3 digester). Under the same operation, including temperature, time, and liquor-to-wood ratio (L/W) of 4:1, the hot-water extracted wood from these two digesters had comparable yield [1,7]. Therefore, HWE of PT chips were scaled up from a Parr reactor to an M/K digester, and the results were compared with those obtained for SM under the similar conditions.…”

“…wood products, and pulp/paper [7]. In pulp production, an increase in delignification rate has been observed during kraft pulping [12,13].…”

Analysis of the Chemical Constituents of Kiln-dry Condensate and its Technological Recovery – Part 2: Semi-volatile and Volatile Extractives

“…It should be pointed out that feedstock from other productions, such as process water from an ABS TM -based biorefinery (Amidon et al 2011) or condensate from the steaming processes for hardwood timber (Ledig et al 2003), could also be suitable as extractive sources. It can be assumed that steaming and timber drying processes can be used for the extraction of natural and high-value chemicals, which can serve as a resource for chemicals currently derived from petroleum, coal, and gas (Amidon et al 2008;Liu 2010;Liu et al 2010).…”

“…In this task, the dehumidification unit is used for energy recovery and, due to condensation of the vapor, produces a condensate that contains extractives. Extractives represent a minor fraction in the wood structure and consist of a wide range of hydrophilic and hydrophobic components (Amidon et al 2011). The extractives consist of short-chain carboxylic acids, aldehydes, terpenoids (mono-as for instance α-pinene, β-pinene, Δ3-carene and limonene, sesqui-and diterpenoids), sugars (primarily mono-and disaccharides) and sugar alcohols (glycerol, inositol), fatty acids, resin acids, phenolic substances (like simple phenols, lignans, stilbenes, flavonoids, and hydrolysable tannins) sterols and sterol esters, glycerides, glycosides, and proteins (Fengel and Wegener 1983;Amidon et al 2011).…”

Chemical Pretreatments of Wood Chips Prior to Alkaline Pulping - A Review of Pretreatment Alternatives, Chemical Aspects of the Resulting Liquors, and Pulping Outcomes

“…Sustainable economic growth requires safe, environmentally friendly, and sustainable resources for industrial production (Hardy 2004;Kamm and Kamm 2004;Sánchez and Cardona 2008;Amidon et al 2011). Due to the depleting resources of fossil fuels, increased concern of global warming, and increased demand for energy and materials, fossil carbon sources, such as petroleum and natural gas, must be replaced by renewable raw materials.…”