Is biomass fractionation by Organosolv-like processes economically viable? A conceptual design study

Viell, Jörn; Harwardt, Andreas; Seiler, Jan; Marquardt, Wolfgang

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2013.09.078

Cited by 91 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…1,2 The Organosolv process has been investigated as part of the so-called integrated lignocellulosic biorefinery to provide all three components in a processable manner. 8 Very recently we disclosed the so-called "OrganoCat process" that delivers hemicellulose sugars (mainly xylose), cellulose pulp, and lignin directly as separate feedstock streams in a single processing step. The hemicellulose fraction is hydrolyzed, the lignin is dissolved in the organosolv liquor and purified cellulose is produced as a pulp (after which the lignin can be recovered by precipitation or solvent evaporation).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass using the OrganoCat process

et al. 2015

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The fractionation of lignocellulose in its three main components, hemicellulose, lignin and cellulose pulp can be achieved in a biphasic system comprising water and bio-based 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF) as solvents and oxalic acid as catalyst at mild temperatures (up to 140°C). This so-called Organo-Cat concept relies on selective hemicellulose depolymerization to form an aqueous stream of the corresponding carbohydrates, whereas solid cellulose pulp remains suspended and the disentangled lignin is to a large extent extracted in situ with the organic phase. In the present paper, it is demonstrated that biomass loadings of 100 g L −1 can be efficiently fractionated within 3 h whereby the mild conditions assure that no significant amounts of by-products (e.g. furans) are formed. Removing the solid pulp by filtration allows to re-use the water and organic phase without product separation in repetitive batch mode. In this way, (at least) 400 g L −1 biomass can be processed in 4 cycles, leading to greatly improved biomass-to-catalyst and biomass-to-solvent ratios. Economic analysis of the process reveals that the improved biomass loading significantly reduces capital and energy costs in the solvent recycle, indicating the importance of process integration for potential implementation. The procedure was successfully scaled-up from the screening on bench scale to 3 L reactor. The feedstock flexibility was assessed for biomasses containing moderate-to-high hemicellulose content.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass using the OrganoCat process

et al. 2015

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“…Te ntatively,one primary cause may be the relative lack of high-value applications to absorb the highquality,s ulfur-free isolated lignins,a ss uggested by technoeconomic analyses recently performed on Organosolv processes. [223,224] Avariety of viable Organosolv solvent/water mixtures has emerged over the past 50 years.T ypically,the organic solvent is al ow-weight primary alcohol (e.g.,m ethanol, ethanol), ac yclic ether (e.g.,1,4-dioxane,tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol), ak etone (e.g., acetone), or ad iol (e.g.,e thylene glycol), in order to effectively dissolve the liberated lignin and hemicelluloses. [212] Low-molecularweight alcohols are favoured for their high volatility,a nd their consequent ease of removal after cooking.…”

Section: Pulping With Organic Solvents-organosolv Ligninsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[223] Nevertheless, distillation of the organic solvent is invariably an energyintensive step. [224,235] The" Organocat" process seems to overcome this constraint, whereby fractionation of lignocellulose occurs via the initial oxalic/formic acid-catalysed shellpeeling of lignin and hemicelluloses,i nabiphasic 2-methyltetrahydrofuran/water system. [236,237] Lignin and hemicellulosic fragments are thus immediately partitioned into organic and aqueous phases,r espectively,u pon liberation from the …”

Section: Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paving the Way for Lignin Valorisation: Recent Advances in Bioengineering, Biorefining and Catalysis

et al. 2016

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Lignin is an abundant biopolymer with a high carbon content and high aromaticity. Despite its potential as a raw material for the fuel and chemical industries, lignin remains the most poorly utilised of the lignocellulosic biopolymers. Effective valorisation of lignin requires careful fine‐tuning of multiple “upstream” (i.e., lignin bioengineering, lignin isolation and “early‐stage catalytic conversion of lignin”) and “downstream” (i.e., lignin depolymerisation and upgrading) process stages, demanding input and understanding from a broad array of scientific disciplines. This review provides a “beginning‐to‐end” analysis of the recent advances reported in lignin valorisation. Particular emphasis is placed on the improved understanding of lignin's biosynthesis and structure, differences in structure and chemical bonding between native and technical lignins, emerging catalytic valorisation strategies, and the relationships between lignin structure and catalyst performance.

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“…The high energy input of the ordinary bioethanol process is offset by the high energy of the residue which is related to the low biofuel yield. For ordinary bioethanol process, the energy input is about 5 MJ/kg biomass [10] to produce sugar through hydrolysis of the cellulose, which is equal to 78% energy of the biofuel it produced, so the increased actual bioenergy output of the proposed integrated process should also be attributed to the low energy input, which is less than 20% energy of the biomethane it produced. * Loss rate for bioethanol production includes field treatment 2%; field drying 5%; harvest/collection 5%; farm handling 2%; storage 8.4%; road transport 2% of biomass which is provided by GREET 2014 model; loss rate for methane production come from the purification of methane.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Biofuel based on agriculturally degraded lands to produce grass or wood [7] has low biomass yield [8]. Conversion of these lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol or synthesis fuel [9] has low efficiency and high energy input [10]. Both of them result in the low net annual biofuel yield per unit land, such as 4400 L/km 2 /year bioethanol produced in the Midwest of the US [8], so a large amount of land is needed to replace the fossil fuel with the renewable biofuel: 58% of US land area is needed for production of biofuel to replace the current oil consumption of the United States transportation sector [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Integrated Biomass Production and Conversion Process for Sustainable Bioenergy

Huang

2015

Sustainability

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Abstracts: There is not enough land for the current bioenergy production process because of its low annual yield per unit land. In the present paper, an integrated biomass production and conversion process for sustainable bioenergy is proposed and analyzed. The wastes from the biomass conversion process, including waste water, gas and solid are treated or utilized by the biomass production process in the integrated process. Analysis of the integrated process including the production of water hyacinth and digestion for methane in a tropical area demonstrates several major advantages of the integrated process. (1) The net annual yield of methane per unit land can reach 29.0 and 55.6 km 3 /h for the present and future (2040) respectively, which are mainly due to the high yield of water hyacinth, high biomethane yield and low energy input. The land demand for the proposed process accounts for about 1% of the world's land to meet the current global automobile fuels or electricity consumption; (2) A closed cycle of nutrients provides the fertilizer for biomass production and waste treatment, and thus reduces the energy input; (3) The proposed process can be applied in agriculturally marginal land, which will not compete with food production. Therefore, it may be a good alternative energy technology for the future.

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Is biomass fractionation by Organosolv-like processes economically viable? A conceptual design study

Cited by 91 publications

References 22 publications

Fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass using the OrganoCat process

Fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass using the OrganoCat process

Paving the Way for Lignin Valorisation: Recent Advances in Bioengineering, Biorefining and Catalysis

An Integrated Biomass Production and Conversion Process for Sustainable Bioenergy

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