Biomass conversion processes:
biorefining strategies for a
sustainable bioeconomy
Luiz Pereira Ramos
Research Center in Applied Chemistry
Department of Chemistry
Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Brazil
www.quimica.ufpr.br/paginas/luiz-ramos; [email protected]
Montevideo, 21 de agosto de 2018
Estimado Doctor Pereira Ramos
Es un gusto para nosotros, invitarlo al Congreso Internacional de Academias de Ingeniería, a
realizarse en Montevideo , entre el 10 y el 14 de setiembre (CAETS 2018) .
Dicho congreso que se realiza anualmente, este año tratara el tema de Bioeconomia y su desarrollo,
abarcando desde la producción forestal, bioproductos, madera como material de construcción, etc.
Adjuntamos programa actualizado al día de hoy.
Contamos con su presencia para desarrollar el tema de “Conversion processes, biorefineries
strategies for a sustainable bioeconomy” el dia 12/09.
En los días 13 y 14, se desarrollara con su participación , un taller en el Laboratorio Tecnológico del
Uruguay (Latu), actividad con investigadores locales y académicos presentes en el CAETS 2018.
Esperamos contar, asimismo con Ud, para el análisis de proyectos conjuntos con el Instituto de
Ingeniería Química de la Facultad de Ingeniería de la Universidad de la Republica.
La organización del evento , se encarga , como se acordó oportunamente , de la financiación de los
gastos incurridos por su participación .
Saludos cordiales,
Norberto Cassella
Prof. Agregado de Proyecto Industrial
Instituto de Ingeniería Química
Coordinador CAETS 2018
Montevideo, 21 de agosto de 2018
Estimado Doctor Pereira Ramos
Es un gusto para nosotros, invitarlo al Congreso Internacional de Academias de Ingeniería, a
realizarse en Montevideo , entre el 10 y el 14 de setiembre (CAETS 2018) .
Dicho congreso que se realiza anualmente, este año tratara el tema de Bioeconomia y su desarrollo,
abarcando desde la producción forestal, bioproductos, madera como material de construcción, etc.
Adjuntamos programa actualizado al día de hoy.
Contamos con su presencia para desarrollar el tema de “Conversion processes, biorefineries
strategies for a sustainable bioeconomy” el dia 12/09.
En los días 13 y 14, se desarrollara con su participación , un taller en el Laboratorio Tecnológico del
Uruguay (Latu), actividad con investigadores locales y académicos presentes en el CAETS 2018.
Esperamos contar, asimismo con Ud, para el análisis de proyectos conjuntos con el Instituto de
Ingeniería Química de la Facultad de Ingeniería de la Universidad de la Republica.
La organización del evento , se encarga , como se acordó oportunamente , de la financiación de los
gastos incurridos por su participación .
Saludos cordiales,
Norberto Cassella
Prof. Agregado de Proyecto Industrial
Instituto de Ingeniería Química
Coordinador CAETS 2018
Química - UFPR
CEPESQLuiz Pereira Ramos
CAETS/UdelaR, 10-14/09/2018
Montevideo, Uruguai
Trying to leave behind the concept of linear economy…
Energy sources
http://www.keentobegreener.com/new-blog/2017/7/10/the-circular-economy-the-new-thing
TAKE MAKE DISPOSE
2
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❖ Natural resources could be
further exploited to chemicals,
fuels and materials
❖ Life cycles could be improved
(better carbon footprint)
❖ Wastes are not produced
❖ Wastes are used as resources
for new conversion processes
Energy sources
... and develop the circular
economy, where:
http://www.keentobegreener.com/new-blog/2017/7/10/the-circular-economy-the-new-thing
http://eng.beeco.hr/beeco/
3
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Energy sources
https://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/images/bioeconomy_graphic_full.jpg 4
❖ Natural resources could be
further exploited to chemicals,
fuels and materials
❖ Life cycles could be improved
(better carbon footprint)
❖ Wastes are not produced
❖ Wastes are used as resources
for new conversion processes
... and develop the circular
economy, where:
Química - UFPR
CEPESQLuiz Pereira Ramos
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Energy sources
Transition from a linear to a circular economy
https://www.government.nl/topics/circular-economy/from-a-linear-to-a-circular-economy 5
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6
Transition to a biobased economy
o Agricultural productivity (“food vs. fuel”): ultimate
constraint on production;
o “Sustainability”: dominant socio-environmental
constraint… soil fertility on first place;
o Industry will be influenced to an unprecedented degree
by local issues
o “All biomass is local”: its availability depends on
climate, soil, crops, and public policies, among others
Energy sourceshttp://eng.beeco.hr/beeco/
http://www.engineersjournal.ie/2016/08/09/ucd-engineers-lead-e8-million-agrocycle-circular-economy-project/
UCD School of Biosystems and Food
Engineering – Prof. Shane Ward
Horizon 2020 EU-China
collaborative project
26 partners from across the
EU, China and Hong Kong
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Montevideo, Uruguai
Definition from IEA (International Energy Agency):
Biorefinery is the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum
of marketable products (food, feed, materials, chemicals) and energy
(fuels, power, heat)”.
One of the main drivers for the establishment of biorefineries is the
call for sustainability. All biorefineries should be designed for
sustainability along the entire value chain. This assessment should
also take into account the possible unintended consequences such
as the competition for food and biomass resources, the impact on
water use and quality, changes in land-use, soil carbon stocks and
long term fertility, net balance of greenhouse gases, impact on
biodiversity.
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Biorefinery
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Biorefinery typesType 1 Biorefinery
Almost no processing flexibility e.g. a dry-milling ethanol plant which
uses grain as a feedstock or esterification plant using plant oils, has
a fixed processing capability and produces a fixed amount of fuel,
and co-products.
Type 2 Biorefinery
Flexibility in end product production e.g. wet milling technology using
grain feedstocks which can produce various end products depending
on demand. Products include ethanol, starch, high fructose syrups,
oils and meals.
Type 3 Biorefinery
Flexibility of feedstocks and end products i.e. uses various types of
feedstocks and processing methods to produce products for the
industrial market.
Kamm, B. and M. Kamm, Principles of Biorefineries. Appli. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 64, 137-145, 2004. 8
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TypesBiorefiningprocesses
FeedstocksProducts
Energy Materials
C6 sugars Hydrolysis,fermentation
Starch crops Bioethanol Animal feed
Oil Pressing, transesterification
Oil crops Biodiesel Animal feed, glycerin
Syngas Pre-treatment, gasification and alcohol synthesis
Lignocellulosicmaterials
Syntheticbiofuels, FT-fuels
Chemicals(alcohols)
Sugar andsyngas
Biochemical conversion,thermochemical
Biomasses (75%carbs on average)
Conditioning gas, fuels
Chemicals, polymers
C6/C5 sugars,lignin, syngas
Pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermen-tation, gasification, FT-synthesis
Lignocellulosicmaterials, energycrops
FT-fuels,ethanol
Animal feed
9Wang et al. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., 13, 2263-2278, 2009.
Biorefinery
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10
Principles Criteria/dimensions of the assessment
Systems Technical and process design of biorefinery: processing efficiency, mass flow,aims for the potential substitution/displacement of fossil-fuel based productsby biobased products
Consistency In coherence with the national/regional/global strategies on sustainabledevelopment, e.g. the EU–biofuel and bioeconomy strategy. Resourcemanagement and diversification of use in relation to sustainability goals
Independency Comparative economic and environmental performance of the biomassconversion in biorefinery with respect to alternatives (e.g., thermochemical,combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, liquefaction, etc.). Socio-economic andenvironmental differences with respect to biorefinery pathways but differingthe feedstock supply and the product scenarios (extent of processing)
Measurability Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the process and product system.Quantification of sustainability assessment criteria/indicators (e.g. GWP per kgof bioethanol, annualized cost of producing 1 kg of ethanol, animal feed etc.,potential employment generation per kg of ethanol, etc.)
Comparability In relation to the principle of Independency as stated above, ecological andsocio-economic aspects of utilizing various inputs to produce marketableproducts in a biorefinery process
Wang et al. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., 13, 2263-2278, 2009.
Química - UFPR
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Montevideo, Uruguai
Adapted from Lucia, L.A. and Rojas, O.J., In:
Proceedings of the CIADICYP Meeting,
Santiago, 2006
STRUCTURAL
MATERIALS
THERMOCHEMICAL
CONVERSION
RESIDUES AND
ENERGY CROPS
FORESTRY
PRODUCTS
BIOTECHNOLOGY,
GENETICS, ...PULP AND PAPER
INDUSTRY
Furniture
Supporting materials
Plastic fillings
Cement additives
Composites
Alcohols, esters
Chemicals
Polymers
Hydrocarbons
Hydrogen
Pharmaceutics
Bio-oil
Synfuels
Energy
Chemical building blocks
syng
as
blac
k
liquo
rco
-
prod
ucts
Pulp and paper
Ethanol, butanol
Organic acids
Biomolecules, enzymes
Biomaterials
BIOLOGICAL
CONVERSION
CHEMICAL
CONVERSION
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Biorefinery
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Biomass-based derivatives
Adapted from: Huber, G.W., Iborra, S. and Corma, A., Chemical Reviews, 106, 4044-4098, 2006 12
Biorefinery
GASIFICATION
PYROLYSIS
HYDROLYSIS
SYNGAS
BIO-OILS
SUGARS
LIGNIN
Fischer-Tropsch
Methanol
Water-gas shift
…………….. Alkanes
…………………….. Methanol
.…………… Hydrogen
Dehydrogenation
Zeolite upgrading
..……... Liquid fuels
..…..…. Liquid fuels
Fermentation
Dehydration
Hydrotreatment
………….….….. Ethanol
…..…………….. Methanol
..…………… Alkanes
or hydrogen
Upgrading…...……....…….….. Ethers,
hydrocarbons
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Hemicellulose
(Pentosans-Xylan)
Cellulose
(Hexosans-Glucan)
Lignin
Biomass
Pre-treatment
Sugars
C5/C6
sugars
(Xylose-
Glucose)
Xyiytol
Chemical pathway from pentoses
Direct Product use
Non-nutritive sweetener
Buiding block for Xylaric acid, glycols
Sorbitol
Chemical pathway from hexoses
Non-nutritive sweetener
Building block for Isosorbide, propylene
glycol
Product’s derivatives
use
Antifreeze, unsaturated polyester resins
PET like polymers, anrifreeze, water
soluble polymers for water treatment
Levulinic acid
Chemical pathway from hexoses/
pentoses
Building block for Methyl
tetrahydrofuran, butyrolactone,
Diphenolic acid
Fuel oxigenates, pesticedes,solvents,
polycarbonate resins
Succinic acid
Biotechnological pathway from hexoses
Building block for Butanediol
(BDO),Tetrahydrofuran (THF), gamma-
Butyrolactone (GBL). pyrrolidones
Fibers such as Lycra, green solvents,
water soluble polymers for water
treatment
3-Hydroxypropionic acid
Biotechnological pathway from hexoses
Building block for 1,3 propane diol,
acrylates
Sorona Fiber, contact lenses, super
adsorbant polymers (Diapers)
Ethanol
Biotechnological pathway from hexoses/
pentoses
Fuel for transport, Building block for
Ethylterbutylether (ETBE), ethyl estersFuel, Fuel Oxigenate,
Ferulic acid
Biotechnological pathway from lignin by
enzymatic depolymerization
Building block for vanilin, polymers Flavouring agents, phenolic resins
OH
Furfural
Chemical pathway from pentoses
Solvent in petrochemical refining,
Building block for Tetrahydrofuran
(THF), Nylon 6 Nylon 6,6
Thermoplastic fibers, resins, solvents O
H
O
Lactic acid
Biotechnological pathway from hexoses
Building block for polylactides such as
polylactide acid (PLA)
Biodegradable Polyethylene-like
polymers
OH
OH
O
Sulfur-free solid fuel
Pelletization of lignin rich solid residueFuel for heat and power generation
Product
http://bpe.epfl.ch/ 13
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The holistic biorefinery
Venkata Mohan et al. Biores. Technol., 215, 2-12, 2016
CO2 sequestration
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The holistic biorefinery
Venkata Mohan et al. Biores. Technol., 215, 2-12, 2016 15
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By type By Country
Source: Brazilian Energy Report - REN 21 - 2016
Renewable fuels
Estimation of the world biofuels production
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RenovaBio
National program launched in December 2016 by the Brazilian
Ministry of Mines and Energy to expand the production of
biofuels in Brazil, having as main foundations its predictability,
compatible scaling according to the market demand and its
social, environmental and economic sustainability.
✓ 43% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030;
✓ Zero tolerance for illegal deforestation in the Amazon basin;
✓ Up to 45% renewable energy in the Brazilian energy matrix;
✓ Bioenergy component raised up to 18% of the energy matrix;
✓ New biofuels: 2G ethanol, green diesel, HVO, biohydrogen,
biogas, biomethane and biokerosene, among others
Biofuels in Brazil
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o The food vs. fuel dilemma: the ultimate constraint
on production and/or productivity
o Sustainability: the dominant socio-environmental
constraint
• Soil fertility first of all
• Immediate environmental impact
• Respect for local productive arrangements
o Industry will be influenced to an unprecedented
degree by local issues
o All biomass is local18
Social issues
Biofuels in Brazil
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Cane energy
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360
70
951
185
17
223
9060
30
495
110
385
Production / Productivity Energy Bagasse
(106 ton) / (ton ha-1) (MW year-1) Production Consumption Surplus
(106 ton)
> 1
64%
> 1
200%
> 4
50%
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Sugarcane
Cane energy
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135
26
93
6
20
26
4
47
53
Fibers / Sugars Ethanol Ethanol
(%) / (%) (106 L) (109 L year-1)
per ha per year
Sugarcane
Cane energy
1G 2G
> 1
64%
< 3
1%
> 2
32%
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Biomass productivity
Gre
en b
iom
ass
(to
nha
-1)
Harvesting (years)
Average
Energy cane
Average
Sugarcane
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São Miguel dos Campos – AL (2014)
82 mi L ethanol/year
Bioflex 1
Ethanol 2G in Brazil
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BagasseCane Electricity (grid)Extraction
1G
EtOH
Juice
Vinasse
Ethanol2G
EtOH
Lignin Steam & energy
CoGen
Straw
Ethanol
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o Production:
• Integration at low cost
• Flexible (feedstock agnostic)
o Enzymatic hydrolysis:
• Total solids > 20%; time < 70h
• Efficiency > 70%
o Fermentation:
• C5/C6
• Efficiency > 90%
o Yield from 100 g:
G-3P
C6
Xylose
Xylulose
Cellulose
HemicelluloseC5
C6Ethanol
Sugars PT EH F EtOH
0.68 0.900.65 0.45 17.9
0.60 0.45 16.5
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Piracicaba – SP (1936-2015)
40 mi L etanol/ano
Usina Costa Pinto
Ethanol 2G in Brazil
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Sugarcane Crushing
Bagasse
Sugarcane+ straw
Separation Straw
Boiler
Dilute acid
pre-teatment
pH 1.2, 205°C, low
solids (5-10%), quarterinch particles, double
flash, 2min residence
Juice
Evaporation
Concentratedjuice
CrystallizationSugar
(sucrose)Molasses
Water
Pre-treated
biomassWashing
C5Concentration
Concentrated
C5120 g/L Sugar
15-20 g/L Acetate
C6
Hydrolysis
Novozymes custom
cocktail, ~100 h, pH 4.8-5.2, 53-57°C,
80-90% GLC yield
Citrotec multiple
effect evaporator
Washed, pre-
treated biomass
Fermentation
Fermentation
C5 beer
~20h
7-8% EtOH
C6-C12 beer~10% EtOH
Distillation
Lignin
Ethanol 2G in Brazil
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BIOMASS
PRETREATMENT
C5 STREAM C6 STREAM LIGNIN
LIPIDS EXTRACTION OTHERS
PYROLYSIS
BIOCHAR
BIO-OIL
SYNGAS
HYDROLYSIS
FERMENTATION
CO2
ETHANOL
FERMENTATION
HYDROGEN
BIOGAS
SYNTHETIC FUELS
ADDITIVES
GLYCEROL
BIODIESEL
CONVERSION
Process
Integration
DRY YEASTSFERTILIZERS
POLYMERS
Biorefinery
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Conclusion
➢ Renovabio has enormous potential to further increase the
percentage of renewable fuels in the Brazilian energy matrix
➢ Biomass is local: primary production will play an important
role in the viability/competitivity of biobased products
➢ Cellulosic ethanol is paving the way for the development of
viable biomass biorefining processes (the same applies to
the pulp and paper sector)
➢ The proper destination of coproducts such as pentoses,
glycerin, lignin and extractable materials is critical for the
future of biomass conversion processes (biorefining)
➢ Although the recent economic downturn and inertia in the
commencement of new operations, the future prospects of
bioenergy/biofuels in Brazil are positive
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MICROALGAEAGRICULTURAL
RESIDUES
Choricystis minorAcutodesmus obliquus
Muriella decolor
Cane bagasseCane straw
Cotton residues
EucalyptSugarcane
Industrial residues
SELECTIVE EXTRACTION
PRETREATMENTCATALYTIC
CONVERSION
C6 FRACTION
ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS
FERMENTATION
ESTERIFICATION / TRANSESTERIFICATION
/ HYDROLYSIS
C5 FRACTION
FOREST RESIDUES
EthanolOrganic acids
Furans, EstersLactic acid
Levulinic acid
PigmentsFunctional lipids
HYDROLYSATE(C6 mostly)
Oligos (XOS)
Monosaccharides
FAST PYROLYSIS
Fatty estersAnimal feedFatty acids
Esters, FenolsLevoglucosanHydrocarbons
Soap stocksUsed frying oil
Spent fats
CELLULIGNINDISPOSABLE
OILS AND FATS
LignoforceTM
LignoboostTM
Hydrolysis lignin
LIGNINAS INDUSTRIAIS
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Invitation…
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Thank you!