Biorefi nery is the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of marketable products and energy. ECN’s biorefi nery R&D aims to develop and implement thermo chemical processes for full conversion of non-food biomass (ligno cellulosic and aquatic) into biochemicals, biomaterials and biofuels.

This is accomplished through lab – scale and pilot – scale activities, using dedicated pretreatment reactors and a variety of thermochemical conversion and downstream processing equipment. Sustainability assessments enable the evaluation of the feasability of innovative biorefi nery concepts.

Lignocellulosic biomass and seaweed biorefi neryLignocellulosic biomass consists of three main fractions: cellulose (polysaccharide of glucose), hemicellulose (poly saccharide of C5- and C6-sugars) and lignin (a branched aromatic polymer of phenolic compounds).

Seaweed is mainly comprised of polysaccharides, proteins and inorganic minerals and does not contain lignin and cellulose.

Both the sugars and the lignin from lignocellulosic biomass and the sugars, proteins and minerals from seaweed can be used as feedstock for the production of chemicals, materials and fuels in a biorefi nery as is conceptually depicted in the fi gure on the next page.

Biorefi neryInnovative Technology for the Bio-based Economy

What can ECN do for you?

• Characterise biomass by a variety of physico-chemical, biochemical and thermo-chemical methods.

• Produce test samples, (typically up to 100 g) of pure lignin, lignin pyrolysis oil, cellulose, aqueous hemicellulose and seaweed extracts, using 0.5, 2, 20 liter autoclaves and 1 kg/hr continuous pretreatment and pyrolysis reactors.

• Conduct biorefi nery sustainability analysis involving techno-and socio-economic analysis using Aspen Plus and SimaPro.

• Participate and offer specialised expertise in private partnerships, and in national and international biorefi nery projects. Partners are the chemical industry, the agricultural and construction sector and research institutes and universities.

ECNP.O. Box 1, NL 1755 ZG Petten, The Netherlands

Contact:Ruud van den BrinkUnit Business Development ManagerBiomass & Energy Effi ciencyT +31 88 515 41 88 vandenbrink@ecn.nl

Herman den Uil, Senior Manager Biorefi nery & ProcessingBiomass & Energy Effi ciency T +31 88 515 4106denuil@ecn.nl ecn.nl

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Current ECN activities

Biomass pretreatment: organosolv and aquathermolysisThe ECN organosolv process fully fractionates the lignocellulosic biomass with a pressurised mixture of an organic solvent such as ethanol and water at typically 150-200 °C into its three fractions in a suffi cient quality for further conversion into biochemicals, biomaterials and biofuels.

The ECN aquathermolysis pretreatment process hydrolyses biomass with hot (typically 100 – 200°) pressurised water to produce sugars or sugar derivatives.

Thermochemical conversion of lignin and (poly)saccharidesThe ECN lignin pyrolysis technology converts lignin, an important by-product from the pulp and paper industry and lignocellulosic biorefi neries, without air and at elevated temperatures (up to 600°C), into high-value products. These can be used to replace petrochemical phenol in a variety of applications. As an aromatic biopolymer, lignin is the only renewable source for aromatic chemicals.

In addition to the thermochemical conversion of lignin, ECN has extensive expertise on the thermochemical conversion of cellulose, hemicellulose and seaweed sugars.

Biorefi nery sustainabilityTo complement the experimental activities, ECN conducts sustainability assessments ofinnovative biorefi nery concepts, using state of the art software such as Aspen+ for systemassessments and Simapro for life cycle analysis.

Biomass thermochemical conversionWithin the context of bio refi nery, ECN is developing several thermo-chemical conversion technologies for effi cient and cost-effective transformation of the complex and heterogeneous biomass in specifi c target biochemicals, biomaterials and biofuels.

Autoclave reactor set-up

Lignin

Lignin pyrolysis oil

Pretreated wheat straw

Bubbling fl uidised bed pyrolysis reactor

Wheat straw Autoclave reactor vessel

Biomass feed

Primary biorefi nery

Secondary biorefi nery Products Typical

usesIndustrial

sector

Minerals Biofertiliser

Biochemicals

Legoglucosan

Acids

Soil improver Agriculture

Chemistry

Biocarbon

(Boiler) fuelsFuels

Lignin Automobile

Heat & Power

ChemistryBioresins

Bioplastics

Sugars

Furfurals

BiocarbonChar Automobile

Transportation

nanofi bres Construction

ConstructionBio-aromatics

Biofuels

Alcohols

Furanics

black (rubber)

AgricultureProteins

ProteinsMinerals

Seaweed

LignocelluloseLignin Cellulose

Sugars

Hemicellulose

PaperCellulose

Phenolics

Biofeed

Pulp & Paper

HydrolysisPretreatmentOrganosolv Thermo-

chemicalconversion

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