the future is biorefining - fibrafp7.netfibrafp7.net/portals/0/2_paivi_rousu.pdf · the future is...

The future is

BIOREFINING

Biorefinery concepts for

non-wood raw materials

Dr. Päivi Rousu

Vice President, R&D, IPR

Outline of presentation

• Chempolis corporation

• formico®- 3rd generation biorefining technologies

• Analysis of cellulosic ethanol costs and revenues

• Profitability of cellulosic sugar and lignin platforms

• Comparison of low-cost cellulosic ethanol

feedstocks

• Chempolis biorefinery

• Summary and conclusions

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

Chempolis - the biorefining

technology corporation

Chempolis supplies sustainable, globally

patented biorefining technologies:

• formicobio™

the cellulosic ethanol technology

• formicofib™

the non-wood fibre technology

Chempolis has a biorefinery with

HQ and R&D Centre in Oulu, Finland.

Chempolis is a privately owned

company established in 1995.


Chempolis Achievements

International recognitions

IFC (a private sector arm of the World Bank),

evaluated Chempolis’s technology as the

most economical and environmentally

sustainable non-wood pulping technology

In a study by the Department of Energy of the

USA, Chempolis’s technology was evaluated

as the most energy-efficient among modern

pulping technologies

Nominated in top 3 list on the Global

Cleantech Cluster Associations contest

The superiority of Chempolis’ technologies

has been proven in Chempolis’ own

biorefinery and in various evaluations

IPR

IPR strategy has been

professionally executed, in cooperation with

patent office AB Kolster Oy

Portfolio of patents includes more than

granted 100 patents and several patents

pending and new are continuously applied

Process patents, unit process patents,

product patents and hardware patents

Chempolis products creates formico®-family

formicobio™; formicofib™; formicosystems™

Proprietary biorefinery plant

Chempolis has invested some MEUR 20+ in

its own biorefinery, which also functions as a

development and marketing centre for testing

customer’s raw materials and producing

samples of cellulosic sugars, bioethanol,

biochemicals, and papermaking fibres

The plant is capable of processing of various

lignocellulosic raw material

The plant was designed and implemented by

Chempolis itself in record time; 8 months


Chempolis partners with the

Leaders in India

NRL is a Government of India Public Sector Undertaking which

operates a 3.0 MMTPA Refinery at Numaligarh, Assam, India.

NRL is a subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL)

ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited) is India's leading oil &

gas exploration company.

• Partnership agreement with NRL, subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum 2014

• Teaming up with Oil and Natural Gas of India (ONGC) 2013








feedstocks




Evolution of biorefining

technologies

1G

2G

3G

Food: sugar & starch

- fermentation to ethanol

Lignocellulosics (e.g. straw)

- non-selective chemical and

mechanical pretreatments

- (bio)chemical hydrolysis and

fermentation to ethanol

Lignocellulosics (e.g. straw)

- selective fractionation by

recyclable biosolvent

- co-production of ethanol

and other products


Paper fibres Paper, board, tissue

High value fibres Viscose, CMC, Nano

Glucose Ethanol, butanol,

Lactic acid, succinic acid

Pentose sugars Xylose, arabinose

Platform chemicals Acetic acid, furfural

Lignin Polymers, plastics

Biocoal Steam, electricity

Nutrients Fertilizer

Cellulose products

Hemicellulose products

Lignin products

Non-Food and

Non-Wood biomass

Cellulose

Hemicellulose

Lignin, nutrients

formico® - the true 3G platform

3G formico® biorefinery integrates biomass

conversion process and equipment to produce

multiple fuels, power, heat, platform biochemicals

and fibres from biomass

3G formico® biorefinery is analogous to petroleum refinery,

which produces multiple fuels and products from petroleum


Glucose Ethanol, chemicals

Platform chemicals Acetic acid, furfural

Biocoal Steam, electricity

Cellulose products


Lignin products

Cellulose

Hemicellulose

Lignin, nutrients

First implementations

of the 3G formicobio™ technology

Non-Food biomass

Sugars Ethanol, chemicals


formicobio™ technology

as a cellulosic sugar platform

formicodeli™ (biomass

fractionation) Washing Hydrolysis

Evaporation formicopure™

(distillation)

Non-food biomass

Water Biosolvent

Acetic acid

Furfural

Processing of sugars

Biofuels, biochemicals

Water

Power plant / processing of lignin

Biocoal/ lignin

Xylose and other sugars

Separation of hemicell. sugars

Glucose Cellulose


formicofib™ technology

formicodeli™ Washing TCF bleaching

Evaporation formicopure™

Power plant

Dry biofuel

Non-wood biomass

Water Biosolvent

Pulp

Acetic acid

Furfural

Filtrate treatment

Water








feedstocks




Lignin, stillages, steam condensate

Biorefinery

Power plant

Steam, electricity

Furfural, acetic acid

Principles of techno-economic

calculations of biorefining

Biomass (e.g. straw, bagasse)

Ethanol Sales as fuel ethanol

Energy sales (power to the grid, steam, …)

Battery limit of

calculations

Sales to chemical industry or treated as effluent

Biomass composition

Cellulose

C5 inhemicelluloses

C6 in hemcelluloses

Lignin and othercomponents


Key economic variables affected

by fractionation or pretreatment

• Accessibility and ease of hydrolysis of cellulose

• Yield of glucose from cellulose

• Required enzyme dose

• Conversion of hydrolysis of hemicelluloses (i.e. share

of hemicelluloses that react into soluble sugars)

• Reactions of hemicellulose sugars (solubilized sugars

react further, especially into furfural)

• Recovery and sales of

reaction products of hemicelluloses

• Acetic acid (all processes hydrolyze acetate esters

present in hemicelluloses)

• Furfural Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

Lignin in lignocellulosic

feedstocks

Pictures taken from

- Koch G (2008) Raw Material for Pulp. In: Sixta H (ed) Handbook of Pulp. Vol. 1. Wiley-VCH Verlag.

- Gullichsen J (1999) Fiberline Operations. In: Gullichsen J & Paulapuro H (eds) Papermaking Science and Technology, Book 6A, Chemical

Pulping. Fapet Oy

Lignin is present both around and

between cellulose fibrils


Lignin in lignocellulosic

feedstocks formicobio™ Typical 2G

Behaviour during

fractionation or

pretreatment

Almost complete dissolution

(e.g. 96%) is achieved during

biomass fractionation.

Remains insoluble.

Presence in

hydrolysis

Minor concentration in cellulose

(e.g. 2% of cellulose).

Almost all of the original lignin is

present in hydrolysis (e.g. 50% of

cellulose) both around and

between cellulose fibrils.

Impact on the

performance of

hydrolysis

Absence of lignin

• improves the access of

enzymes

• reduces the required

enzyme dose

• increases yield of hydrolysis

• improves overall economics

Presence of lignin

• hinders the access of enzymes

• increases the required enzyme

dose

• decreases the yield of

hydrolysis

• impairs overall economics


Reactions of hemicelluloses

1. Hydrolysis of hemicelluloses into sugars:

polysaccharides hydrolyze into sugars

2. Reaction of hemicellulose sugars

3. Generation of acetic acid by hydrolysis of

acetate esters of hemicelluloses

OOH

OH

OOH

OH

O

O

O

OOH

OH

OH

OH

Polysaccharide

chain

Sugars

OOH

OH

OH

OH

C5 sugars Furfural


Reactions of hemicelluloses

formicobio™ Typical 2G

Hydrolysis of hemicellu-

loses into sugars

Almost complete hydrolysis

(98%) is achieved during

biomass fractionation.

High conversion is targeted but it is

limited by further reactions of

sugars. 85% is a practical figure, a

part of hemicelluloses hydrolyze

during enzymatic hydrolysis.

Reaction of

hemicellulose sugars

Controlled conversion of C5

sugars into furfural from 10%

upwards. Furfural is

recovered as a co-product.

Around 10% of C5 sugars react

further, mainly into furfural. Furfural

is not recovered and it is treated as

waste.

Hydrolysis of acetate

esters of hemicelluloses

Almost complete hydrolysis

takes place during biomass

fractionation. Acetic acid is

recovered as a co-product .

Almost complete hydrolysis takes

place during biomass pretreatment.

Acetic acid is not recovered and it

is treated as waste.


Product yields of biorefining

formicobio™ Typical 2G

Yield of glucose from cellulose

(enzymatic hydrolysis)

90% 80%

Yield of glucose from cellulose, kg/tbiomass 340 300

Yield of ethanol from cellulosic glucose,

kg/tbiomass

160 140

Conversion of hydrolysis of hemicelluloses 98% 90%

Yield of sugars from hemicelluloses, kg/tbiomass 260 260

Yield of ethanol from hemicellulose sugars,

kg/tbiomass

95 95

Enzyme consumption (relative figure) 10 20

Generation of chemicals

Acetic acid, kg/tbiomass

Furfural, kg/tbiomass

35

25

35 (treated as waste)

10 (treated as waste)

Overall product yield, kg/tbiomass 315 235


Overall economics of biorefining

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Revenues Operating cost Gross profit

Valu

e p

er

unit o

f bio

mass

3G formicobio™

2G (pretreatment + enzymatic hydrolysis)

Chempolis’ 3G formicobio™ technology

enables superior profitability








feedstocks




Glucose and lignin platforms

• Biomass fractionation enables production of pure

glucose for value-added applications, e.g. chemicals,

medicines

• Biomass fractionation enables production of pure

lignin for down-stream processing e.g. into adhesives

Glucose Ethanol, chemicals

Platform chemicalsAcetic acid, furfural

BiocoalSteam, electricity

Cellulose products


Lignin products

Cellulose

Hemicellulose

Lignin, nutrients

Non-Food biomass

SugarsEthanol, chemicals


Products from fractions

C6 sugars

• Ethanol, butanol, microbial oil, penicillin, succinic acid, levulinic acid, formic acid

C5 sugars

• Furfural, ethanol, lactic acid

Lignin

• Particle board adhesive

Cellulose

• Paper and board products

• Viscose fibres

• Nano-cellulose


Economics of glucose and lignin

platforms

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Revenues Operating cost Gross profit

Valu

e p

er

unit o

f bio

mass base case

pharma-grade glucose

lignin to refining

formicobio™ technology enables

superior profitability

in various biorefining applications








feedstocks




Raw materials

Wood Agricultural residues Energy crops etc.

Acacia

Birch

Chestnut

Eucalyptus

Oil palm trunk

Pine

Tropical hardwood mix

Local forest residues

Bagasse

Castor stalk

Cassava stem

Corn stalk, cob, stover

Cotton stem

EFB

Oat straw

OPF

Rye straw

Pineapple

Rice straw

Sugar cane thrash

Wheat straw

Other industrial waste

streams

Arundo donax

Bamboo

Chinese alpine rush

Common reed

Flax

Miscanthus sinensis

Reed canary grass

Sarganda

Sisal

Various local grasses


Lignocellulosic feedstocks

Biomass Price range (dry basis)

Cereal straws 30…80 EUR/t

Sugarcane bagasse 25…60 EUR/t

Wood 40…100 EUR/t

Overall product yields vary typically +/- 10%

Price of feedstock and its secure supply

determines its feasibility, not the composition








feedstocks




Chempolis Biorefinery –

serving customers and visitors

• Total investment > 20 MEUR

• Customer trials

• Dimensioning of machinery and

formico® systems

• Products of the biorefinery

• pulp for paper, board, textiles and nano

• glucose for fuels and chemicals

• xylose for fuels and chemicals

• acetic acid, furfural

• biocoal, lignin

NDRC, China, 2010

Indian Minister of New and

Renewable Energy, 2011

EU Commissioner

Oettinger, 2011


Milestones of the

Chempolis’ own biorefinery

2008 Biorefinery production line of

papermaking fibres commenced

2009 Successful non-wood

papermaking production test

runs completed

2010 Licence to produce bioethanol

in Oulu biorefinery

2010 Inauguration of 3rd generation

bioethanol production line (May)

2010 – Several customer and in-house

trial runs and high-level visitors

Finland’s Prime minister Vanhanen


Design principles of

Chempolis biorefinery

• Continuous operations

• Industrially proven solutions

→ straightforward scale up

of commercial production

• Dimensioning of machinery

• Modern DCS

(formicocont™)


Key figures of

Chempolis biorefinery

• 85 equipment

• 70 tanks and 80 pumps

• 28 heat exchangers

• 550 pipelines

• 390 instruments,

incl. 95 control valves

• 120 motors

• 85 frequency converters

• 500 I/O


Main experiences gained

at the biorefinery

• formico® technologies work!

• Reliability and long-term durability

of the equipment and materials

• Dimensioning data for full scale

• Enhanced control of selective

biomass fractionation

• Tailored serving of customers with

specific raw materials and needs


Summary and conclusions

• Selective fractionation of biomass using formicobio™

technology enables superior economics in biorefining:

• Higher product yields, higher revenues

• Lower operating costs, especially lower enzyme cost

• Option for value added products from glucose, xylose and lignin

• Good economics can be achieved with various

biomasses as long as their prices are competitive

• The 3rd generation formicobio™ technology has been

demonstrated and it is ready for commercial take-off


the future is biorefining - fibrafp7.netfibrafp7.net/portals/0/2_paivi_rousu.pdf · the future is...

Documents