Fuel and chemicals from lignin through enzymatic and chemical conversion

Project Information

FALCON

Grant agreement ID: 720918

DOI

10.3030/720918

Project closed

EC signature date 29 November 2016

Start date 1 January 2017

End date 31 December 2020

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Biotechnology

Total cost

€ 6 555 883,75

EU contribution

€ 6 148 783,75

Coordinated by

KONINKLIJKE NEDERLANDSE AKADEMIE VAN WETENSCHAPPEN - KNAW
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - FALCON (Fuel and chemicals from lignin through enzymatic and chemical conversion)

Reporting period: 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

FALCON aims to develop, from bench scale to pilot scale, the enzymatic conversion of lignin waste streams from lignocellulose-based bioethanol plants into a crude oil, which can be used as a low-sulfur marine fuel blend (value chain 1) or, as a renewable feedstock for aromatic fuel additives (value chain 2) and chemical building blocks (value chain 3). These three novel value chains can be readily linked to existing second generation (2G) biofuel plants or plants producing other bio-products and thus contribute to their viability. This valorization of the lignin-rich waste stream will support the creation of the ‘zero-waste bio-refinery’ concept.
FALCON aims to go beyond the initial bulk product as the phenolic nature of the depolymerized lignin can also be used as a bio-based chemical intermediate for aromatic bulk chemicals and resins.
FALCON’s objective is to replace conventional energy intensive lignin depolymerization with an energy efficient enzymatic process in order to obtain bio-oil as a precursor for a sustainable down-stream lignin derivative process, which will need to be validated by means of a Life Cycle Assessment. As such, the project aims to bring more value to the current biofuel bio-refinery processes, by valorizing a by-product into 3 value chains, and ensuring easy implementation of the innovative new FALCON process.
FALCON has brought together a multidisciplinary consortium of biologists, biochemists, chemists, and chemical, mechanical and process engineers, to jointly work in the FALCON project. To realize the specific goals the consortium has defined six objectives for the project:
1. Process optimization of lignin production and purification
2. Production of solvent tolerant laccases that generate oxidized lignin, resulting in a liquid lignin fraction with smaller lignin-fragments (lignin oil)
3. Development of a separation process that extracts the low-sulfur lignin-derived heavy fuel oil from the aqueous lignin waste stream for further processing
4. Testing, standardization and implementation of the low-sulfur lignin-derived heavy fuel oil as a shipping fuel
5. Conversion of the low-sulfur lignin-derived heavy fuel oil to fuel additives and mono-aromatic building blocks for the chemical industry
6. Bioconversion of the extracted aromatic compounds from objective 4 to value-added products

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The main results achieved are:
- Extensive mining of microbial genomes resulted in a large set of candidate laccases, which were grouped based on phylogeny. 40 laccases have been produced and tested for their suitability for our process.
- Solvent tolerance of selected laccases has been demonstrated.
- The production of selected laccases has been upscaled and prepared for industrial scale production.
- Acid treatment of partially depolymerized lignin efficiently results in further depolymerization.
- Enzymatic depolymerization of lignin has been upscaled.
- The treatment of the lignin waste stream and its influence on the use of it as a substrate in our process has been studied resulting in the identification of several parameters affecting this, as well as initial optimizations that will benefit the overall process.
- The successful impact on the molecular weight distribution of lignin has been demonstrated with enzymatic treatment in alkaline conditions, using newly developed laccases, without and with mediators. In addition, membrane fractionation has been shown to be an industrial viable alternative for collecting different lignin molecular size fractions thus produced.
- A dedicated single cylinder Compression Ignition (CI)/diesel engine was designed and built to analyze combustion behavior of experimental (bio) fuels and –blends at lab scale
- Multiple lignin containing fuel blend formulations have been successfully developed and demonstrated up to TRL 6.
- Extremely potent lignin derived anti-oxidant fuel additives for both gasoline (E10) and diesel (B7) fuels have been identified and successfully demonstrated up to TRL 7.
- Conversion of lignin-related aromatic monomers to platform chemicals has been demonstrated using microbial enzymes and cell factories.
- Base case scenarios have been determined, investigated and quantified to enable a comparison of the newly developed process using the FALCON technology with existing, hence conventional processes that generate the desired products from fossil raw materials.
- The FALCON process has been conceptually designed and integrated into the supply chain of the formation of second-generation bioethanol. A computer aided process engineering model was created to evaluate the performance of an entire process at an early-stage development.
- Based upon the numerical process model developed, the FALCON process has been mass- and energy-balanced considering all three FALCON value chains. On the results, the novel process has been assessed from a techno-economic, environmental and social (European-wide job creation potential) perspective.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

FALCON has generated three new bio-based value chains (VCs) valorizing lignin from 2G bioethanol or other bio-product plants. As the global 2G ethanol production has not as significantly expanded as predicted, the FALCON consortium has decided to focus on blending of the lignin into marine fuel. The three value chains differ in their stage of development and required time to market, but all have made significant progress, keeping global market developments in mind. They could offer a more sustainable alternative for the three similar value chains that are currently derived from fossil resources, significantly contributing to the establishment of the bio-based economy.
VC1 marine fuel blend: multiple elements of this value chain are currently at TRL 6
Some steps in this process are at higher TRL:
- ENZINE™ platform for laccase L371 production for lignin depolymerization – TRL8 (industrial scale)
- METNIN™ lignin valorization process – TRL6-7
VC2 fuel additives: multiple elements of this value chain are currently at TRL7
VC3 platform chemicals: this value chain is currently at TRL4
- Production of aromatic metabolic enzymes: TRL5
- Conversion of aromatic compounds: TRL4

FALCON has also addressed the economic, environmental and social feasibility of the three aforementioned value chains and developed an innovative energy efficient process that is performed under mild conditions using enzymatic conversions and mild chemical treatments. As part of the holistic sustainability assessment, the three value chains have been investigated regarding resource efficiency and environmental impact within the Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) to demonstrate their environmental feasibility.
From the assessment and benchmark of the novel technology, it becomes clear that FALCON processing can form an economically competitive, often attractive alternative to the use of fossil-based commodities. Moreover, the chemicals used are bio-degradable resulting in a process that is much more environmentally friendly than the conventional process it replaces. Therefore, the overall approach is to use an industrial waste-stream from an environmentally favorable alternative fuel (2G bioethanol) and convert this to another environmentally favorable fuel (low-sulfur heavy fuel oil blend for marine use) and bio-based chemicals, considering both fuel additives and chemical building blocks.

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