Improve biorefinery operations through process intensification and new end products

Project Information

BioSPRINT

Grant agreement ID: 887226

DOI

10.3030/887226

Project closed

EC signature date 4 May 2020

Start date 1 June 2020

End date 31 May 2024

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 5 879 733,65

EU contribution

€ 4 998 014,00

Coordinated by

DECHEMA GESELLSCHAFT FUR CHEMISCHETECHNIK UND BIOTECHNOLOGIE
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - BioSPRINT (Improve biorefinery operations through process intensification and new end products)

Reporting period: 2023-06-01 to 2024-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

BioSPRINT aimed to improve the efficiency of the purification and conversion of sugars in a biorefinery concept. Lignocellulose is the biomass with the highest availability in the world, being of particular importance for the bioeconomy regarding production of bio-based chemicals and materials. However, process inefficiencies currently result in high cost regarding energy and resource use.
In BioSPRINT, partners from Academia and industry joined forces to develop process intensification (PI) methods (up to TRL 4-5) to improve purification and conversion of the hemicellulose (HMC) fraction of lignocellulosic biomass such as hardwood and straw. Based on this, the project aimed to obtain biorenewable furan-based resins for novel polymeric applications focusing on upstream purification, catalytic conversion, downstream purification, and polymerisation as well as socio-ecological and techno-economic assessments.
BioSPRINT successfully developed intensified biorefining process technologies for industrially relevant HMC streams. Building on the PI modules validated within BioSPRINT, further development and optimisation of these technologies will help realise the opportunities, which were identified through the accompanying assessments such as to maximise feedstock and energy use and reduce operational costs and environmental impacts.

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

Industrially relevant HMC streams from two different lignocellulose-biorefineries were analysed regarding their composition and variability. PI methods for precipitation (1,2), solids handling, and membrane purification were studied and optimised results obtained with real streams at laboratory scale were reported.
Using high throughput (HTP) and Machine learning (ML) methods, catalysts (3) developed in RP1 were optimised and reaction kinetic models were developed for homogenously and heterogeneously catalysed reactions for sugar mixtures. Solvent selection and operating conditions for PI via reactive-extraction methods were optimised for batch process. Hydrodynamics, mixing, residence time and heat transfer studies of PI methods were performed in intensified continuous flow reactors. The biphasic extractive-reaction process was transferred from batch to continuous processing and further optimised. Downstream scale-up challenges were studied with CFD (Computational fluid dynamics) and dynamic simulation tools.
Intensification of liquid-liquid separation and heat transfer in distillation reboiling units was successfully achieved to separate furfural and 5-HMF from the extraction solvent and other by-products.
Development and synthesis of novel bio-based polymers through partial or complete substitution of petrol-based chemicals with furan-based monomers in the synthesis of phenolic resins and polyols of the resole-, novolac- and Mannich-types. Experiments to improve the polymerisation processes using PI methods were conducted. CFD modelling and spectroscopic analytical technology were used to evaluate/monitor the polymerisation process.
Simulation models of the intensified BioSPRINT biorefinery concepts were developed. The intensified processes were fully integrated to process the HMC feedstocks from two different fractionation processes at pilot scale. The validation in pilot scale showed very good transferability of the laboratory results to a higher TRL, while for HMC purification or furans separation, the laboratory results were even exceeded. Further potential for improvement was also identified.
A robust methodological framework for the Integrated Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (ILCSA) was set up. Based on mass and energy balances from the simulation models, studies on life cycle assessment (LCA), techno-economic assessment (TEA), socio-economic assessment as well as on process and product safety assessment were performed. The final ILCSA study joined the results of these assessments to provide a comprehensive view of the implications for sustainability associated with the BioSPRINT concepts.
Multichannel communication, dissemination and exploitation activities with a strong focus on training and education was implemented throughout the project. The BioSPRINT partners finalised 36 scientific publications, including six peer-reviewed journal articles. A business plan shows the next steps to further develop the BioSPRINT results. All materials and public project outcomes can be accessed via the BioSPRINT website: biosprint-project.eu and Zenodo: zenodo.org/communities/biosprint.
1: doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2024.109734
2: doi.org/10.1002/bbb.2644
3: doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.1c03995

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)

The innovative technologies and processes developed in BioSPRINT represent a step forward for the European bioeconomy. Main impacts and results by the end of the project include:
• Integrated and intensified purification of C5/C6 sugars leveraging innovative precipitation and membrane separation methods to increase selectivity and efficiency
• Intensified dehydration of sugars into 5-HMF and furfural, to minimise further downstream purification needs
• Novel, intensified, and integrated catalytic processes for dehydration of C5 and C6 HMC sugars into monomers for bio-based polymers by the development and formulation of catalysts with maximum conversion and selectivity
• PI and recovery of reactive intermediate furans through extractive-reaction methods to isolate the products from the medium in situ
• Integration of intensified reactor and downstream purification to create a continuous processing cascade
• Intensified downstream separation of biphasic liquid mixtures and heat transfer in distillation unit reboilers
• Intensified polymerisation of furan-based derivatives into novolac polyols using ultrasound
• New end-products derived from the HMC fractions converted into furfural-based polymers for several applications such as composite wood boards and foams
• Validation of the transferability of developed PI methods for multiple feedstocks
• Synthesis of bio-based novolac-type polyols and a phenolic resin which, according to preliminary analyses, conform to REACH definition of polymer
• PU foam production using novel bio-based polyols as partial substitutes for petro-based polyols
• Validation of the use of bio-derived monomers obtained via PI methods as raw materials in an optimised polymerisation protocol
• Integrated and intensified pilot process for purification and conversion of HMC and polymerisation of furan monomers into biorenewable resins
• Assessment of BioSPRINT’s implications on sustainability via ILCSA highlighting advantages and disadvanteages, synergies and trade-offs, identifying success factors and providing recommendations
• Promising economic and business viability of PI biorefineries to deliver sustainable furans at competitive prices to the European market
• CEN Workshop Agreement EvaPIBioref established available soon at: https://www.cencenelec.eu/get-involved/research-and-innovation-draft/horizon-europe-projects/cwa-download-area

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