A sustainable wood biorefinery for low–carbon footprint chemicals production

Abstract

The profitability and sustainability of future biorefineries are dependent on efficient feedstock use. Therefore, it is essential to valorize lignin when using wood. We have developed an integrated biorefinery that converts 78 weight % (wt %) of birch into xylochemicals. Reductive catalytic fractionation of the wood produces a carbohydrate pulp amenable to bioethanol production and a lignin oil. After extraction of the lignin oil, the crude, unseparated mixture of phenolic monomers is catalytically funneled into 20 wt % of phenol and 9 wt % of propylene (on the basis of lignin weight) by gas-phase hydroprocessing and dealkylation; the residual phenolic oligomers (30 wt %) are used in printing ink as replacements for controversial para-nonylphenol. A techno-economic analysis predicts an economically competitive production process, and a life-cycle assessment estimates a lower carbon dioxide footprint relative to that of fossil-based production.

Reductive catalytic fractionation of pine wood: elucidating and quantifying the molecular structures in the lignin oil

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Given its complex structure of intertwined cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin biopolymers, lignocellulose is fractionated in a biorenery prior to further downstream processing of each intermediate fraction into marketable end products, such as sugar-or lignin-derived chemicals (e.g. phenol, 7,8 terephthalic acid 9 and 5-HMF 10 ) or fuels (e.g. bioethanol, 11 light bionaptha 6,12 ), paper, or other materials.…”

A biorefinery concept for the production of fuel ethanol, probiotic yeast and whey protein from a by-product of the cheese industry

“…These results establish the proof of concept that a biorefinery for ethanol production using whey or whey permeate can also be exploited to obtain viable probiotic biomass, conferring an added value to the process. The sustainability of biorefineries depends on the efficiency to use resources and minimize waste products which may rely on the integration of different processes (26–28). The process we studied in the present work is in line with this concept aiming at using a food industry waste as substrate to obtain fuel ethanol, protein concentrate and probiotic biomass.…”

p-Xylene from 2,5-dimethylfuran and acrylic acid using zeolite in a continuous flow system

“…From the beginning of industrialization, our society has developed a heavy dependence on coal and fossil oils as a source of energy and chemicals. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] This has led to the wellknown environmental side effects that we are facing today. In order to decrease the dependency on fossil resources, alternative methodologies to produce fine chemicals from renewable resources, e.g.…”

“…lignocellulosic biomass, with low environmental impact are greatly needed. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] In this regard, a large number of publications have described the utilization of waste lignocellulosic biomass-derived compounds for the synthesis of fine chemicals, e.g. sugars, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) and levulinic acid (LA).…”