Biorefinery Zeitz of the Südzucker Group – Status Quo and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Due to the long history of the Südzucker Group in sugar production, the company owns key know-how in processing biomass. In the last decades, the product portfolio was extended from sugar to various products such as ethanol, starch, proteins, or glucose syrups. This article presents Zeitz as the largest production site of the Südzucker Group today. The historical development is described and the synergies between the different units from which the location benefits today as a highly integrated site. Recent R&D activities are presented, and existing technologies are discussed as future perspectives to further develop Zeitz.

A Proposal for Evaluating the Economic Viability of Biorefineries against Petrochemical Benchmarks

“…Vogel [4] stated that the use of renewable carbon sources from biomass is reasonable and required, if it is cost-effective and economical. In their article, Kunz et al [6] outline that the high functionality of biomass generally might result in higher product costs per unit compared to fossil feedstocks. Many kinds of biomass tend to produce lower amounts of product because heteroatoms, especially oxygen, are split off during the reactions.…”

“…Many kinds of biomass tend to produce lower amounts of product because heteroatoms, especially oxygen, are split off during the reactions. This contrasts with an increase in mass when processing crude oil, natural gas, or coal, where functionality is usually added by incorporating heteroatoms [6]. Yang et al [7] assume that especially lignocellulosic biorefineries, which aim to produce chemicals, materials, and fuels, cannot yet compete with fossil processes and products regarding prices and are therefore not economical.…”

“…Additional offers are an important instrument for getting bio-based products onto the market. This could be the combined production of food and chemical materials like it is done in currently existing biorefineries [6], but also the lower environmental footprint compared to petroleum-based products. Instead of the usual pricing via cost structures, pricing should be defined via customer benefits.…”

“…Many kinds of biomass tend to produce lower amounts of product because heteroatoms, especially oxygen, are split off during the reactions. This contrasts with an increase in mass when processing crude oil, natural gas, or coal, where functionality is usually added by incorporating heteroatoms 6. Yang et al.…”

Statistical Design of Experiments in the Catalyst Validation of a Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 Catalyst for PtM Applications

“…Leider ist gru ¨nes Methanol nach gegenwa ¨rtigem Stand kein wirtschaftlich wettbewerbsfa ¨higes Produkt in Deutschland, da erho ¨hte Investitionskosten, insbesondere fu ¨r den Elektrolyseschritt im PtM-Prozess, und die Gefahr der geringeren Auslastung den Preis der Kommodita ¨t erho ¨hen [5]. Nichtsdestotrotz pru ¨fen verschiedene deutsche Firmen die Integration des PtM-Prozesses in bestehende Anlagen, beispielsweise in Bioraffinerie-Konzepte zur Verwertung und in Kreislaufbringung von CO 2 aus Rauchgas einer thermischen Abfallbehandlung [6] oder biogenem CO 2 aus einer Großfermentation [7].…”