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JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH
Green Biorefinery
an overview
Michael Mandl
Danish Crop Production Conference, Herning, 11th Jan. 2012
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Content
1. On biorefining- what is a green biorefinery?
2. Grass- an available resource?
3. Potential technologies and products
4. Green Biorefinery Pilotplants in Europe
5. Green Biorefinery Utzenaich (AT)
6. Conclusions
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What is a Green Biorefinery
A Green Biorefinery processes
green biomass (fresh or silage)
to an array of products.
Feedstock options are manifold such as
Grass, Clover, Lucerne…
immature cereals etc.
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Motivation for green biorefinery
Traditional grass utilisation has been changing… due to strong restructuring of diary/ beef sector
grassland biomass has become a surplus resources in some areas available for alternative use
Green biorefinery is seen as new utilisation pathway to enter future markets (food/feed, biochemical, material and biofuels sector
Biorefinery are expected to support rural development and agricultural sector respectively
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Alternative grass utilisation
From grass for cattle towards grass for bio-industry
food products milk & beef,
and manure
bio-products food/feed, materials,
bulk and fine chemicals,
biofuels and energy…
„..from cow
to
„technical cow“
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Grassland in Europe
In EU 27:
33% of utilized
arable area is
perm. grassland
Reference: Osterburg B et al; Impact of economic
and political drivers on grassland use in the EU,
Grassland Science in Europe, Vol 15
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Product options
Green Biorefinery technology at
present mainly focuses on
Proteins (amino acid)
soluble sugars
ligno- cellulose fractions (fibres)
special fine chemical
As product or valuable intermediate
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Primary processing
Quelle: E Keijsers
Basic processing is a mechanical fractionation
(screw press, refiner etc..) to generate a
juice and solid fraction
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Processing grass juice
Process technology Product or
intermediate Application
Market
size
Agglomeration
membrane technology Protein recovery animal feed +++
Separation technology
e.g. nanofiltration
electro dialysis/
chromatography
Amino acids
mixtures
High grade, nutrition
supplement, body
care
+
Lactic acid
Bulk chemical
food/ feed/ drinks/
PLA, Ethyl lactat…
++
Direct fermentation e.g. lactic acid
organic acids
Chemical, food,
feed sector ++
Biogas generation Bio-methane CHP or gas-grid
biofuel ++(+)
+ small ++ medium +++ big
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Processing fibre fraction
Solid fraction
Direct use
for
Biogas
Animal feed
Combustion
Feedstock for
ligno-cellulose
biorefinery
Hydrolysis &
fermentation
Biofuels;
Organic acids;
Biopolymers…
Upgrading to
fibre products
Insulation material,
Fibre boards,
Horticulture substrate,
Bio-composites,
Pulp & Paper
…
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Some fibre product samples © JOANNEUM RESEARCH
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Some examples for Green Biorefinery initiatives in Europe (Demo / Pilot plants)
state Current Status Products Remarks
A Pilot plant (Utzenaich) Lactic acid, Amino
acids, Biogas
LA + AA separation out of silage
juice; fibres to biogas
GER Pilot Plant Brandenburg
Demo „Biowert“
Lactic acid
Biogas, feed , fibre
Fermentation of fresh green
juice +starch hydrolysis
Mainly biogas
IRE Concept Biogas + Insulation
DK Pilot , Demo Protein, Lysin-feed Integrated to green pellets
production
NL „closed“ pilot plant; new
facilities planed
Feed product focus,
fibre utilisation
fibres for pulp and paper and
various fibre products…
„mobile“ operation concepts
CH Demoplant Grass insulation product
(biogas a. feed options)
Commercial business for
insulation material;
biogas & feed not jet integrated
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Pilot Plant Brandenburg (GER)
Pre-treatment of plant
substrates for microbial
conversion processes
Kinetics of cell growth
and product processing
of lactic acid bacteria
Development of
continuous processes
for the production of
basic chemicals,
valuable products and
biomass Source: Joachim Venus, ATB
Use of fresh grass juices for lactic acid
fermentation
Pilot plant facility for
biotechnological manufacture
of valuable products based on
renewable resources
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Pilot Plant Brandenburg (GER) cont.
Source: Joachim Venus, ATB
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Prograss Initiative Grass pilot plant (NL)
Source:JP Sanders, WUR
Plant not existing any more!
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Green biorefinery in The Netherlands
Prograss - central
Courage/
de Haan - mobile unit
GRASSA!
CSM - digester
Suikerunie - Fibre
- Protein
GRASSA!!
1998
2003
2006
2008
2010
Grass Sugar
beet
leaf
Quelle: Edwin Keijsers, WUR
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Pilot Plant in Orbe (CH)
Source: Stefan Grass, BPS
Biomass Process Solution (BPS)
upgrades grass fibre to insulation products
Gramitherm®
Use of liquid phase for biogas generation
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Pilot Plant in Orbe (CH) cont.
Source: BPS, S. Grass
Benchmarking grass insulation properties
Use of liquid phase for biogas generation
Product
Heat
conductivit
y [W/m,K]
Greenhouse
potential [kg CO2-aequiv./kg]
Sound
absorption
Sommer
heat
protection
Stonewool 0.035 1,4 good medium
Polystyrene 0.035 3,2 poor medium
Flax 0.04 0,4 good good
Gramitherm® 0.035 -0,9 (!) good good
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Set-up of Green Biorefinery Utzenaich
Grass Biomass (Grass, Clover, Lucerne)
Silage
Pre-treatment
and pressing
Press-
cake
Amino acid
separation
Lactic acid
separation
Residues
Anaerobic
digestion
Fibre-
utilisation
Conversion to
liquid biofuels
Amio acids high grade
Lactic acid food grade
Fertilizer
Biogas CHP, BioCNG
Fibre
Juice
2nd generation
biofuels
Demonstration plant Utzenaich
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Goals of Pilot Plant Utzenaich
To confirm result from bench
scale
To optimize processing at pilot
scale in opertion
To proof maturity of technology
for market uptake (technical &
economic feasibility)
To deliver prototype products
and reliable processing and
product quality data
To prepare engineering for
further scale up
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Down stream processing silage juice in green biorefinery Utzenaich
Combination of different
separation processes:
Ultra & nano filtration
Electro dialysis
Reversed osmosis
Ion exchange
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Amino acid product % of 100g spray dried powder
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Results Green Biorefinery Utzenaich
Technology
Amino acids out of grass silage can deliver high grade
quality products (e.g. food additive, body care
application)
Lactic acid can be recovered in food grade
Quality of silage feedstock is important to deliver good
quality products and yields (quality monitoring needed)
Amino acid is the key product of process
clover and Lucerne are interesting feedstock (CP!)
Processing soundly is tested ready for up-scale into
production scale
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Results Green Biorefinery Utzenaich
Economy
Economic feasibility of processing is possible at
moderate scales (app. 10.000 DM/a feedstock)
Required revenue for Amino acid mixture > 4 €/kg
AA product from grass is new and needs to be
introduced
Green power tariffs (biogas CHP) have strong effect on
the economics
Implementation
A production plant for grass utilisation is currently in
evaluation; access to AA market is important
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Conclusions
Economic feasibility: 2-3 product outlet is
required
Incentives for biogas generation (green power
legislation) could boost Green Biorefinery
Grass protein for animal feed products is a
economically challenging but offers a very big
market for big scale implementation
Grass is good in crop rotation and has proven to
be a sustainable long term resource
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“Take home message…”
Logistics are part of the process
setup which lead to regional adopted
biorefinery solutions
From the long term perspective
security of raw material supply
requires sustainable agriculture!
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