JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH · JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH ... Michael Mandl Danish Crop ... Pilot Plant in Orbe (CH) cont. Source: BPS, S. Grass

1

JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH

Green Biorefinery

an overview

Michael Mandl

Danish Crop Production Conference, Herning, 11th Jan. 2012

2

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

3

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.

4

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

5

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“

6

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

7

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

8

Primary processing

Quelle: E Keijsers

Basic processing is a mechanical fractionation

(screw press, refiner etc..) to generate a

juice and solid fraction

9

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

10

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

…

11

Some fibre product samples © JOANNEUM RESEARCH

12

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

13

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

14

Pilot Plant Brandenburg (GER) cont.

Source: Joachim Venus, ATB

15

Prograss Initiative Grass pilot plant (NL)

Source:JP Sanders, WUR

Plant not existing any more!

16

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

17

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

18

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

19

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

20

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

21

Down stream processing silage juice in green biorefinery Utzenaich

Combination of different

separation processes:

Ultra & nano filtration

Electro dialysis

Reversed osmosis

Ion exchange

22

Amino acid product % of 100g spray dried powder

23

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

24

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

25

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

26

“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!

27

Thank you for your attention!

We proudly acknowledge our funders and partners