BIOREFINERIES

Cellulosic Ethanol Plant, Abengoa Bioenergy Hugoton, Kansas

TOPIC 1: BIOREFINERY SYSTEM

 1.1 Principle of biorefinery

 1.2 Type of biorefinery and biorefinery product
 1.2.1 Aquatic and algal based biorefinery
 1.2.2 Biomass based biorefinery
 1.2.3 Integrated biorefinery
 What?
 Biorefinery: is a facility that integrates biomass conversion
processes and equipment to produce fuels, power, heat,
and value-added chemicals from biomass – at the same time
maximising the value of the biomass and minimising the
waste

 Biomass: any organic matter that is available on a renewable

or recurring basis (excluding old growth timber), including
dedicated energy crops and trees, agricultural food and
feed crop residues, aquatic plants, wood and wood
residues, animal wastes, and other waste materials
 Why?

 Reduce the dependence on depleting oil and natural gas resources

 Utilize the abundantly available biomass
 A promising alternative solution because it is clean and
environmentally safe
 To replace fossil chemicals with biomass based chemicals and
materials
 To replace fossil fuel with renewable fuels and energy

In 2050, world population will be

about 11 billion people with same
requireries for
- food
- energy
-and materials
 Why Biomass?

 Plants are stored solar energy and (almost) CO2

neutral
 Plant production: (chlorophyll)
CO2 + H2O + sunlight  (CH2O)n + O2
 Combustion of plants (or plant products):
(CH2O)n + O2  Energy + H2O + CO2
 Without fossil oil and gas, plants are the ONLY
organic substances for future energy carriers,
materials and chemicals
Recycle (or renewable) times for
biomass/chemical feedstocks
 Kyoto Protocol

 The Kyoto Protocol treaty was negotiated in December 1997 at the city of Kyoto, Japan
and came into force February 16th, 2005.

 The Kyoto Protocol is a legally binding agreement under which industrialized

countries will reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases

 The goal is to lower overall emissions from six greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, HFCs, and PFCs

 There are 192 parties to the convention, including 191 states (all the UN members,
except Andorra, Canada, South Sudan and the United States) and the European Union

 Developing countries do not have binding targets under the Kyoto Protocol, but are still
committed under the treaty to reduce their emissions.
Petroleum vs Biomass
Biorefinery vs Oil Refinery
 Advantages
 Lower production cost due to cheaper raw materials
 Environmental friendly-reduce the emission of greenhouse
gases
 Sustainable process with less waste and safer process
 New market creation for agricultural commodities
 Better distribution of wealth around the world
 Product range is larger
 Principles
 A simple three platform concept
• Algae
• Energy crop
Products
 Phases of Biorefinery

 Phase I biorefinery : Single feedstock, single process

and single major product
 Phase II biorefinery : Single feedstock, multiple
processes and multiple products
 Phase III biorefinery: Multiple feedstocks, multiple
processes and multiple major products

 Example
 Types of Biorefinery

 Lignocellulosic biomass based biorefinery

 Whole Crop
 Green crop
 MSW
 Aquatic and algal based biorefinery
 Integrated biorefinery
Lignocellulosic Biorefinery
Whole Crop Biorefinery
Green Biorefinery
Algae based biorefinery
 Conversion Pathway
 Thermochemical conversion
• Gasification-high T producing CO2,H,Methane, with presence of O2
• Pyrolysis –high T w/o O2
• Liquefaction-high T, convert biomass into partially liq –heavy oil
• Combustion
 Biochemical conversion
• Anaerobic digestion
• Fermentation
• Enzymatic reaction
Integrated Biorefinery (Phase III
Biorefinery)
 Phase III biorefinery

 Able to produce a variety of chemicals, fuels and

intermediates or end products
 Use various types of feedstocks and processing
methods to produce products for the industrial
market.
 It has the flexibility of its feedstock use is the factor
of first priority for adaptability towards changes in
demand and supply for feed, food and industrial
commodities.
 Challenges

 Technology - technology has not been sufficiently

developed
 Scale – most biorefineries is in relatively small scale
compared to petroleum refinery, not economic
 Investment – capital investment is high
 Cost - technology in pretreatment that is cost
efficient
 Product acceptance
 Malaysia’s Biomass
 Oil Palm waste
 Paddy planting waste
 Coconut waste
 Municipal solid waste
 References
 Kamm, B. & Kamm, M. 2004. Principles of biorefineries, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 64: 137–145
 Naik, S.N. , Goud, V. V., Rout, P.K., Dalai, A.K., 2010. Production of first and second generation biofuels: A comprehensive
review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14:578–597
 http://www.eutecfo.com/biorefinery.php
 www.biofuelstp.eu/algae.html
 Prof wim.S, University of Ghent
 http://www.iperasmuseprobio.unifg.it/dwn/IndustrialBiorefinery.pdf.
 Wei Yen, H.,Chen Hu, I., Chen, C.Y., Ho, S.H., Lee, D.J., & Chang, J.S., 2013. Microalgae-based biorefinery – From biofuels to
natural products, Bioresource Technology 135:166–174
 Demirbas, A., 2009. Biorefineries: Current activities and future developments, Energy Conversion and Management,
50:2782–2801
 www.nrel.gov
 MPOB
 http://www.bioenergyconsult.com/refuse-derived-fuel/