Biorefining trends Potential and challenges in the kraft pulp mills - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Biorefining trends

Potential and challenges in the kraft pulp mills

Marcelo Hamaguchi

7th ICEP – International Colloquium on Eucalyptus Pulp May 26-29, 2015 – Vitória, ES

Focus of R&D in transition

chemicals, biofuels lignin removal pelletizing gasification lignin SE, torrefaction DME,CH4,H2, ethanol,FT-fuel gasification bio-oil

green liquor

liquefaction synthesis / catalytic upgrading

alternative technologies

heat, power extracted chips

esterification, hydrogenation

tall oil

biodiesel

biomass drying

pyrolysis upgrading transport fuels biofuel conversion pre-hydrolysis, hemicellulose extraction

heat, power

Woodhandling Fiber Processing line Evaporation Recovery Boiler Recausticizing Lime Kiln Auxiliary boilers Steam turbine Wood

white liquor black liquor

Pulp traditional pulp mill

lime cycle fossil fuels heat, power

 wood: well-developed logistics, availability the year around, foreseeable cost  Important to avoid any kind of disturbances in the existing operation

Opportunities ahead

Transportation fuels Lignin Advanced materials Sugar platform/ chemicals SE pellets/ biocoal

Carbon fiber Polysaccharide films Biopolymers Nanocellulose Monosaccharides Furfural Levulinic acid Formic acid Xylitol n-butanol BTX Binders Dispersants Carbon fiber PU foams Activated carbon Bioethanol Isobutanol Biodiesel Aviation fuel Replacement for fossil coal

Valorization of biomass components

Sugars platform

Pretreatment

Disrupt the crystalline structure of cellulose Feed capacities

up to 1200 odt/d

 Ash content, including sand (erosion)  Stable feeding at high pressure, filtration efficiency

Biomass fractionation – sugar platform

Enzyme route

Biomass handling Pre- treatment Separation Enzymatic hydrolysis Separation

Hemicellulose sugars Biomass Glucose

Biomass boiler

Lignin products

On-site refining

Glycols Bioplastics, polymers, PET

Conversion

Lactic acid PLA

Several technologies

pre- treatment hydrolysis

Pre-treatment liquor hemicellulose sugars Ethanol/water, catalyst

hydrolysis, separation

Glucose Lignin

Biomass

solvent recovery separation Extraction Separation Cooking Bleaching

Hemicellulose sugars

Fiber raw material Dissolving pulp

Chemical recovery Pre- treatments

Potential use of C5 sugars

Pretreatment and Separation

Biomass waste pretreated biomass

Xylose (olig + mon): 35 t/d 12000 t/a Cel: 45% Hem: 25% Lig: 27% Others: 3% Dry flow: 250 t/d Moisture: 45% HV: 17 MJ/kg (dry) Cel: 54.5% Hem: 8.5% Lig: 35.5% Others: 1.5% Dry flow: 182 t/d Moisture: 60% HV: 18.1 MJ/kg (dry) Water/acid

Steam from boiler: 104 t/h Mill power generation: 142 MW Steam from boiler: 85 t/h Mill power generation: 137 MW

Case study

Lignin platform

Important to study the impacts

Unit Current mill data With LignoBoost Recovery boiler steam generation kg/s 188.0 181.1 Mill power generation MW 141.7 135.6 Black liquor heating value MJ/kg 14.0 13.8 Black liquor dry solids to boiler t/d 4315 4240 Estimated CO2 consumption t/d

• 17.0

Estimated H2SO4 consumption t/d

• 15.5

Example: Removal of 25,000 t/a of lignin (~5% of total lignin)

H2SO4 Lignin CO2 Precipitation Dewatering & washing Conditioning Dewatering

Evaporation plant

LignoBoost lignin purity development

94-96%

• Fuel grade lignin
• pH adjusted –

Neutral water wash

96-98%

• Double washed
• Hemi removal

96-98%

• Fractionated lignin
• Certain Mw?
• Depolymerisation

>99%

• S-removal
• Membrane

filtration of BL feed to LB

• Could be

fractionated as well

Degree of refining Value

Lignin potential

Kraft pulping with lignin extraction Carbonization and activation

Activated carbon

Depolymerization

thermal biological thermochemical

Syringaldehyde Phenolic resins Vanilin

Spinning Stabilization Carbonization Surface treatment

Carbon fibers Biomass

Fractionation

e.g. organosolv etanol 2G

sugars

More challenging

Sulphite pulping

fractionated lignin kraft lignin lignosulphonates < 7 USD/kg

dual-binnacle cockpit with a carbon-fiber bulkhead Lower cost CF made with lignin can be used for e.g insulating PAN-CF that do not require the strength

purity

Everything seems nice but....

Why not moving forward at faster pace?

 User resistance to new technologies

– Better quality doesn’t mean changing the user perception / satisfaction – Lack of public understanding

 High investment cost for novel technologies

– Drivers: enough to be green?

 Political inactivity and also a powerful fossil fuel lobby

– Decision delays can chill investments

 Biotech rulemaking  In extreme cases: Intellectual property goes to Supreme Court and

• wnership remains unsolved.

– Market in general is less likely to accept new products if there is only a single technology provider.

Diffusion not easy… Several announcements....Probably not all are going to hit the target!

Path to commercial scale plants

Gartner Hype Cycle

http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/methodologie s/hype-cycle.jsp

What could be done?

 More incentives and policy stability

– PAISS : Only 5% (R$ 250 million) in the form of subvention > slow down local R&D. – Government can support more, e.g. through PNPC.

 Policy favoring the consumption of bio-based products

– E.g. part of the increased blend % of ethanol in gasoline could come from E2G – Long term commitment

 Dedicated funding for specific applications

– Biomaterial for automotive industry – Biofuel for jet fuel, etc

Partnership

Forest/agro industry

Technology supplier downstream: e.g. enzymes, yeasts Technology supplier front-end: Biomass handling, pretreatment Technology provider Chemical industry Biomaterial industry Biofuel industry Feedstock supplier

 Ex: Fortum, UPM and Valmet jointly developing a new technology to produce advanced high value lignocellulosic fuels via catalytic pyrolysis technology.  Association to support the new business (e.g. ABBI to improve biotech regulations, increase technology competitiveness, etc)

Joining forces, sharing risks / costs

Summary

 Wood: well-developed logistics, low ash content, availability the year around and foreseeable cost  Biorefining equipment have been reaching good levels of maturity. However, full processes are still being demonstrated  Valorization routes for lignin, sugars and bio-oil are indispensable steps for biorefineries to achieve payback more rapidly  Feasibility influenced by feedstock quality, oil/electricity sales price, biomass availability, scale and process maturity/efficiency.  Need for more consistent government policies, but also people’s attitude towards a more sustainable economy

Thank you!