Periodic Reporting for period 2 - LIBERATE (Lignin Biorefinery Approach using Electrochemical Flow)
Período documentado: 2020-04-01 hasta 2021-09-30
1) The obtention of vanillin from kraft lignin with a 7% yield;
2) To synthesize mixed phenolic derivatives from organosolv lignin with a yield higher than 35%;
3) The electrooxidation of biosustainable cyclohexanol to synthesise propyladipic acid with a yield of up to 70%;
4) A biorefinery process capable of: accommodating renewable energy fluctuations without loss in efficiency; exhibits a 95% improvement in the energy efficiency of the process and a 350% improvement in resource efficiency; and produce 29 times less CO2 than the conventional petrochemical alternatives.
Various organosolv lignins were produced from softwood, hardwood and herbaceous biomass under various fractionation conditions and staged lignin precipitation and evaluated together with various kraft lignins. The different processes and reactions were optimized (reactions conditions, electrodes and corrosion studies). Based on these results, reactors were designed, built and tested at lab-scale for all three processes. For the downstream process, separation concepts are being evaluated using membrane, ion exchange resins and other techniques. The influence of renewable energy sources (RES) fluctuation was examined, simulations were created based on weather data and the effect of the RES fluctuation on yield was investigated.
The pilot plant for the demonstration of the vanillin-phenolic process has been designed and built and the reactor system is commissioned in full operation with current densities > 400 mA/cm2 without any observed damage or loss of performance and selectivity while parts of the downstream separation process are currently in the commissioning phase. This pilot plant will produce material that will be validated by the end users during the last period of the project. During the project, a total of 8 exploitable results have been identified and a more detailed business plan will be created for each of the results, as the project progress.