Project description
New process for biofuels from black liquor
EU plans for a low-carbon economy require advanced biofuels for aviation and shipping. The EU-funded BL2F project proposes the pioneering integrated hydrothermal liquefaction process at pulp mills to produce drop-in biofuels for aviation and shipping from black liquor. Black liquor is a by-product of the chemical pulping industry that is used as biofuel feedstock, providing 83 % reduction in CO2 emissions compared to fossil fuels and a very competitive production cost per litre. The project proposes three innovations: allowing direct upgrading of HTL-oil by combining salt separation with the HTL reactor; reforming the aqueous phase to hydrogen, decreasing the need for external fossil hydrogen in integrated hydrothermal hydrodeoxygenation; and integrating the process into the pulp mill, leading to treatment cost reductions.
Objective
Black Liquor to Fuel (BL2F) process produces drop-in biofuels for aviation and shipping from black liquor, a side stream of chemical pulping industry. 83 % CO2 reduction compared to fossil fuels, and competitive production cost of 0.90 €/l for drop-in sustainable aviation fuel are received. A large deployment, using a variety of biomass, can yield >50 billion liters of advanced biofuels by 2050, then satisfying the EU demand for advanced biofuels for aviation (15 Mtoe) and shipping (30 Mtoe).
First-of-a-kind Integrated Hydro Thermal Liquefaction (IHTL) process at pulp mills produces fuel intermediate for further upgrading in oil refineries. Biomass is converted to low oxygen content (< 10 w-%) HTL-oil in water of reductive conditions at up to 400 ˚C, 300 bar. The expected energy yield is >85 %. Integrated hydrothermal HydroDeOxygenation (IHDO) will further upgrade HTL-oil to fuel intermediate (< 5 w-% O2), classifying as bunker-like marine fuel or feedstock for high-quality aviation and marine fuels production.
The process innovations of BL2F are: 1) combined salt separation and HTL-reactor, enabling direct upgrading of HTL-oil, 2) reforming of the aqueous phase to hydrogen, decreasing the need for external fossil hydrogen in IHDO, 3) integrating the process to pulp mill, offering cost reductions in treating of the gaseous and solid side streams by existing process installations.
The BL2F is supported by CEPI, Avinor, and Rolls Royce and covers the whole value chain: The 6th largest producer in the world of bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp NVG, the leading biorefinery supplier Valmet, catalyst developer Ranido and Neste, the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel collaborate with excellent research partners; VTT, PSI, SINTEF, Tampere University, KIT, Brunel University London. LGI and industrial partners maximize the impact of the project. The ambitious goals and strong consortium strengthens European leadership in renewable biofuels and climate protection.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels liquid fuels
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
- engineering and technology industrial biotechnology biomaterials biofuels
- agricultural sciences agricultural biotechnology biomass
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.3.3. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3.3.3. - Alternative fuels and mobile energy sources
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
RIA - Research and Innovation action
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-LC-SC3-2018-2019-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
33100 TAMPERE
Finland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.