Industrial Biorenewables
A Practical Viewpoint

INDUSTRIAL BIORENEWABLES
A Practical Viewpoint

This unique text provides an in-depth industrial view in its discussion of industrial biorenewables; industries report on real cases of biorenewables, dealing with economics, the motivation of implementing industrial biorenewable-based processes, and suggestions for further improvement and research.

• Includes industrial perspectives by scientists working on biorenewable technology in industry, with a clear commercial focus
• Spans basic research to commercialization of processes and everything in between
• Provides key information for academic groups working in the area by covering the way industrial scientists tackle problems
• Showcases patented technologies across diverse industries, shares the motivation of implementing industrial biorenewable-based processes, and suggests options for further improvement and research
• Serves as a guide for industries and academic groups, providing crucial information for the setup of future biobased industrial concepts

Industrial Biorenewables provides a state-of-the-art perspective, offering a unique viewpoint from which a range of industries report on real cases of biorenewables, demonstrate their technologies, share the motivation of implementing a certain industrial biorenewable-based processes, and suggest options for further improvement and research. With an in-depth industrial viewpoint, the book serves as a key guide for industries and academic groups, providing crucial information for the setup of future biobased industrial concepts.

List of Contributors xiii

Preface ix

1 AkzoNobel: Biobased Raw Materials 1
Alistair Reid,Martijn van Loon, Sara Tollin, and Peter Nieuwenhuizen

1.1 AkzoNobel’s Biobased Raw Materials Strategy in Context 1

1.2 AkzoNobel in the Value Chain 3

1.3 Drivers Behind Development of the Biobased Raw Material Strategy 4

1.4 Conclusions of the Biobased Chemicals Strategy 10

1.5 Implementing the Strategy: Striking Partnerships 13

1.6 Experience to Date 14

1.7 Measuring, Reporting, and Ensuring Sustainable Sourcing of Biomass 17

1.8 Book and Claim 18

1.9 Sustainability in the Value Chain: LCA 19

2 Arizona Chemical: Refining and Upgrading of Bio-Based and Renewable Feedstocks 21
Godfried J. H. Buisman and Jos H. M. Lange

2.1 Company Introduction 22

2.2 History of Pine Chemicals 22

2.3 Modern Biorefining 28

2.4 The Kraft Pulping Process 34

2.5 Cradle-To-Gate 44

2.6 Outlook 46

2.7 Case Study: Tackifiers From Renewable Pine-Based Crude Tall Oil and Crude Sulfate Turpentine for Adhesive Applications 49

Acknowledgments 57

References 57

3 Arkema: Castor Reactive Seed Crushing Process to Promote Castor Cultivation 63
Jean-Luc Dubois

3.1 Arkema: Context for Biorenewables 64

3.2 Introduction to Castor Oil 65

3.3 Experimental Details 72

3.4 Results 77

3.5 Discussion 85

3.6 Conclusion 92

Acknowledgments 93

References 94

4 Avantium Chemicals: The High Potential for the levulinic product tree 97
Jan C. van der Waal and Ed de Jong

4.1 Introduction 97

4.2 Levulinic Production Routes 101

4.3 The Levulinic Acid Product Family Tree 107

4.4 Conclusions and Outlook 116

References 117

5 C5LT: Biorenewables at C5 Ligno Technologies AB 121
Kaisa Karhumaa and Violeta Sànchez i Nogué

5.1 Introduction 121

5.2 Lignocellulosic Ethanol Production: Process 123

5.3 C5LT Gene Package Technology 129

5.4 Fermentation of Lignocellulosic Hydrolysates: Remaining Challenges 136

5.5 Conclusions 137

Acknowledgments 138

References 138

6 Cepsa: Towards The Integration of Vegetable Oils and Lignocellulosic Biomass into Conventional Petroleum Refinery Processing Units 141
Maria Fé Elía, Olalla de la Torre, Rafael Larraz, and Juana Frontela

6.1 About Cepsa 142

6.2 Vegetable Oils 149

6.3 Lignocellulosic Biomass 167

6.4 Concluding Remarks 172

References 173

7 DuPont: Biorenewables at E.I. DU Pont DE Nemours & Co 175
Michael A. Saltzberg, Armando M. Byrne, Ethel N. Jackson, Edward S. Miller Jr., Mark J. Nelson, Bjorn D. Tyreus, and Quinn Zhu

7.1 DuPont History and Strategic Priorities 176

7.2 DuPont’s Innovation Philosophy 178

7.3 DuPont’s Industrial Biorenewable Portfolio 2013 180

7.4 Case History #1: Bio-PDO and Sorona 182

7.5 Case History #2: Development of Yeast-based Omega-3s for Verlasso Harmoniously Raised Salmon 194

7.6 Future Directions for Dupont in Industrial Biorenewables 210

7.7 Summary 213

References 213

8 Evonik: Bioeconomy and Biobased Products 219
Henrike Gebhardt, Peter Nagler, Stefan Buchholz, Stefan Cornelissen, Edda Schulze, and Achim Marx

8.1 Introduction 220

8.2 Biobased and Bioprocessed Products (1) 225

8.3 Products Produced from Biobased Feedstock by Conventional Catalysis (2) 234

8.4 Biodegradable Products (3) 239

8.5 Enabling Chemicals (4) 239

References 241

9 Market Structure and Growth Rates of Industrial Biorenewables 245
Gunter Festel

9.1 Background for Industrial Biorenewables and Data Sources 245

9.2 Market Overview and Growth Rates 247

9.3 Examples for Biotechnology-Based Products Related to Biorenewables 252

References 254

10 Göteborg Energi: Vehicle Fuel From Organic Waste 255
Eric Zinn and Henrik Thunman

10.1 The Company 256

10.2 Sweden’s Renewable Energy Targets and the Role that Biogas Will Play in Meeting these 256

10.3 Biogas in Transportation: Case Studies Within Göteborg Energi 257

10.4 The Role of Gasification Technology in the Future as the Demand for Biomass-based Energy and Fuel Grows 264

11 Greasoline: Biofuels From Non-food Materials and Residues 267
Georg Dahmen, Peter Haug, Gunter Festel, Axel Kraft, Volker Heil, Andreas Menne, and Christoph Unger

11.1 Fuels and Chemicals: Necessity of Renewables 268

11.2 Evolving Markets for Greasoline^® Technology 269

11.3 Technology Overview Greasoline^® 270

11.4 Description of Business Model 271

11.5 Diesel from Different Raw Materials 274

References 280

12 Green Applied Solutions: Customized Waste Valorization Solutions for a Sustainable Future 283
Chunping Xu and Rafael Luque

12.1 Introduction 283

12.2 The Company 285

12.3 Projects and Future 287

12.4 Conclusions and Prospects 292

Acknowledgments 293

References 293

13 Grove Advanced Chemicals: Flox^® Coagulants – Environmentally Friendly Water and Wastewater Treatment Using Biodegradable Polymers From Renewable Forests 295
Bárbara van Asch, Paulo Martins, Filipe Santos, Elisabete Sepúlveda, Pedro Carvalho, Richard Solal, Carlos Abreu, Rui Santos, Jorge Vasconcelos, Philippe Geyr, and Henrique Villas-Boas

13.1 Introduction 296

13.2 Company Overview 297

13.3 Coagulation and Flocculation in Water Treatment 298

13.4 Flox^® Coagulants 298

13.5 Company and Product Certifications 302

13.6 Case Studies 303

13.7 Future Perspectives 320

References 321

14 Heliae Development, LLC: An Industrial Approach to Mixotrophy in Microalgae 323
Eneko Ganuza, Anna Lee Tonkovich, and Bárbara van Asch

14.1 Preamble 323

14.2 Introduction to Heliae Development LLC 324

14.3 Mixotrophy 325

14.4 Implementation of Industrial Mixotrophy: A Case Study 332

Acknowledgments 339

References 339

15 InFiQuS: Making the Best of Leftovers 341
Inmaculada Aranaz, Niuris Acosta, María N Mengíbar, Laura Calderón, Ruth Harris, and Ángeles Heras

15.1 Brief Description of InFiQuS 342

15.2 Valuable by-products Under Research by InFiQuS 345

15.3 Examples of Products Co-developed by InFiQuS 360

15.4 Market Situation 362

15.5 Needs of Research: Synergies Between Industry and Academia 364

References 366

16 Biorenewables at Mango Materials 371
Allison Pieja, Anne Schauer-Gimenez, Ann Oakenfull, and Molly Morse

16.1 Motivation: the Problems with Plastics Today 372

16.2 The Bioplastics Industry: An Overview 373

16.3 Mango Materials – a Novel PHA Production Process 377

16.4 Mango Materials, the Story 386

16.5 The Future – new Ideas for Potential Research 390

Acknowledgments 391

References 391

17 Novamont: Perspectives on Industrial Biorenewables and Public-Private Needs 397
Stefano Facco

17.1 State of the Art and Challenges Faced by Biobased Industries 397

17.2 Wisdom in the Use of Renewable Raw Materials: The Cascading Use of Biomass 400

17.3 Case Study: Bioplastics in Italy: Going For Growth Despite the Crisis 401

17.4 The EU Policy Framework and Related Policy Gaps: The EU Strategy on Bioeconomy and the Role of Industrial Policies 405

References 407

18 Novozymes: How Novozymes Thinks About Biomass 409
Brandon Emme and Alex Berlin

18.1 The Company 411

18.2 Case Study: The Transformation of Cellulose to Ethanol 412

References 434

19 Organoclick: Applied Eco-Friendly and Metal-Free Catalysis for Wood and Fiber Modifications 437
Jonas Hafrén and Armando Córdova

19.1 Introduction 437

19.2 Eco-friendly and Organocatalytic Surface Modification of Lignocellulose 440

19.3 Organocatalytic Cross-linking Between Polysaccharides 443

19.4 OC Modification of Lignocellulose 444

References 449

20 Petrobras: The Concept of Integrated Biorefineries Applied to the Oleochemistry Industry: Rational Utilization of Products and Residues via Catalytic Routes 451
Eduardo Falabella Sousa-Aguiar, João Monnerat Araujo Ribeiro de Almeida, Pedro Nothaft Romano, and Yuri Carvalho

20.1 Introduction 452

20.2 Glycerol Fermentation 454

20.3 Hydrotreating 458

20.4 Decarboxylation 460

20.5 Conclusions 464

References 464

21 Phytonix: Cyanobacteria for Biobased Production Using CO2 467
Bruce Dannenberg, Peter Lindblad, and Gary Anderson

21.1 Background: The Coming CO₂ Economy and Circular Economy Principles 468

21.2 Technology for Cyanobacteria and Direct Photobiological Production 468

21.3 Phytonix: Path Toward Full Commercialization of the Technology 475

21.4 n-Butanol: A Valuable Industrial Chemical and Potential "Drop-in" Gasoline Replacement 482

References 489

22 Phytowelt Green Technologies: Fermentation Processes and Plant Breeding as Modules for Enhanced Biorefinery Systems 491
Peter Welters, Guido Jach, Katrin Schullehner, Nadia Evremova, and Renate Luehrs

22.1 Introduction 492

22.2 The Next Step: Beyond Energy Production 492

22.3 Material Uses of Renewable Poplar Biomass 494

22.4 Fermentative Production of High-value Compounds 495

22.5 Cooperations with Chemical Industry 499

22.6 Toward Optimized Biorenewables: Time-Lapse and Smart Breeding 502

22.7 Next-Generation Poplars/Plants 505

22.8 Toward Novel Biorefineries: Networking for Success 505

References 506

23 Biorenewables at Shell: Biofuels 507
Jean-Paul Lange, Johan Willem Gosselink, Rob Lee, Evert van der Heide, Colin John Schaverien, and Joseph B. Powell

23.1 Introduction 509

23.2 Shell and Biofuels 510

23.3 Development of Advanced Biofuels in Shell 511

23.4 Challenges Leading to More Research 535

23.5 Conclusions 538

References 539

Index 545

Pablo Domínguez de María holds BSc degree in Pharmacy and Chemistry and a PhD in Biocatalysis (2002). He worked in industries for 6.5 years (2003–2009, 2 years at Evonik AG, Germany, and 4.5 years at AkzoNobel BV, the Netherlands) being involved in projects regarding sustainable chemistry, organocatalysis, neoteric solvents, and white biotechnology. In 2009, he joined RWTH Aachen University as Group Leader. In 2015, he successfully defended his Habilitation (Thesis: Bio-based catalysis for petroleum-free biorefineries and fine chemicals). Since 2014 he is the Founder and CEO of Sustainable Momentum, SL., a consultancy firm providing technical support, advisory, project supervision, and competitive intelligence reporting on Sustainable Chemistry.