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UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery

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Nombre / Name UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery Empresa / Company UPM Biofuels  ( www.upmbiofuels.com ) Localización / Location Lappeenranta (Finland) Categoría / Category Comercial / Commercial Estado / Status Operación / Running Plataforma / Platform Aceites /  Oil Materia prima / Feedstock Tall oil Producto / Product Biodiésel  / Biodiesel Puesta en marcha / Start-Up Enero 2015  / January 2015 Figure 1. UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery (extracted from UPM Biofuels webpage) La primera biorrefinería del mundo que produce biodiesel a partir de residuos forestales inició su funcionamiento comercial en enero de 2015. La instalación está localizada en el mismo enclave que la planta papelera Kaukas de UPM en las orillas del lago Saimaa en Lappeenranta al sudeste de Finlandia. La capacidad de la planta es de 100.000 de toneladas al año y emplea a un...
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Profile: MiniDest – The small-sized corn ethanol plants of Porta

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A new addition to the list of references of small-scale biorefineries . Today I introduce a concept that is revitalizing the rural zones in Argentina: the MiniDest. Porta carries the distillery to the farm to integrate the production in the origin minimizing logistic and energy costs. The company Porta Hnos. SA , a company settled in Córdoba (Argentina), has a well-known industrial trajectory of more than 130 years in the production of liquor, alcohol and vinegar. They have invested years devoted to the development of engineering and technology for the processes of distillation and fermentation. In this sense, its staff have achieved important goals for the own company and third parties, in addition to the sign of collaboration agreements with major biotechnology companies in Argentina and all over world. The MiniDest concept The MiniDest are small, modular, automatic and remotely operated plants. These mini distilleries are installed in farms aimed to produce cor...
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Levulinic acid biorefineries

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Publication date: 16/11/2015 Last update: 20/02/2016 Description 1,2 Levulinic acid (also known as 4-oxopentanoic acid or γ-ketovaleric acid) is an organic compound with chemical formula C 5 H 8 O 3 . It is a white crystalline solid soluble in water and polar organic solvents. It contains ketone and a carboxylic group whose presence results in interesting reactivity patterns. It is one of the more recognized Biobased Chemical Building Blocks , a starting material for a wide number of compounds (see Applications below). In fact, it was recognized by the US DoE as one of the top biobased platform chemicals of the future and it can successfully address many performance-related issues attributed to petroleum-based chemicals and materials. Process technologies 1,3,4,5 The controlled degradation of C6-sugars by acids is the most widely used approach to prepare levulinic acid from lignocellulosic biomass. Other methods have also been studied, for instance, the hydroly...
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Cellulosic ethanol – The basics: Conversion pathway - Thermochemical

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Versión en Español Section: ADVANCED BIOFUELS Series: Cellulosic ethanol - The basics: Concept and feedstocks - The basics: Conversion pathway – Biochemical - The basics: Conversion pathway – Thermochemical - Cellulosic ethanol biorefineries at commercial scale Posts: CELLULOSIC ETHANOL 1. Introduction Currently, the thermochemical conversion pathway for converting biomass resources into ethanol occupies a subsidiary position. This approach has received modest levels of support in the past. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile reviewing the concept in the framework of this series about cellulosic ethanol. The pathway involves two major steps: (1) Gasification of the lignocellulosic biomass to generate syngas. (2) Transformation of the syngas in ethanol. This second step can be carried out by chemical catalysts or fermentation (hybrid route). In contrast to chemical catalytic conversion, fermentation conversion can produce pure ethanol as opposed to a mixture ...
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Alcohol-To-Fuel

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Type of post: OVERVIEW. Introduction Bioethanol produced from fermentation of sugar based crops is the major product of the biofuels industry [1]. But, ethanol is not a “drop-in” solution and requires substantial changes in refining or distribution infrastructure. The properties of this alcohol (an oxygenated single molecule) are largely different than those of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel blendstocks (mixtures of hydrocarbons), leading to problems in blends. Ethanol can cause corrosion problems in transport pipelines that were designed to work only with gasoline. In the specific case of the aviation fuel, there are stricter quality requirements than fuels used in road transport. Ethanol shows low compatibility as a blendstock for aviation fuel because of its high volatility and water absorption and low flash point and energy density. Butanol is not as incompatible as ethanol, however, it still poses unacceptable safety risks due to its low flash point and high volatilit...
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