FIRST2RUN Project – From cardoon to biobased products

By -



FIRST2RUN is the name of one of the three demonstration projects that won funding from the BBI JU 2014 call. Since the project is aimed at demonstrating an integrated biorefinery, the blog will be following its advances with interest. The first data of the proposal were compiled in a previous post which summarized the information available in CORDIS about the projects granted in the call (BBI JU 2014 call – Granted Projects). Novamont (coordinator) has just unveiled the official web page of the project. It is for that reason that now, we can deepen a little bit more in the scope and objectives of the project.

FIRST2RUN will demonstrate (TRL8: system complete and qualified) the techno, economic and environmental sustainability at industrial scale of a value chain where underutilized oil crops are exploited for the extraction of vegetable oils to be further converted through chemical and biotechnological processes into biomonomers and esters that will be applied in the formulation of bioproducts.

The cardoon will be the oil crop to be studied. The demonstration of the agricultural and industrial sustainability of its large scale cultivation in identified marginal lands will be carried out in the first stage of the project. Taking this feedstock as reference, sustainable, cost-effective and innovative catalytic and biocatalytic processes for the production of biobased building blocks from high oleic oils (mainly, pelargonic and azelaic acids) will be developed and optimized at medium scale. Then, the system will be scaled in order to reach a large scale production of building blocks (20,000 ton/year), biodegradable oils (10,000 ton/year) and compounded biopolyesters (50,000 ton/year). The formulation of the biobased building blocks will be validated thanks to their transformation into biobased products. Azelaic acid is a basic constituent of renewable and/or compostable plastics, in addition to having important applications in the synthesis of complex esters used in the lubricants sector. Pelargonic acid is used as an intermediate in the synthesis of biolubricants and emollients for the cosmetics sector, but it is also an important raw material for the production of bleaching agents, food fragrances and herbicides.

Figure 1. Azelaic acid and pelargonic acid (extracted from Matrìca web page)

By and co-products from the process will be valorised for energy, feed for animals and added value chemicals in order to increase the sustainability of the value chain. The side-streams compounds that can be recovered and exploited include lignocellulosic residues deriving from the cardoon crop, by-products from the extraction process of oils from seeds, as well as the glycerol produced during the oxidative cleavage of the high oleic oil.

The project started on 7th July and it will have a duration of 48 months. The consortium is formed by six partners from four different countries:

Popular Posts

Mini-plant for production of glucaric acid from glucose starts up successfully

By -
Image
Recent news about one of the DOE’s 12 Top Biobased Molecules. Rennovia Inc. and Johnson Matthey Process Technologies announced on July 16 that they have successfully started-up a mini-plant for production of glucaric acid from glucose using jointly developed technology. In March 2014, these companies embarked on a collaboration to develop, demonstrate and commercialize catalytic process technologies for the production of bio-based glucaric acid and adipic acid. Under the collaboration, Rennovia and JM Process Technologies work together in processes based on Rennovia’s technology for the catalytic aerobic oxidation of glucose to glucaric acid and the catalytic hydrogenation of glucaric acid to adipic acid. The final goal of the collaboration is to license a package enabling commercial production of these chemical products. The successful operation of this mini-plant is a major milestone in the journey to achieve this goal. The facility is located at the Johnson Matthey Process ...
Read more

Biorefinery models - Lignocellulosic biorefinery

By -
Image
Publication date: 25/04/2016 Last update: 25/04/2016 ABOUT THE SERIES OF POSTS “BIOREFINERY MODELS” This post belongs to a series called “ Biorefinery Models ”. This series is devoted to briefly describe the models or concepts of advanced biorefineries which have emerged in the last few years and that are rising currently. These models are simplified representations which enable us to understand in a simple way the structure and characteristics of a general biorefinery type. Some of these models refer to the type of feedstock while other focus on the technologies involved. A biorefinery may resemble these models or be the result of variations and combinations of them. It should be noted that although these paradigms are very useful and instructive, they show limitations in describing and classifying complex systems with high level of integration. In order to define and describe a specific complex case, the blog recommends use the classification proposed by IEA Bioenerg...
Read more

Hidrotratamiento (HVO) – Conceptos, materias primas y especificaciones

By -
Image
English version Sección: BIOCOMBUSTIBLES AVANZADOS Serie: HVO - Hidrotratamiento (HVO) – Conceptos, materias primas y especificaciones - Hidrotratamiento(HVO) – Ventajas sobre el biodiesel convencional y propiedades - Biorrefinerías de Aceites Vegetales Hidrotatados (HVO) – El auge del diésel renovable - Entradas: HVO                El acrónimo HVO significa en inglés “ Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils ” (“Aceites Vegetales Hidrotratados”) o ” Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils ” (“Aceites Vegetales Hidrogenados”). Clave del proceso: Tratamiento con hidrógeno. En el proceso de producción de HVO, el hidrógeno se usa para eliminar el oxígeno de los triglicéridos produciendo una mezcla de parafinas lineales, CO 2 y agua. Posteriormente, el producto de la primera etapa se isomeriza, siempre en presencia de hidrógeno, para ramificar las cadenas lineales con el propósito de mejorar las propieda...
Read more

Biofuels from algae

By -
Image
In my opinion, the production of biofuels and biobased chemicals from algae is one of the most fascinating topics in the sector of the biorefineries and it will be one of the niches of opportunity with highest potential in the medium and the long terms. This post pretend to be a very basic approach to the topic Algae-to-Biofuels through three general key points. Algae 1,2,3,4,5 Algae include a wide variety of photosynthetic organisms capable of transforming light, water and specific nutrients into products that can be used with commercial and industrial purposes. We can say that algae are sunlight-driven factories with potential to convert CO 2 into biofuels, high-value biochemical, food and feed. There are four algae cultivation technologies currently in use for commercial algae cultivation and proposed for algal biofuel production: extensive or open ponds, intensive or raceway ponds, closed photobioreactors in many designs and closed fermenter systems. Algal biof...
Read more

Biobased acrylic acid

By -
Image
Versión en Español Type of post: Fact sheet. Series: Biobased chemicals – Organic acids. Publication date: 05/05/2021. Last update: 05/05/2021. Description - Organic acid with 3 carbon atoms. - It is a clear, colourless, corrosive liquid with a characteristic acrid or tart smell. - Other names: prop-2-enoic acid. Applications - Formation of homopolymers or copolymers which are used in the manufacture of various adhesives, coatings, diapers, detergents, paints, plastics and textiles. The main use of crude acrylic acid is the generation of acrylate esters, followed by the production of polyacrylic acid, used mostly in superabsorbent polymers. - Chemical intermediate in multiple industrial processes. Conventional petrochemical route - Cracking of fossil naphtha to produce propylene / Oxidation of propylene. Main biobased routes - [3-HPA via] Fermentation of sugars to produce 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HPA) / Dehydration of 3-HPA. - [Biobased naphtha via] Cracking of biobased naphth...
Read more