PULP2VALUE project – A full biorefinery model for sugar beet pulp

By -


The EU is the world’s leading producer of sugar from beet with around 50% of the total. Most production is processed into crystallised or liquid sugar for food applications. Only 2% of total sugar production is used in non-food applications (for instance, production of bioethanol in conventional sugar biorefineries). The sugar sector needs to develop new markets to grow.

One of the opportunities is boosting the use of the sugar as a basis for fermentation. This will lead to simplified processes with lower energy needs and use of all the sugar content for value-added end products. A good example is the industrial project for the plant of PHAs biopolymer that Cristal Union (leading sugar beet producer in France) and Bio-on will build in France (see press release).

But, this is not the only way. During the processing of the beets, a major residual stream called sugar beet pulp is generated after extracting the sugar. In Europe, it accounts for approximate 13 million tons per year and it is mainly used for animal feed. Therefore, new solutions to valorize this waste could represent a significant opportunity to open new value chains and markets. And, that is the overall objective of the project PULP2VALUE. In other words, the approach of this project intends to demonstrate a biorefinery system to refine sugar beet pulp and isolate high value components for detergents, personal care, coatings, composites and other applications.

PULP2VALUE (Processing Underutilised Low value sugarbeet Pulp into VALUE added products) is one of the two European demonstration projects that are being funded by the European Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU call 2014, see previous post about the results of this call). It has a total budget of €11.5 million with €6.6 million coming from the BBI JU. The consortium is being managed by the agro-industrial cooperative Royal Cosun (The Netherlands) and comprises six partners more from four countries: The Netherlands (Food and Biobased Research part of Wageningen UR and Division of Human Nutrition Wageningen University), Belgium (Orineo bvba and Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant), United Kingdom (Refresco Gerber UK Limited) and Germany (Nova-Institut fur Politische und Okologische Innovation GmbH).

In order to increase the value of sugar beet pulp, PULP2VALUE will develop multiple extraction techniques to isolate more valuable products from this large fraction. Roughly, 65% of the dry matter mass can be isolated as high value products being: microcellulose fibers (MCF) (33%), arabinose (16%) and galacturonic acid (16%). By demonstrating an integrated and cost-effective cascading biorefinery system to refine sugar beet pulp, PULP2VALUE aims to significantly increase (20-50 times) the value of the sugar beet pulp by applications for approximately 65% of its mass in high value markets.

Figure 1. PULP2VALUE concept (extracted from the leaflet available on the web page of the project)

For each of the components to be obtained, Royal Cosun has identified multiple product market combinations. Basic economic considerations point to the fact that the full potential of the MCF can only be fully exploited in case of developing a cascade biorefinery system producing also arabinose and galacturonic acid. PULP2VALUE explicitly builds on research that has already been carried out and aims to integrate and scale up these achievements. Royal Cosun has already developed a pilot facility in which the state-of-the-art units has been previously tested. Now, the ultimate goal is to set up a plant to demonstrate the concept.

Regarding to the future applications to be unfold during the project, it should be noticed that Royal Cosun and the Dutch chemicals giant AkzoNobel have recently formed a new partnership to develop novel products from cellulose side streams resulting from sugar beet processing (see press release).

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

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

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