Biorefinery Optimization Workshop in Chicago

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I have just learned about an interesting biorefinery workshop organized by BETO (BioEnergy Technology Office of US Department of Energy) in Chicago. I share the information available in this post.

Purpose
To advance the understanding of the current capabilities, as well as barriers and opportunities, for the operation of integrated biorefineries to produce biofuels, biochemicals and bioproducts.
Dates
October 5 – 6, 2016
Location
Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel (Rosemont, IL, USA)
Registration
Link
Draft Agenda
Link
Contact Info
Remy Biron (Remy.Biron@ee.doe.gov) or Borka Kostova (Borka.Kostova@ee.doe.gov)

There are still numerous challenges that need to be overcome in order to achieve reliable and continuous operation of biorefineries that effectively compete with the refining and petrochemical industry. In order to address those challenges, the workshop will be organized with parallel breakout sessions that will focus on the following three technical areas:
  • Key technical and economic challenges facing feedstocks and solids handling processes. This session will explore the movement of feedstocks from the plant gate through to the throat of the reactor and discuss the key challenges related to commercialization of feed handling concepts and approaches on how to overcome these challenges.
  • Efforts in process intensification, scale-up and CapEx/OpEx reduction. This session will analyze efforts to successfully achieve project scale up (pilot-scale to commercialization) for production of biofuels and biochemicals, the factors essential to reducing operational risks and the key technical milestones that projects must overcome along the way.
  • Product and waste stream monetization. This session will study the co-product and waste streams that exist in integrated biorefinery operations, but are considered to be of little economic significance at this point, discuss methods for fully utilizing the potential of waste streams to obtain higher value products and how to separate valuable components.
Note: You can see a list of congresses and workshops related to biorefineries and green chemistry here.

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