Profile: CLAMBER R&D Biorefinery
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the
demo event “Zero Waste Biorefineries” organized by ASEBIO (Spanish Bioindustry Association)
under the framework of the Valor Plus project (Improving by-product output
through sustainable and integrated closed loop biorefineries, FP7-KBBE-2013-7-613802).
The event was held in the CLAMBER R&D Biorefinery and included a visit to
the pilot facilities. Javier Mena (Scientific Coordinator) and Francisco Javier
Pinar (Technical Manager) showed and explained the different units and
equipment of the plant.
The biorefinery occupies a parcel next to the
oil refinery of Repsol in Puertollano. A good panoramic view of the vast
refinery can be clearly seen from the small biorefinery. It was an image with a
major symbolic dimension for me: the transition between the fossil economy and
the bioeconomy starting from a tiny seed. This pilot plant is destined to be a
key tool for the growth of the biorefining sector in the region and in the
whole Spain. I should like to seize the chance provided by this visit to
present a complete profile of the CLAMBER R&D Biorefinery.
Background
The CLAMBER (Castilla-La Mancha Bioeconomy
Region) project started in late 2013 aimed to foster the bioeconomy in
Castilla-La Mancha (Autonomous Community in Cental Spain). It is based in two
main pillars: a pilot facility and the procurement of R&D services to
encourage the applied research for regional SMEs. The pilot facility is known
as the CLAMBER R&D Biorefinery. Its construction took place during 2015 and
2016 and it was officially opened two months ago. The start-up and operation of
the plant were entrusted to GEACAM (public company for the environmental
management in the region). More details about the background can be found in
this blog post: Official opening of the pilot
biorefinery of the CLaMber project in Puertollano (11/09/2017).
Figure 1. View from the entrance of the CLAMBER
R&D Biorefinery
General
characteristics and services
The plant, characterized by its modularity and
flexibility, is focused on the validation of new conversion bioprocesses and
seeks to bridge the gap between lab and industrial scale reducing delivery
times and investment costs. A large part of the equipment has semi-industrial
size and, even, some of them hit an industrial volume. Although it was not
designed for a continuous operation, its processing capacity for a normal
working time is 1 ton/day of dry biomass. In certain specific conditions, 2
tons/day could be reached.
The types of feedstocks that can be fed and
studied are:
- Lignocellulosic biomass (prunings, branches,
straw…).
- Sugar or starch (corn, beet…).
- Wet biomass (whey, grape marcs and lees,
OFMSW…).
The CLAMBER R&D Biorefinery offers the
following services:
- Process optimization.
- Scale-up of experiments (from kilograms to 1
ton of dry matter per day).
- Development of new bioproducts.
- Training in biotechnology.
It allows to monitor, analyse and validate of
the whole process of scaling from laboratory to the semi-industrial stage. The modalities
of cooperation available to access those services are: the leasing of the
facilities and the participation as partner in projects with competitive
funding.
Units and equipment
The CLAMBER R&D Biorefinery is located in a
field plot of 19,000 m2 with 5,130 m2 urbanized. It is
comprised by several units. Below, you can find a description of these units
and a list of the equipment.
Storage
- Solid
biomass storage: 4 x 35 m3.
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Figure 2
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Upstream
Conditioning
and pretreatment of herbaceous and woody biomass for its conversion to a
fermentable carbon source.
- Mill for herbaceous and woody biomass: 200
kg/h.
- Extractor with vapor: 3 m3.
- Two-step steam explosion reactor: 400 l (up
to 21 barg).
-
Solid/liquid separators: 15 m3/h.
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Figure 3
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Midstream
Fermentation
or biotransformation of the carbon source obtained in the upstream area into
different bioproducts (bioplastics, biofuels, building blocks…).
- Microbiology laboratory for micro
management (starters, inoculants…).
- Reactors for hydrolysis and anaerobic and
aerobic fermentation: 2 x 3 l, 2 x 30 l, 1 x 300 l, 1 x 3,000 l, 1 x 20,000
l.
- Systems
for sterilization, substrate preparation, addition of sterile reactants,
cleaning in place and other utilities.
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Figure 4
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Downstream
Purification
and concentration of the fermentation products of interest.
- Harvesting tanks with capacity to act as
extractors: 2 x 1,500 l (1 ATEX and 1 no ATEX), 2 x 10,000 l (1 ATEX and 1 no
ATEX).
- Microfiltration system: 1 m3/h.
- Centrifugation system (ATEX): 1.5 m3/h.
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Figure 5
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Anaerobic digestion plant
It is a
modular and transportable pilot plant (400 l/day) for the anaerobic digestion
and co-digestion of solid and liquid organic biomass. Biogas, volatile fatty
acids (VFAs) and biofertilizers can be produced in this unit.
- Storage tank for liquid wastes: 20 m3.
- Solid storage hopper: 10 m3.
- Pasteurization system: 1 m3.
- Homogenization tank: 3 m3.
- Anaerobic digester: 11 m3.
- Digestate tank: 5 m3.
- Gasometer: 20 m3.
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Figure 6
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Utilities
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Figure 7
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