VITO will build a pilot plant of bio-aromatics from lignin through the LignoValue Pilot project

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

VITO (Flemish research organisation in the area of cleantech and sustainable development) and other partners have launched the ERDF LignoValue Pilot project. This initiative is aimed at building a pilot plant in Flanders for the production of bio-aromatics from lignin. The pilot will meet the needs of various companies that have expressed an interest in innovative molecules and a willingness to carry out application testing.

Location
Flanders (Belgium).
The pilot is designed to be mobile, ensuring that interested companies can host and experience the performance at their own site.
Feedstock
Lignin.
Products
Bio-aromatics.
Capacity
200 kg/day.
Technology status
TRL 5-6.
The majority of the involved technologies has already been proven at lab scale.
Expected start-up
Q1 2021.
Project budget
4.3 M€.
Co-funded by ERDF, the province of Antwerp and the Flemish Department of Economy, Science and Innovation.
VITO will invest around 2 M€ euros.

Figure 1. VITO and other partners have launched the ERDF LignoValue Pilot project

VITO takes part in a large number of projects involving the conversion of lignin to bio-aromatics:
- Catalisti (the Flemish spearhead cluster for chemistry and plastics) projects “MAIA” and “ARBOREF”.
- Interreg project “BIO-HArT”.
- BBI projects “SmartLi” and “LigniOx”.
To prepare the LignoValue Pilot project, a study entitled ‘BioAromatics Feedstock and Technology Assessment (BAFTA) is being executed in which VITO and KULeuven are performing a thorough landscape analysis of technologies available all over the world for the direct conversion of wood and the depolymerization of lignin into biobased aromatics and insights are gained in the most preferential depolymerization technologies based on a number of well-defined criteria (TRL, level of sustainability, yield…).

VITO is looking for partners to cooperate in application testing, feedstock testing and building the demo plant. More info at the end of the VITO announcement (LignoValue Pilot Launched, 12/7/2018).

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