SCA plans to establish a biorefinery connected to Östrand pulp mill are progressing according to the agenda

By -


Type of post: NEWS.

SCA is the Europe’s largest private forest owner with 2.6 million hectares in northern Sweden. On February 14, the company officially opened the expansion of its Östrand pulp mill. The retrofitting means that the mill more than doubles the annual production of Kraft pulp from 430,000 tons to 900,000 tons (at full capacity in November 2019). Work commenced in 2015 and by the summer of 2018 it was completed. As a result of this expansion, the production of tall oil will also increase by more than 100% and SCA is teaming up with St1 to set-up a plant to transform it into 100,000 tons of advanced renewable fuels.
Blot post: “SCA and St1 join forces to produce renewable fuels from tall-oil”, 26/5/2018.

In addition, SCA is exploring other ways to valorise the wastes and by-products of its retrofitted facility. In this sense, it intends to establish a biorefinery connected to Östrand pulp mill. First milestones have been reached according to plan. Last December, the detailed development plan gained legal force. Now, the environmental permit application has just been submitted to the Land and Environmental Court in Östersund (both a new environmental permit for the biorefinery as well as some amendments to the pulp mill’s environmental permit).
Press release: “Environmental permit application for SCA’s biorefinery submitted”, 11/3/2019.

Figure 1. Montage of a possible design of the biorefinery (extracted from the press release)

The following table summarizes the main data available about the project:
Location
Adjacent to Östrand pulp mill in Timrå (Sweden).
Currently, there is not enough lands for the biorefinery (in total, 23 hectares are required). More space is needed and the area must be stabilized. In the environmental permit, SCA applies for a land extension into the water to make room for the facility.
Feedstocks
Line 1: Sawdust, bark and other residual products from forest and mill operations.
Line 2: Black liquor from the pulp mill.
Products and production capacity
Total production capacity is estimated at about 300,000 tons of renewable hydrocarbons per year. Biochemicals and biochar will also be produced.
Process
Line 1: Oxygen will be extracted from the raw material resulting in renewable hydrocarbon and water. The hydrocarbons formed can then be further refined into renewable petrol and diesel.
Line 2: The lignin in black liquor will be processed into lignin oil that can then be further refined into renewable petrol and diesel.
Climate benefit
It is calculated to be a net greenhouse gas reduction of approximately 1,200,000 tons of CO2-equivalent per year.
Timeline
No decision has been made as to when construction can begin on the facility.
It would be established in two stages. Firstly, line 1 would be built and put into operation. Then, line 2 would complete the facility.

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