Clariant’s sunliquid® technology proves good performance with miscanthus
Type of post: NEWS.
Clariant
has recently announced that it has conducted tests on approximately 30 tons of
miscanthus provided by INA (Croatia’s oil
and gas company) in its pre-commercial plant in Straubing (Germany). INA has
chosen Clariant’s sunliquid® technology to assess usability of miscanthus for
conversion into cellulosic sugars and ethanol within the framework of the BBI
JU GRACE project.
Press release: “Clariant
successfully concludes testing on energy crop miscanthus at Straubing plant for
GRACE project”, 3/9/2019.
Figure 1. Miscanthus crop (taken from WUR
website)
The aims and objectives of the GRACE project
are: (1) to optimize various miscanthus value chains; (2) to generate
sustainable products with a strong market potential; (3) to develop miscanthus
as a sustainable feedstock resource for cultivation on marginal, contaminated
and abandoned land. Against this background, Clariant was asked by the consortium
to run tests on miscanthus as feedstock. The biomass was harvested and baled at
the INA demonstration site in Croatia in February this year and shipped for
processing to Clariant’s pre-commercial sunliquid plant. Final results prove
that the technology can successfully convert miscanthus biomass into cellulosic
sugars and ethanol.
Miscanthus (also known as elephant grass or
China reed) is an interesting feedstock option for the production of cellulosic
sugars and ethanol. Once cultivated in marginal lands, the plant grows rapidly
over 15-20 years as a permanent crop, has a low mineral content and offers a
high yield per hectare. Pesticides and fertilizers are not required on a yearly
basis, which further adds to miscanthus’ ecological benefits.
Over the past seven years Clariant’s pre-commercial
plant has also demonstrated cellulosic ethanol production on agricultural
residues (corn stover, sugarcane bagasse and straw, wheat straw, barley straw
and rice straw). In the fall of last year, Clariant broke ground on its
greenfield first-of-its-kind full-scale commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in
Podari (Romania).
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