TNO is installing a pyrolysis pilot plant for bio-aromatics production at the Green Chemistry Campus
Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.
The PYRENA-PYPO pilot plant has arrived at Biorizon headquarters at the Green Chemistry Campus in Bergen op Zoom (Netherlands). With this highly advanced pyrolysis equipment, TNO's Energy Transition Unit will produce samples of bio-aromatics that will be tested in applications such as bitumen, rubber, marine fuels and resins.
Press release: “TNO brings PYRENA-PYPO pyrolysis equipment to Green Chemistry Campus’ demo facility”, 8/10/2020.
Related posts:
- “Biorizon raises 10 M€ for the development of bio-aromatics”, 1/12/2017.
- “VITO will build a pilot plant of bio-aromatics from lignin through the LignoValue Pilot project”, 30/7/2018.
- “LignoValue Pilot project partners select the technology to scale up bio-aromatics production”, 2/7/2019.
- “TNO acquires the bio-aromatics patent portfolio of Avantium”, 25/2/2020.
Figure 1. The PYRENA-PYPO pilot plant has arrived at Biorizon headquarters at the Green Chemistry Campus in Bergen op Zoom (taken from the press release)
Biorizon co-initiator TNO coordinates the development of thermochemical processes that enable sustainable bio-aromatics production as an integral part of biorefinery processing (Biorizon’s Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass to Bio-Aromatics Horizon). In the pyrolysis pathway, the overarching goal is to thermally depolymerize lignin or lignin-rich feedstocks and recover the pyrolysis vapours in a limited number of fractions that can be deployed as biobased additives for different applications and as feedstock for extracting high-value bio-aromatics.
The PYRENA-PYPO equipment will be installed in the demo facility of the Campus to produce test samples for industrial application. It is a continuous pyrolysis pilot unit consisting of a 5-10 kg/h (input basis) pyrolyzer, PYRENA, with a closely coupled unit PYPO for fractionated recovery of the pyrolysis vapours. The technology uses an innovative downstream cascade approach to obtain different fractions with high potential for applications regarding biofuels and biobased materials. Furthermore, all the surrounding analytical equipment will be installed to characterize the full process chain, from feedstocks to products.