Clariant and Pertamina collaborate in the assessment of cellulosic ethanol production from Indonesian untapped biomass
Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.
Clariant is working with Pertamina (Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas corporation) to evaluate and test the feasibility of Clariant's sunliquid® technology to process available regional feedstocks in Indonesia into cellulosic ethanol.
Press release:
Related posts:
- “Harbin Hulan Sino-Dan Jianye Bio-Energy plans to build a cellulosic ethanol plant in China with Clariant’s sunliquid® technology”, 02/02/2021.
- “Clariant moves forward with the installation of the Valmet pretreatment BioTrac at the cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in Podari”, 05/04/2021.
Figure 1. Pertamina's project team visiting Clariant's pre-commercial sunliquid® plant in Straubing at the end of 2019 (Photo: Clariant)
In Indonesia, ethanol demand is expected to increase dramatically, spurred primarily by a nationwide E10 ethanol blending mandate. Since 2018, Pertamina and Clariant have been assessing how to match the feedstock potential with the increasing ethanol demand in the country.
The collaboration first focused on techno-economic performance analysis and the testing of empty fruit bunches and palm leaves (their present-day utilization is negligible and, until now, both feedstocks are frequently burnt, causing air pollution). The final results of the assessments proved that the sunliquid® technology can successfully convert both feedstocks into cellulosic ethanol while achieving a good conversion yield.
Further, a recently conducted conceptual engineering study quantified process balance, facility specification, and process economics in detail. This lays the groundwork for Pertamina's continued consideration of investing in commercial-scale advanced biofuel production plants.
