VIOBOND project - New BBI JU flagship plant will produce biobased resins at industrial-scale

By -

Type of post: PROJECT PROFILE.

The new BBI JU-funded VIOBOND project will build a first-of-its-kind flagship biorefinery producing industrial-scale lignin-phenol-formaldehyde (LPF) resins. The main commercial end-use of these resins is conventional plywood panels where lignin substitutes fossil-origin and hazardous phenol and formaldehyde in resin. Also, special LPF resins to be used in consumer products such as plywood coating, white furniture plywood, sandpaper adhesive and insulation glass wool binder will be validated and produced in the flagship plant.
Profile on BBI JU website: VIOBOND.
Related post: “BBI JU flagship projects - The new generation of European advanced biorefineries”, 17/7/2017.

Figure 1. The main commercial end-use of LPF resins is conventional plywood panels where lignin substitutes fossil-origin and hazardous phenol and formaldehyde in resin

Key date

Title

Sustainable binder: Upscaling new lignin-phenol-formaldehyde resin production with wood-based biorefinery lignin.

Programmes

H2020-EU.2.1.4. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Biotechnology.

H2020-EU.3.2.6. - Bio-based Industries Joint Technology Initiative (BBI-JTI).

Topic

BBI-2020-SO1-F2 - Turn lignin into materials and chemicals for high-end applications.

Call for proposals

H2020-BBI-JTI-2020.

Funding Scheme

BBI-IA-FLAG - Bio-based Industries Innovation action – Flagship.

Total budget / EC contribution

35,238,125 € / 15,897,000 €.

Start date / End date

1 September 2020 – 31 August 2026.

Coordinator

Latvijas Finieris A/S (Latvia)

Partners

- Chempolis OY (Finland)

- Fundacio Universitaria Balmes (Spain)

- Graanul Biotech OU (Estonia)

- Latvijas Valsts Koksnes Kimijas Instituts (Latvia)

- Mirka OY (Finland)

- Poerner Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH (Germany)

- Saint-Gobain Finland OY (Finland)

- ST1 OY (Finland)

Phenolic resins are one of the most versatile polymers invented. However, the raw materials for manufacturing these resins are currently fossil based. One potential sustainable source for use in these resins is lignin. Lignin is widely available as a by-product of forestry-based industries.

The VIOBOND project will set the first commercially viable plant producing resins that will partially substitute the fossil-based phenol and formaldehyde with lignin-derived raw materials. This flagship plant will produce around 45,000 tonnes of the resin per year. The project will demonstrate the efficacy of the resin production process and help transform lignin from a low value feedstock to one that can create high-added value materials.

The VIOBOND consortium combines extensive interdisciplinary experience in a full value-chain from fractionating wood-based biorefinery lignin to manufacturing several types of LPF resin for different purposes. The consortium will establish six new value chains to use different lignin types in plywood LPF resins as well as refined hardwood lignin into plywood coating film binders, sandpaper adhesive and glass wool thermal insulation binder.

Popular Posts

Biobased polyolefins - Biobased Polyethylene (bio-PE)

By -
Image
Versión en Español Section: BIOBASED PLASTICS Series: Biobased Vinyl Polymers. - Biobased Polyethylene (bio-PE). Biobased Polyethylene (bio-PE) / Green Polyethylene / Renewable Polyethylene - Its biobased carbon content can reach 100%. - Renewable resource . It is produced from renewable biomass feedstocks as sugars or vegetable oils. - It reduces GHG emissions. Each ton produced captures and sequesters CO 2 from the atmosphere. - 100% drop-in . Chemically identical to its petrochemical counterpart. It has the same processing characteristics as fossil PE, therefore, it can be processed in the same equipment. - Non-biodegradable . It cannot be composted or biodegraded. - Thermoplastic . It can be molten and remoulded into the desired shape. - It can be recycled and processed into new bio-PE products using conventional technologies without requiring additional investments. - Building block or monomer: biobased ethylene .
Read more

New HVO plant enters into operation in China

By -
Image
Versión en Español Type of post: NEWS. According to S&P Global Platts, last month, State-owned energy company Beijing Sanju Environmental Protection & New Materials launched a 400 ktons/year capacity HVO plant in Rizhao (Shandong, China) province. The biorefinery utilizes used cooking oil (UCO) and palm oil mill effluent (POME) as feedstocks. News (S&P Global Platts): “ China reinforces position in HVO market with launch of new 400,000 mt/year plant ”, 24/03/2021. Hydrotreating (HVO) – Concepts, feedstocks and specifications . HVO posts. Figure 1. Beijing Sanju, current and planned HVO plants (source: S&P Global Platts Analytics) The new HVO plant (Shandong Sanju Bioenergy) was the result of a cooperation agreement (07/04/2020) between Beijing Sanju (primary owner, investor and tech provider), Hainan Qilu Development (investor and subsidiary of Qilu Transportation Development Group) and the Juxian County Government (minority owner, fixed assets). Shandong Sanju Bio
Read more

Fotobiorreactores

By -
Image
El cultivo de microalgas no es algo novedoso, muchos de los métodos y conceptos que se usan hoy en día fueron desarrollados a finales del siglo XIX y principios de la pasada centuria. En décadas posteriores, se han ido refinando por la intervención de varias disciplinas que han trabajado de manera conjunta: biología, ingeniería de procesos, matemáticas y física. En los últimos 30 años, la industria biotecnológica de las microalgas ha crecido y se ha diversificado de manera significativa. Sin embargo, las aplicaciones comerciales existentes, todavía se hallan limitadas a comercios de bajo volumen y gran valor añadido como el de los suplementos alimenticios o el de los extractos (por ejemplo, el beta-caroteno). De acuerdo con un informe de IEA Bioenergy del 2010, la cantidad de biomasa algal producida comercialmente estaba en el entorno de las 9.000 toneladas. 1,2,3,4 Actualmente, el interés creciente que despiertan el empleo de las microalgas en la obtención de biocombustibles y e
Read more

Levulinic acid biorefineries

By -
Image
Publication date: 16/11/2015 Last update: 20/02/2016 Description 1,2 Levulinic acid (also known as 4-oxopentanoic acid or γ-ketovaleric acid) is an organic compound with chemical formula C 5 H 8 O 3 . It is a white crystalline solid soluble in water and polar organic solvents. It contains ketone and a carboxylic group whose presence results in interesting reactivity patterns. It is one of the more recognized Biobased Chemical Building Blocks , a starting material for a wide number of compounds (see Applications below). In fact, it was recognized by the US DoE as one of the top biobased platform chemicals of the future and it can successfully address many performance-related issues attributed to petroleum-based chemicals and materials. Process technologies 1,3,4,5 The controlled degradation of C6-sugars by acids is the most widely used approach to prepare levulinic acid from lignocellulosic biomass. Other methods have also been studied, for instance, the hydroly
Read more

Hydrotreating (HVO) – Advantages over FAME and properties

By -
Image
Versión en Español Section: ADVANCED BIOFUELS Series: HVO - Hydrotreating (HVO) – Concepts, feedstocksand specifications - Hydrotreating (HVO) – Advantages over FAME and properties - Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVO) Biorefineries – The rise of renewable diesel - Posts: HVO Hydrotreating is an alternative process to esterification to produce diesel from biomass. Traditionally, diesel components produced from vegetable oils are made by an esterification process. In fact, HVO are commonly referred to as renewable diesel or green diesel in order to distinguish from Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME), best known as biodiesel. Other acronyms are also used depending on the feedstock, such as Rape Seed Methyl Ester” (RME), “Soybean Methyl Ester” (SME), “Palm Oil Methyl Ester” (PME) or “Used Cooking Oils Methyl Ester (UCOME). In the HVO production process, hydrogen is used to remove the oxygen from the triglycerides and does not produce any glycerol as a side product. Additi
Read more