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UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery

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Nombre / Name UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery Empresa / Company UPM Biofuels  ( www.upmbiofuels.com ) Localización / Location Lappeenranta (Finland) Categoría / Category Comercial / Commercial Estado / Status Operación / Running Plataforma / Platform Aceites /  Oil Materia prima / Feedstock Tall oil Producto / Product Biodiésel  / Biodiesel Puesta en marcha / Start-Up Enero 2015  / January 2015 Figure 1. UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery (extracted from UPM Biofuels webpage) La primera biorrefinería del mundo que produce biodiesel a partir de residuos forestales inició su funcionamiento comercial en enero de 2015. La instalación está localizada en el mismo enclave que la planta papelera Kaukas de UPM en las orillas del lago Saimaa en Lappeenranta al sudeste de Finlandia. La capacidad de la planta es de 100.000 de toneladas al año y emplea a un...
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Mitsui Chemicals, Neste and Toyota Tsusho join forces for industrial production of biobased plastics and chemicals

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Versión en Español Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF. Mitsui Chemicals , Neste and Toyota Tsusho have joined forces to enable Japan’s first industrial-scale production of renewable plastics and chemicals from 100% biobased hydrocarbons. Press release: “ Neste, Mitsui Chemicals and Toyota Tsusho collaborate to start Japan'sfirst production of renewable plastics from 100% bio-based hydrocarbons ”, 20/05/2021. Related post: “ Neste RE – Neste launches a 100% renewable and recycled raw material for plastics and chemicals production ”, 01/12/2020. In this collaboration, Mitsui Chemicals will use Neste RE, 100% biobased hydrocarbons produced by Neste, to replace a part of the fossil feedstock in the production of a variety of plastics and chemicals at its crackers within Osaka Works during 2021. In doing so, Mitsui Chemicals will become Japan’s first company to use biobased feedstock in its crackers. The introduction of Neste-produced biobased hydrocarbons as feedstock will allow Mitsui ...
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VTT releases its last results in bioplastic development - FDCA and muconic acid

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For many experts, 2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is called upon to revolutionise the biobased plastics industry in the near future. The main production material of drinking bottles is still oil-based PET using purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and ethylene glycol (EG). However, FDCA can replace PTA to obtain PEF, a new high-performance biopolymer. Recently, the Blog devoted a whole post to FDCA (see FDCA biorefineries ). Such post shows a non-exhaustive list of the most important processes developed or under research by companies and research institutes. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd is working on one of them and it has just unveiled interesting information about it. Last week, in the webinar “ Green plastics without the bio-premium: FDCA and muconic acid transforming the industry ”, this Finish centre introduced its work on the aforementioned furan derivative and on the muconic acid, another versatile chemical with potential to change the polymer industry. The...
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Alcohol-To-Fuel

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Type of post: OVERVIEW. Introduction Bioethanol produced from fermentation of sugar based crops is the major product of the biofuels industry [1]. But, ethanol is not a “drop-in” solution and requires substantial changes in refining or distribution infrastructure. The properties of this alcohol (an oxygenated single molecule) are largely different than those of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel blendstocks (mixtures of hydrocarbons), leading to problems in blends. Ethanol can cause corrosion problems in transport pipelines that were designed to work only with gasoline. In the specific case of the aviation fuel, there are stricter quality requirements than fuels used in road transport. Ethanol shows low compatibility as a blendstock for aviation fuel because of its high volatility and water absorption and low flash point and energy density. Butanol is not as incompatible as ethanol, however, it still poses unacceptable safety risks due to its low flash point and high volatilit...
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Glucaric acid biorefineries

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Publication date: 14/12/2015 Last update: 24/05/2017 Description 1,2,3,4 D-Glucaric acid, also called saccharic acid, is a chemical compound with formula C 6 H 10 O 8 and member of a large family of molecules known as oxidized sugars. It is a naturally occurring aldaric acid, typically found in small amounts in a variety of fruits and vegetables. It is a highly functionalized compound with four chiral carbons and a plethora of reaction pathways. Its commercial potential was unveiled in the report “Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass” from the Department of Energy of USA which described its use as a building block for a number of polymers, including new nylons and hyperbranched polyesters. Process technologies 1,3,4,5,6,7,8 The synthetic preparation of D-glucaric acid dates back to a report of Sohst and Tollens (1888) who carried out the nitric acid oxidation of D-glucose to D-glucaric acid. Current methods for its production are based on this process and in...
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