Membrane opportunities in production and water loop of biorefineries based on lignocellulosic biomass
Lipnizki, Frank LU
; Plesskott, Christian
and Schuster, Hanns
(2016)
Paper & Biorefinery
- Abstract
- In recent years biorefineries using lignocellulosic biomass such as wood and agricultural residuals as raw material have gained significant interest since they avoid competition with food production.
One of the key development areas of these lignocellulosic based biorefinery concepts is the integration low energy and high selective separation processes. Thus, membrane processes either as stand-alone units or as process synergies, e.g. the combination of membrane processes with high speed separators, decanter or evaporators have a great potential in these concepts with key applications in both the water and production loop.
In the production loop the initial step is ideally the separation of the lignocellulosic biomass into its... (More) - In recent years biorefineries using lignocellulosic biomass such as wood and agricultural residuals as raw material have gained significant interest since they avoid competition with food production.
One of the key development areas of these lignocellulosic based biorefinery concepts is the integration low energy and high selective separation processes. Thus, membrane processes either as stand-alone units or as process synergies, e.g. the combination of membrane processes with high speed separators, decanter or evaporators have a great potential in these concepts with key applications in both the water and production loop.
In the production loop the initial step is ideally the separation of the lignocellulosic biomass into its three key components: hemicelluloses, lignin and cellulose. In order to achieve this either pre-treatment methods with e.g. heat or chemical treatment can be used or suitable process/waste streams from pulp mills can be utilised. For the related purification and concentration of these key components in particular the pressure-based membrane processes microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis have shown potential. Ultra- and nanofiltration can be used for the concentration and purification of hemicelluloses for the production of barrier films and coatings. In case of lignin either ligninsulfonate from the sulfite pulping process or lignin in black liquor of the kraft pulping process can be concentrated and classified by ultrafiltration to be used e.g. as binding agent. While the cellulosic part can be hydrolyzed to sugars and after hydrolysation these sugars can be purified by a decanter-ultrafiltration process and then - if required - concentrated by reverse osmosis before fermentation. In the fermentation step micro- or ultrafiltration can be directly integrated with the fermenter to prevent product inhibition during the production of biofuels/biochemicals. After the fermenter, nanofiltration or reverse osmosis can be used to separate residual sugars for recycling from the biofuels/biochemical. In the final concentration/purification pervaporation and vapor permeation can be used in combination with distillation to increase efficiency.
In the water loop, e.g. ultrafiltration followed by reverse osmosis can be used to upgrade or reverse osmosis can be used to polish evaporator condensate for water recovery. Additionally, the concept of the membrane bioreactor (MBR) can be used for end-of-pipe treatment in biorefineries.
In summary, the paper will demonstrate that membrane processes as highly selective and energy-saving separation processes have the potential to become key units of operation in the concept of biorefineries and this will be supported by application and case studies. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/713ee728-0cc1-44fd-8c73-5aabeb912a69
- author
- Lipnizki, Frank
LU
; Plesskott, Christian
and Schuster, Hanns
- organization
- publishing date
- 2016
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Membranes, Pulp and paper industry, Biorefineries
- conference name
- Paper & Biorefinery
- conference location
- Graz, Austria
- conference dates
- 2016-05-11 - 2016-05-12
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 713ee728-0cc1-44fd-8c73-5aabeb912a69
- date added to LUP
- 2018-10-05 13:05:07
- date last changed
- 2019-03-08 02:29:59
@misc{713ee728-0cc1-44fd-8c73-5aabeb912a69,
abstract = {{In recent years biorefineries using lignocellulosic biomass such as wood and agricultural residuals as raw material have gained significant interest since they avoid competition with food production. <br/>One of the key development areas of these lignocellulosic based biorefinery concepts is the integration low energy and high selective separation processes. Thus, membrane processes either as stand-alone units or as process synergies, e.g. the combination of membrane processes with high speed separators, decanter or evaporators have a great potential in these concepts with key applications in both the water and production loop. <br/>In the production loop the initial step is ideally the separation of the lignocellulosic biomass into its three key components: hemicelluloses, lignin and cellulose. In order to achieve this either pre-treatment methods with e.g. heat or chemical treatment can be used or suitable process/waste streams from pulp mills can be utilised. For the related purification and concentration of these key components in particular the pressure-based membrane processes microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis have shown potential. Ultra- and nanofiltration can be used for the concentration and purification of hemicelluloses for the production of barrier films and coatings. In case of lignin either ligninsulfonate from the sulfite pulping process or lignin in black liquor of the kraft pulping process can be concentrated and classified by ultrafiltration to be used e.g. as binding agent. While the cellulosic part can be hydrolyzed to sugars and after hydrolysation these sugars can be purified by a decanter-ultrafiltration process and then - if required - concentrated by reverse osmosis before fermentation. In the fermentation step micro- or ultrafiltration can be directly integrated with the fermenter to prevent product inhibition during the production of biofuels/biochemicals. After the fermenter, nanofiltration or reverse osmosis can be used to separate residual sugars for recycling from the biofuels/biochemical. In the final concentration/purification pervaporation and vapor permeation can be used in combination with distillation to increase efficiency.<br/>In the water loop, e.g. ultrafiltration followed by reverse osmosis can be used to upgrade or reverse osmosis can be used to polish evaporator condensate for water recovery. Additionally, the concept of the membrane bioreactor (MBR) can be used for end-of-pipe treatment in biorefineries. <br/>In summary, the paper will demonstrate that membrane processes as highly selective and energy-saving separation processes have the potential to become key units of operation in the concept of biorefineries and this will be supported by application and case studies.}},
author = {{Lipnizki, Frank and Plesskott, Christian and Schuster, Hanns}},
keywords = {{Membranes; Pulp and paper industry; Biorefineries}},
language = {{eng}},
title = {{Membrane opportunities in production and water loop of biorefineries based on lignocellulosic biomass}},
year = {{2016}},
}