The increased demand for sustainability due to increased population and finite natural resources, has been the main driver for the development of biorefinery industry. The introduction of new bioproducts to the market requires combining biomass sourcing, suitable technologies, and the end-product market successfully. Main challenges related to biorefineries is the development of a commercial efficient and controlled all-purpose pretreatment process combined with the use of all process streams for high-value products. For example, lignin is still mostly burned and hemicelluloses are converted into fuels. Finding an efficient pretreatment technology that can handle several feedstock types and comprehensive utilization of all process streams by novel types of downstream processes will be the key for a profitable production of bio-based chemicals.

Good progress with the studies
During the first third of the project, good progress has been made on the identification of needed and relevant separation, purification and analytical methods for the Dawn upstream process. New relevant insights were generated for the purification of sugars. The new insights are both relevant for the Dawn process as well as for the Ray process. Multiple varying sugar samples have been tested by Lenntech for purification and de-watering purposes, with promising results. All of this work contributes to integrate a modular process including separation and purification steps to produce fodder yeast and xylitol form mixed sugar streams. Vogelbusch assessed multiple sugars streams produced by the Dawn process. The produced sugars streams are based on the use of both hard- and softwoods.

The obtained lignin from the Dawn process has been used by Aalto for the research into nanospheres and for the production of activated carbon. The latter topic has successfully been achieved. The next step is to assess the lignin derived activated carbons into the developed adsorption equipment. At last, good collaboration and communication took place between Aalto and Avantium on the HCl research topic. The HCl research executed by Aalto will generate relevant insights that are applicable for the Dawn process as well as for further research related to the production of isosorbide based on wood.

Valuable sugar alcohols
Good progress has been made on different topics related to the Ray Technology™. At the start of the project, the opening of the Ray Technology™ demonstration plant took place in November '19.

One of the aims within the project is to purify different streams from the Ray Technology™. A dedicated high throughput liquid adsorption demonstration unit was built and tested by Avantium.  A first set of process-relevant experiments for the purification of monoethylene glycol (MEG) took place. Also initial experiments with the use of Simulated Moving Bed technology (SMB) to purify erythritol and sorbitol took place by KNAUER. Sulzer and Avantium are in a very good collaboration on distillation and very good progress has been made to work towards a continuous distillation column for the first commercial Ray Technology™ plant to purify monoethylene glycol (MEG) and monopropylene glycol (MPG).

Big picture
In addition, different Conceptual Process Designs (CPDs) have been developed by Process Design Centre (PDC) and datasets for the different benchmark compounds have been generated by Sphera. PDC and Avantium will develop of CPDs for the Dawn- and Ray Technology™ as well as with Vogelbusch about fermentation technologies. Following up, PDC and Sphera will integrate different technologies and to execute relevant Life Cycle Assessment studies (LCAs).