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Concept
Biorefinery
Summary
A biorefinery is a refinery that converts biomass to energy and other beneficial byproducts (such as chemicals). The International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 42 defined biorefining as "the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of bio-based products (food, feed, chemicals, materials) and bioenergy (biofuels, power and/or heat)". As refineries, biorefineries can provide multiple chemicals by fractioning an initial raw material (biomass) into multiple intermediates (carbohydrates, proteins, triglycerides) that can be further converted into value-added products. Each refining phase is also referred to as a "cascading phase". The use of biomass as feedstock can provide a benefit by reducing the impacts on the environment, as lower pollutants emissions and reduction in the emissions of hazard products. In addition, biorefineries are intended to achieve the following goals:
Supply the current fuels and chemical building blocks
Supply new building blocks for the production of novel materials with disruptive characteristics
Creation of new jobs, including rural areas
Valorization of waste (agricultural, urban, and industrial waste)
Achieve the ultimate goal of reducing GHG emissions
Biorefineries can be classified based in four main features:
Platforms: Refers to key intermediates between raw material and final products. The most important intermediates are:
Biogas from anaerobic digestion
Syngas from gasification
Hydrogen from water-gas shift reaction, steam reforming, water electrolysis and fermentation
C6 sugars from hydrolysis of sucrose, starch, cellulose and hemicellulose
C5 sugars (e.g., xylose, arabinose: C5H10O5), from hydrolysis of hemicellulose and food and feed side streams
Lignin from the processing of lignocellulosic biomass.
Liquid from pyrolysis (pyrolysis oil)
Products: Biorefineries can be grouped in two main categories according to the conversion of biomass in an energetic or non-energetic product. In this classification the main market must be identified:
Energy-driven biorefinery systems: The main product is a second energy carrier as biofuels, power and heat.
Official source
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