Demonstration of lignin-first technology at pilot-scale

Demonstration of lignin-first technology at pilot-scale

In the context of the international ALIGN project (CLIB), Fraunhofer CBP (https://www.cbp.fraunhofer.de/en.html) and our research group worked closely together to demonstrate the state of the art lignin first process at pilot scale. This upscaling collaboration has enabled the processing of multi-kilograms of biomass towards high value phenolics and a pure cellulose/sugar fraction.  These positive scale-up results are a positive indication for the bright future of the RCF technology.

We would like to thank the entire Fraunhofer CBP team for their help, hospitality and infrastructure. 

In the pictures above you can see the team working on the project (left) and the organic fractions after extraction which contain the aromatics (right).

The lignin oil that is flowing out of the reactor can be seen here

https://drive.google.com/file/...

Further scale up of the RCF process to pilot scale to allow application testing on larger scale

In 2021, KUL will build its own custom pilot reactor at the new KU Leuven TRANSfarm facilities to further develop the RCF process technology and produce kg-scale samples of RCF lignin oil and carbohydrate pulp. These activities are part of the Horizon2020 project SMARTBOX (www.smartbox-project.eu, Social Media: @SmartboxProject), which has received funding from the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 837890.”

Currently, the basic design of the pilot reactor is finished and the detailed engineering phase, followed by construction, will start soon.