Ligno-Refinery
Intelligent production of resources made from lignocellulose
FFG-Programm Intelligente Produktion, FFG-Projektnummer 834297
Ligno I (Biorefinery) - Using lignified biomass as raw material for production of new materials
Vision biobased industry
On the way to a biobased future, social change moves us closer to sustainability, and products from
biobased industry establish themselves in competition. Surface area productivity goes up, and existing resources are used in the best possible way as regards all dimensions of sustainability. System integration makes synergies accessible, innovations succeed by way of cross-linking and combined technologies that make flexibility with respect to material specification, raw material and process possible.
In this way biobased industry strengthens the national economy and enhances local value creation.
(RTI strategy for biobased industry in Austria, ÖGUT 2014 in german)
Chemical and physical separation methods lead to following material flows:
- Cellulose and hemicelluloses which were mainly hydrolyzed and converted to polymer precursers like lactic acid and itaconic acid by biotechnological fermentation processes.
- The residual cellulosic fiber fraction were converted to nanocellulose and integrated into valuable materials, thus allowing a lower stringency of cellulose hydrolysis.
- Lignin was upgraded by chemical nitrogen modification (in analogy to natural humification), and/or by crosslinking of active lignin fractions, leading to water storing humoid materials which can be employed for the amelioration of degraded soils. Additionally the replacement of phenol by ligninous materials in PE resins have been be evaluated.
- Depending on the feedstock, oils and resins can be isolated and utilized for adhesives or to increase hydrophobicity of material surfaces.
