Dossier

Bio-refinery processes an Bio-based products

Ulf Prüße | 27.05.2022

AT Institute of Agricultural Technology

HF Institute of Wood Research

The efficient production of biobased chemicals and products in biorefineries is one of the key challenges of the bioeconomy. We develop and evaluate various biorefinery processes for the use of agricultural and forestry raw materials.

Stroh und verschiedene Chemieprodukte in einem Labor

Modern life is unthinkable without the various products from the chemical industry: plastics, drugs, paints and coatings, washing and cleaning agents, just to name a few. They are currently mainly produced from fossil-based resources, especially oil, in highly integrated process chains. The task of the future is to produce these substances from renewable resources from agriculture and forestry. For this purpose, the raw materials should be converted to the desired products in so called bio-refineries similar to the processing of oil.

Integration in value added chain

In the bio-refineries, the renewable resources have to be broken down into the individual components, like carbohydrates, fats, oils, lignin and proteins. These will be then be converted into various intermediate and final products which are directly available as marketable products in form of bio-based chemicals, polymers or material or will be processed to such. The intermediate products can either be incorporated into the existing value added chain of the processing industry (drop-in products), which results into the same products that we know today, or it is possible to develop entirely new value added chains.

Which of these paths will be chosen depends not only on the properties of the product and the process economics, but also environmental and climatic compatibility. The sustainability of the product and the production process will increasingly play a role.

Broad working spectrum and international integration

At the Thünen Institute we work on the technological issues of the production of bio-based chemicals, polymers and materials, as well as the accompanying environmental issues and the sustainability assessment. To do so, we investigate the aspects of the whole value added chain in the scope of individual projects as well as inter-institutional projects. Furthermore we contribute to numerous national and international working groups in the fields of bio-refineries and sustainability assessment as well as in relevant certification authorities. Particular focal points of our work are in the fields of:

Biomass digestion and pyrolysis processes
Biotechnical and chemical conversion processes
Bio-based plastics and materials

Through our research we investigate, develop and evaluate different bio-refinery processes and contribute to the international standardization. Accompanied by sustainability assessment, we identify the best possible conversion route from renewable resources to bio-based products. Our research simultaneously enables expert and competent policy advice.

Expertise

Bio-based polymers and materials

Without synthetic polymers, our lives would be hard to imagine. We evaluate and develop sustainable and bio-based alternatives for applications such as adhesives, fiber composites, polyurethane foams and wood-polymer materials.