Lignin fibre intended for carbonisation. Kristin Olander and Birgit Backlund in the lab. 

Biorefinery – now an established concept in the forest industry

Peter Axegård, Innventia, explains the reasons for the success behind the NWBC:

“This is the kind of thing that has to be done when it’s a hot topic. In recent years, the biorefinery concept and its possibilities have become an increasingly important part of our operations. At the same time, there was no international forum available in the field. So, when Karin Lindgren introduced the idea a couple of years ago, I didn’t hesitate to take it up.”

“It was relatively easy for us to organize things. We have a large network of contacts and are well known in many sectors. It therefore caught the attention of our customers who were not fully aware of our knowledge and know-how in the field of biorefining,” says Peter. Today, the majority of his staff are occupied, in one way or another, with research and development work connected to biorefining. This primarily concerns work on increasing the value of the main wood components, i.e. cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose, as well as the development of processes for dealing with the carbohydrates in wood residues, for instance, to produce second generation ethanol in combination with producing sulphur-free lignin for chemical and material applications. Three patents are currently waiting to be processed. Several earlier patents, from which the LignoBoost Technology emerged, are the basis for several of the advances being made in this field.

Peter continues, “Now that we’re removing the lignin, it’s much easier to take out hemicellulose from the black liquor. There are clear synergies here. This might be a saving thing for birch pulp. In addition, there are several valuable components in birch bark that we’ve produced from extraction processes.”

From fuel to carbon fibre
Interest has exploded since the NWBC 2008. Forest companies want to find profitable by-products and even the chemical trade is on the lookout for interesting new raw materials. Research has become more product-focused, mainly involving the discovery of applications that indicate greater value than fuel.

Birgit Backlund describes the work being done in the Biorefinery, an Innventia Research Cluster:

“Now, in the second period, we’ve chosen to focus on applications of lignin and hemicellulose, which look very promising from the perspective of process techniques. The biggest venture concerns carbon fibre from lignin.”

You will be able to follow the outcome of this venture here, in Beyond, and participants at the next Conference can probably look forward to hearing about the results. Birgit Backlund is in full swing with planning the NWBC 2011 that will be held in Stockholm from 21 to 24 March, 2011.

Av Anders Hansson 09 Nov 2010 15:12