The future is

BIOREFINING
Biorefinery concepts for
non-wood raw materials
Dr. Päivi Rousu
Vice President, R&D, IPR
 Outline of presentation
• Chempolis corporation
• formico®- 3rd generation biorefining technologies
• Analysis of cellulosic ethanol costs and revenues
• Profitability of cellulosic sugar and lignin platforms
• Comparison of low-cost cellulosic ethanol
feedstocks
• Chempolis biorefinery
• Summary and conclusions

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Chempolis - the biorefining
technology corporation
Chempolis supplies sustainable, globally
patented biorefining technologies:
• formicobio™
the cellulosic ethanol technology
• formicofib™
the non-wood fibre technology

Chempolis is a privately owned

company established in 1995.

Chempolis has a biorefinery with

HQ and R&D Centre in Oulu, Finland.

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Chempolis Achievements
International recognitions
 IFC (a private sector arm of the World Bank),
evaluated Chempolis’s technology as the
most economical and environmentally
sustainable non-wood pulping technology
 In a study by the Department of Energy of the
USA, Chempolis’s technology was evaluated
as the most energy-efficient among modern
pulping technologies
 Nominated in top 3 list on the Global
Cleantech Cluster Associations contest
 The superiority of Chempolis’ technologies
has been proven in Chempolis’ own
biorefinery and in various evaluations
Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.
Proprietary biorefinery plant
 Chempolis has invested some MEUR 20+ in
its own biorefinery, which also functions as a
development and marketing centre for testing
customer’s raw materials and producing
samples of cellulosic sugars, bioethanol,
biochemicals, and papermaking fibres
 The plant is capable of processing of various
lignocellulosic raw material
 The plant was designed and implemented by
Chempolis itself in record time; 8 months
IPR
 IPR strategy has been
professionally executed, in cooperation with
patent office AB Kolster Oy
 Portfolio of patents includes more than
granted 100 patents and several patents
pending and new are continuously applied
 Process patents, unit process patents,
product patents and hardware patents
 Chempolis products creates formico®-family
formicobio™; formicofib™; formicosystems™
 Chempolis partners with the
Leaders in India

• Partnership agreement with NRL, subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum 2014

• Teaming up with Oil and Natural Gas of India (ONGC) 2013

NRL is a Government of India Public Sector Undertaking which

operates a 3.0 MMTPA Refinery at Numaligarh, Assam, India.
NRL is a subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL)
ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited) is India's leading oil &
gas exploration company.

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Outline of presentation
• Chempolis corporation
• formico®- 3rd generation biorefining technologies
• Analysis of cellulosic ethanol costs and revenues
• Profitability of cellulosic sugar and lignin platforms
• Comparison of low-cost cellulosic ethanol
feedstocks
• Chempolis biorefinery
• Summary and conclusions

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Evolution of biorefining
technologies
3G
Lignocellulosics (e.g. straw)
- selective fractionation by
recyclable biosolvent

2G - co-production of ethanol
and other products
Lignocellulosics (e.g. straw)
- non-selective chemical and
mechanical pretreatments
- (bio)chemical hydrolysis and
1G fermentation to ethanol

Food: sugar & starch

- fermentation to ethanol

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 formico® - the true 3G platform
Cellulose products

Paper fibres
Paper, board, tissue

High value fibres

Viscose, CMC, Nano

Glucose
Non-Food and Ethanol, butanol,
Non-Wood biomass Lactic acid, succinic acid

Hemicellulose products

Cellulose Pentose sugars

Xylose, arabinose
Hemicellulose

Lignin, nutrients Platform chemicals

Acetic acid, furfural

Lignin products

3G formico® biorefinery integrates biomass Lignin

conversion process and equipment to produce Polymers, plastics
multiple fuels, power, heat, platform biochemicals
and fibres from biomass Biocoal
Steam, electricity

3G formico® biorefinery is analogous to petroleum refinery,

Nutrients
which produces multiple fuels and products from petroleum Fertilizer

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 First implementations
of the 3G formicobio™ technology
Cellulose products

Glucose
Ethanol, chemicals
Non-Food biomass

Hemicellulose products
Cellulose Sugars
Ethanol, chemicals
Hemicellulose

Lignin, nutrients Platform chemicals

Acetic acid, furfural

Lignin products

Biocoal
Steam, electricity

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 formicobio™ technology
as a cellulosic sugar platform
Biosolvent Water
Non-food Biofuels,
biomass biochemicals
formicodeli™ Cellulose Glucose
Washing Processing
(biomass Hydrolysis
fractionation) of sugars

Water
formicopure™
Evaporation
(distillation)

Acetic acid
Furfural
Separation of
hemicell. sugars Xylose and other sugars

Biocoal/
lignin

Power plant /
processing of lignin

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 formicofib™ technology

Biosolvent Water Water

Non-wood
biomass Pulp
formicodeli™ Washing TCF bleaching

Filtrate
Evaporation formicopure™
treatment

Acetic acid
Furfural

Dry biofuel
Power
plant

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Outline of presentation
• Chempolis corporation
• formico®- 3rd generation biorefining technologies
• Analysis of cellulosic ethanol costs and revenues
• Profitability of cellulosic sugar and lignin platforms
• Comparison of low-cost cellulosic ethanol
feedstocks
• Chempolis biorefinery
• Summary and conclusions

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Principles of techno-economic
calculations of biorefining
Ethanol Sales as fuel
ethanol
Biomass
(e.g. straw, Biorefinery
bagasse)

Furfural,
Sales to chemical
acetic acid
industry or
Battery limit of treated as effluent
calculations Lignin, stillages,
steam condensate

Biomass composition
Steam,
Cellulose electricity
C5 in Power plant
hemicelluloses
C6 in hemcelluloses

Lignin and other

components Energy sales
(power to the grid, steam, …)
Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.
 Key economic variables affected
by fractionation or pretreatment
• Accessibility and ease of hydrolysis of cellulose
• Yield of glucose from cellulose
• Required enzyme dose
• Conversion of hydrolysis of hemicelluloses (i.e. share
of hemicelluloses that react into soluble sugars)
• Reactions of hemicellulose sugars (solubilized sugars
react further, especially into furfural)
• Recovery and sales of
reaction products of hemicelluloses
• Acetic acid (all processes hydrolyze acetate esters
present in hemicelluloses)
• Furfural
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 Lignin in lignocellulosic
feedstocks

Lignin is present both around and

between cellulose fibrils
Pictures taken from
- Koch G (2008) Raw Material for Pulp. In: Sixta H (ed) Handbook of Pulp. Vol. 1. Wiley-VCH Verlag.
- Gullichsen J (1999) Fiberline Operations. In: Gullichsen J & Paulapuro H (eds) Papermaking Science and Technology, Book 6A, Chemical
Pulping. Fapet Oy

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Lignin in lignocellulosic
feedstocks
formicobio™ Typical 2G
Behaviour during Almost complete dissolution Remains insoluble.
fractionation or (e.g. 96%) is achieved during
pretreatment biomass fractionation.
Presence in Minor concentration in cellulose Almost all of the original lignin is
hydrolysis (e.g. 2% of cellulose). present in hydrolysis (e.g. 50% of
cellulose) both around and
between cellulose fibrils.
Impact on the Absence of lignin Presence of lignin
performance of • improves the access of • hinders the access of enzymes
hydrolysis enzymes • increases the required enzyme
• reduces the required dose
enzyme dose • decreases the yield of
• increases yield of hydrolysis hydrolysis
• improves overall economics • impairs overall economics

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 Reactions of hemicelluloses
OH
O O
Polysaccharide
1. Hydrolysis of hemicelluloses into sugars: O
OH
OH
O O
chain

polysaccharides hydrolyze into sugars OH

OH
OH

 OH
O
Sugars
OH

OH
OH
2. Reaction of hemicellulose sugars OH 
O OH

C5 sugars Furfural

3. Generation of acetic acid by hydrolysis of

acetate esters of hemicelluloses

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 Reactions of hemicelluloses
Hydrolysis of hemicellu-
loses into sugars
Reaction of
hemicellulose sugars
Hydrolysis of acetate
esters of hemicelluloses
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formicobio™
Almost complete hydrolysis
(98%) is achieved during
biomass fractionation.
Controlled conversion of C5
sugars into furfural from 10%
upwards. Furfural is
recovered as a co-product.
Almost complete hydrolysis
takes place during biomass
fractionation. Acetic acid is
recovered as a co-product .
Typical 2G
High conversion is targeted but it is
limited by further reactions of
sugars. 85% is a practical figure, a
part of hemicelluloses hydrolyze
during enzymatic hydrolysis.
Around 10% of C5 sugars react
further, mainly into furfural. Furfural
is not recovered and it is treated as
waste.
Almost complete hydrolysis takes
place during biomass pretreatment.
Acetic acid is not recovered and it
is treated as waste.
 Product yields of biorefining
formicobio™ Typical 2G

Yield of glucose from cellulose

90% 80%
(enzymatic hydrolysis)
Yield of glucose from cellulose, kg/tbiomass 340 300
Yield of ethanol from cellulosic glucose,
160 140
kg/tbiomass
Conversion of hydrolysis of hemicelluloses 98% 90%
Yield of sugars from hemicelluloses, kg/tbiomass 260 260
Yield of ethanol from hemicellulose sugars,
95 95
kg/tbiomass
Enzyme consumption (relative figure) 10 20
Generation of chemicals
Acetic acid, kg/tbiomass 35 35 (treated as waste)
Furfural, kg/tbiomass 25 10 (treated as waste)
Overall product yield, kg/tbiomass 315 235

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 Overall economics of biorefining
120
Value per unit of biomass

3G formicobio™
100
2G (pretreatment + enzymatic hydrolysis)
80

60

40

20

Revenues Operating cost Gross profit

Chempolis’ 3G formicobio™ technology

enables superior profitability

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Outline of presentation
• Chempolis corporation
• formico®- 3rd generation biorefining technologies
• Analysis of cellulosic ethanol costs and revenues
• Profitability of cellulosic sugar and lignin platforms
• Comparison of low-cost cellulosic ethanol
feedstocks
• Chempolis biorefinery
• Summary and conclusions

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Glucose and lignin platforms
• Biomass fractionation enables production of pure
glucose for value-added applications, e.g. chemicals,
medicines
• Biomass fractionation enables production of pure
lignin for down-stream processing e.g. into adhesives

Cellulose products

Glucose
Ethanol, chemicals
Non-Food biomass

Hemicellulose products
Cellulose Sugars
Ethanol, chemicals
Hemicellulose

Lignin, nutrients Platform chemicals

Acetic acid, furfural

Lignin products

Biocoal
Steam, electricity

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Products from fractions
C6 sugars
• Ethanol, butanol, microbial oil, penicillin, succinic acid, levulinic acid, formic acid
C5 sugars
• Furfural, ethanol, lactic acid
Lignin
• Particle board adhesive
Cellulose
• Paper and board products
• Viscose fibres
• Nano-cellulose

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 Economics of glucose and lignin
platforms
120
base case
Value per unit of biomass

100 pharma-grade glucose

lignin to refining
80

60

40

20

Revenues Operating cost Gross profit

formicobio™ technology enables

superior profitability
in various biorefining applications
Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.
 Outline of presentation
• Chempolis corporation
• formico®- 3rd generation biorefining technologies
• Analysis of cellulosic ethanol costs and revenues
• Profitability of cellulosic sugar and lignin platforms
• Comparison of low-cost cellulosic ethanol
feedstocks
• Chempolis biorefinery
• Summary and conclusions

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Raw materials
Wood Agricultural residues Energy crops etc.
Acacia Bagasse Arundo donax
Birch Castor stalk Bamboo
Chestnut Cassava stem Chinese alpine rush
Eucalyptus Corn stalk, cob, stover Common reed
Oil palm trunk Cotton stem Flax
Pine EFB Miscanthus sinensis
Tropical hardwood mix Oat straw Reed canary grass
Local forest residues OPF Sarganda
Rye straw Sisal
Pineapple Various local grasses
Rice straw
Sugar cane thrash
Wheat straw
Other industrial waste
streams

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 Lignocellulosic feedstocks
Biomass Price range (dry basis)
Cereal straws 30…80 EUR/t
Sugarcane bagasse 25…60 EUR/t
Wood 40…100 EUR/t

Overall product yields vary typically +/- 10%

 Price of feedstock and its secure supply
determines its feasibility, not the composition

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Outline of presentation
• Chempolis corporation
• formico®- 3rd generation biorefining technologies
• Analysis of cellulosic ethanol costs and revenues
• Profitability of cellulosic sugar and lignin platforms
• Comparison of low-cost cellulosic ethanol
feedstocks
• Chempolis biorefinery
• Summary and conclusions

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Chempolis Biorefinery –
serving customers and visitors
NDRC, China, 2010
• Total investment > 20 MEUR
• Customer trials
• Dimensioning of machinery and
formico® systems
• Products of the biorefinery
• pulp for paper, board, textiles and nano
• glucose for fuels and chemicals
• xylose for fuels and chemicals
• acetic acid, furfural
EU Commissioner
Oettinger, 2011
Indian Minister of New and
Renewable Energy, 2011
• biocoal, lignin

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Milestones of the
Chempolis’ own biorefinery
2008 Biorefinery production line of
papermaking fibres commenced
2009 Successful non-wood
papermaking production test
runs completed
2010 Licence to produce bioethanol
in Oulu biorefinery
2010 Inauguration of 3rd generation
bioethanol production line (May)
2010 – Several customer and in-house
trial runs and high-level visitors

Finland’s Prime minister Vanhanen

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 Design principles of
Chempolis biorefinery
• Continuous operations
• Industrially proven solutions
→ straightforward scale up
of commercial production
• Dimensioning of machinery
• Modern DCS
(formicocont™)

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 Key figures of
Chempolis biorefinery
• 85 equipment
• 70 tanks and 80 pumps
• 28 heat exchangers
• 550 pipelines
• 390 instruments,
incl. 95 control valves
• 120 motors
• 85 frequency converters
• 500 I/O

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Main experiences gained
at the biorefinery
• formico® technologies work!
• Reliability and long-term durability
of the equipment and materials
• Dimensioning data for full scale
• Enhanced control of selective
biomass fractionation
• Tailored serving of customers with
specific raw materials and needs

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.

 Summary and conclusions
• Selective fractionation of biomass using formicobio™
technology enables superior economics in biorefining:
• Higher product yields, higher revenues
• Lower operating costs, especially lower enzyme cost
• Option for value added products from glucose, xylose and lignin
• Good economics can be achieved with various
biomasses as long as their prices are competitive
• The 3rd generation formicobio™ technology has been
demonstrated and it is ready for commercial take-off

Copyright © 2015 Chempolis. All Rights Reserved.