Biomass Pre-Extraction as a Versatile Strategy to Improve Biorefinery Feedstock Flexibility, Sugar Yields, and Lignin Purity.

Feedstock flexibility is highly advantageous for the viability of (solvent-based) biorefineries but comes with the considerable challenge of having to cope with the varying nature and typically high abundance of nonlignocellulose compounds in the most readily available residual biomass streams. Here, we demonstrate that mild aqueous acetone organosolv fractionation of various complex lignocellulosic raw materials (roadside grass, wheat straw, birch branches, almond shells, and a mixed stream thereof) is indeed negatively affected by these compounds and present a versatile strategy to mitigate this bottleneck in biorefining. A biomass pre-extraction approach has been developed to remove the detrimental extractives with (aqueous) acetone prior to fractionation.

CO Abatement in the Steel Industry through Carbon Recycle and Electrification by Means of Advanced Polymer Membranes.

The potential of advanced polymer or hybrid polymer membranes to reduce CO emissions in steel production was evaluated. For this, a conceptual process design and assessment was performed for a process that is a combination of carbon recycling and electrification of the steel making process. The results indicate a CO avoidance of 9%.