Matty Janssen

Ethylene based on woody biomass-what are environmental key issues of a possible future Swedish production on industrial scale

PurposeIn order to reduce its environmental impact, the chemical industry no longer produces base chemicals such as ethylene, solely from fossil, but also from biomass-based feedstocks. However, a biomass option suitable for one region might not be as suitable for another region due to, e.g., long transport and the related environmental. Therefore, local biomass alternatives and the environmental impact related to the production of chemicals from these alternatives need to be investigated. This study assesses the environmental impact of producing ethylene from Swedish wood ethanol.MethodsThe study was conducted following the methodology of life cycle assessment. The life cycle was assessed using a cradle-to-gate perspective for the production of 50,000 tonnes ethylene/year for the impact categories global warming, acidification (ACP), photochemical ozone creation, and eutrophication (EP).Results and discussionThe production of enzymes used during the life cycle had a significant effect on all investigated impacts. However, reduced consumption of enzyme product, which could possibly be realized considering the rapid development of enzymes, lowered the overall environmental impact of the ethylene. Another approach could be to use alternative hydrolyzing agents. However, little information on their environmental impact is available. An additional key contributor, with regard to ACP, EP, and POCP, was the ethanol production. Therefore, further improvements with regard to the process’ design may have beneficial effects on its environmental impact.ConclusionsThe study assessed the environmental impact of wood ethylene and pointed to several directions for improvements, such as improved enzyme production and reduced consumption of enzyme products. Moreover, the analysis showed that further investigations into other process options and increase of ethylene production from biomass are worth continued research.

Combined basic and fine chemical biorefinery concepts with integration of processes at different technology readiness levels

Biorefineries offer promising alternatives to the use of fossil fuels to produce energy andxa0chemicals. This work describes the development of a biorefinery concept to producexa0adipic acid from Swedish forest residues and lutein from micro-algae. A description isxa0provided for each process line available, its technology readiness level (TRL) and thexa0tools available to model it. Scenarios of the integrated concept are built with associatedxa0material flow analysis. Key results of the material inventory of the base case scenario arexa0presented as well as insights into the development of further scenarios. Material flowxa0inventories can then be further used for economic and environmental assessment. Majorxa0challenges of integration are discussed in terms of uncertainties and data gaps forxa0processes with low TRL such as scaling up lab experiments, understanding thexa0restrictions of material recycling and its impact on process performance. The feedbackxa0given through these scenarios can help guide further experimental efforts.