WOOD BASED
BIOREFINERIES
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
Dr. Christian Hübsch, UPM Biochemicals
IFIB 2015, Lodi, 24.9.2015
UPM today
UPM Biorefining
UPM Plywood
• Plywood and
veneer
products
•
•
•
•
•
Pulp
Plantations
Biofuels
Sawmills
Wood sourcing
and Forestry
UPM Paper Asia
• Fine papers in China
and Asia Pacific
• Labelling materials
globally
Sales 2014: EUR 10 billion
Personnel: 20,000
UPM Paper ENA
Shareholders: approx. 90,000
• Magazine papers
in Europe and
the USA
• Newsprint and
fine papers in Europe
UPM Raflatac
• Label materials
for product and
information labelling
UPM Energy
UPM Biocomposites
UPM Biochemicals
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• Hydro-, nuclear- and condensing power
(incl. shares in energy companies)
• Electricity production
and trading
Wood Sourcing, One Core Competency
Of The Pulp And Paper Industry
WOOD SOURCING HIGH QUALITY SERVICES
TO FOREST AND LAND OWNERS
27 mio
CUBIC METRES OF WOOD DELIVERED
GLOBALLY TO UPM MILLS ANNUALLY
20,000
WOOD TRADE TRANSACTIONS
WITH PRIVATE FOREST OWNERS
IN FINLAND ANNUALLY
80%
OF WOOD USED IN OUR
PRODUCTS CERTIFIED
ALL WOOD AND WOOD FIBRE IS
SUSTAINABLE SOURCED
3 | © UPM
UPM Biochemicals Approach –
Add Value to 2ndG Biomass through
Chemical Building Blocks and Performance Chemicals
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Comparison of theoretical sugar cost
in wood vs. corn
USD/mt
400
16,2 cts/lb
•
•
The costs of unseparated
sugar from wood (67% of total
biomass) at current wood
prices are in the range of 80
USD/t
The costs of unseparated
sugar from corn (77% of total
biomass, 15% moisture) are in
the range of 220 USD/t (3,5
$/bsh) and 360 (5,7$/bsh; 5
years average corn price)
350
15,0 cts/lb
300
250
10,0 cts/lb
200
150
100
3,6 cts/lb
50
0
Wood
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Internal
Corn (3,5 $/bsh) Corn (5,7 $/bsh)
UPM Biochemicals continuously evaluates
processes to disintegrate woody biomass
Evaluation criteria
sugar yields
sugar quality
lignin quality
energy
intensity
feedstock
compatibility
ease of
integration
…
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Advantages of Wood As A Feedstock
Limited price-volatility
Long-term supply contracts
Available year-round
Well established supply chain
Relatively easy to transport
and store
No overlap with the food-chain
Advanced sustainable forestry
(UPM the undisputed leader in
that field)
HELP DE-RISKING AND
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BUILDING TRUST IN THE
BIOECONOMY
Significant synergies through integration into
an existing pulp/paper mill
UPM site
bark, forest residues
wood
sourcing
waste water
treatment
Lignin
products
biomass boiler
(various
applications)
heat
& electricity
Biochemicals mill
delignification
hemicellulose
wood disintegration
hydrolysis
Performance
Chemicals
lignin
C5 sugars
C5 sugar conversion
into CBB B
CBB B
C6 sugar conversion
into CBB A
CBB A
C6 sugars
cellulose hydrolysis
water supply
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Fermentability of lignocellulosic sugars
Inhibitor removal
prominent inhibitors are aromatic aldehydes
(from lignin), furfural / HMF, and organic acids
Qualitative results of fermentation
trials after basic sugar upgrading
Clostridium
acetobutylicum
Saccharomyces
cerevisiae
Furfural
Syringaldehyde
Upgrading methods are applied
depending on the specific requirements
of the downstream process
Corynebacterium
eColi
….
After inhibitor removal, fermentation results
are on similar level compared to 1st generation
sugars.
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Lignin
20%- 25% of woody biomass
Properties depend on biomass-species, and
biorefinery process
The capability to add value to lignin will be
one of the key success factors for establishing a
cost-competitive lignocellulosic biorefinery
Selected application areas accessible today
Lignin for carbon
fibers
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Lignin-based PU
systems
Lignin-based
epoxy resins
Lignin-phenol
formaldehyde
(LPF) resins
Internal
Lignin-based
polymer blends
Lignin-derived
base chemicals
Challenge:
The need to be competitive from the beginning limits the
freedom to select processes and products
specific manufacturing
costs
x market
entry
Lowering specific costs in the beginning:
further development of process, but need to process freeze
economies of scale, but higher risk
synergies with existing operations
select site with most competitive feedstock and supplies
x bio-based
chemicals today
fossil based
chemicals
time
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Conclusions – Take Aways
Wood-based biorefineries will play a significant role
for the production of bio-based chemicals in the future.
Production of wood complies to highest standards of sustainability,
which is highly desirable from a consumers perspective.
The pulp and paper industry is very well positioned, based on their
core competency in wood sourcing and processing.
2nd generation sugars can be an excellent substrate
for a broad range of biotechnological processes towards
bio-based chemicals.
The competency to add value to the entire feedstock
is a critical success factor.
Managing the risk, building trust amongst all stakeholders,
and the need to advance quickly on the learning curve are
challenges, but they are almost dwarfed in light of the tremendous
opportunity at hand.