EU BIOCORE project yields new industrial applications for lignocellulosic biomass

The project – a four-year collaboration between several European research institutes and companies, including Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research, was focused on developing technologies to extract components such as lignin and hemicellulose, from lignocellulosic biomass, instead of concentrating on the extraction of cellulose alone as had largely been the case up until now.

Using an innovative, patented Organosolv technology, BIOCORE was able to overcome current hurdles linked to lignocellulosic biomass fractionation, allowing researchers to focus on other technological steps required to transform biomass components into valuable products. The project moreover concentrated on a feedstock agnostic approach: hitherto, biorefinery technologies tended to be rather biomass-specific, which is a disadvantage to biomass constrained regions such as Europe. In BIOCORE, multiple feedstocks including cereal straws, hardwood and rotation woody crops were fractionated into their major components for further valorization.

Bio-PVC and lignin-based plywood panels
Within the scope of the BIOCORE project, several biorefinery chains from feedstock to end products were demonstrated on lab and industrial scale. Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research played a key role in the fractionation and chemical conversion of lignin fractions into polyols and in the conversion of carbohydrates into furan based isocyanates and plasticizers. Sugar syrups derived from cellulosic glucose and hemicellulosic pentose were used as starting material for the production of bio-based substitutes of oil-derived thermoplastics, yielding a sugar-derived biobased plasticizer that outperforms the standard phthalate plasticizers in PVC for its flexibility properties.

Also, organosolv lignin was tested as a solid co-polyol for the solvent-free production of Polyurethanes (PU). Polyurethanes (PU) are among the most versatile plastic materials known and form the basis of many consumer products, such as insulating panels, shoes (soles), mattresses and toys. Organosolv lignin was successfully used towards castor oil-based PU elastomers, as a liquid co-polyol for rigid PU foams and as a substitute for phenol in the preparation of PF resins for the manufacture of plywood panels.

Upscaling to demo plant
The results obtained in BIOCORE will be further pursued by the upscaling of the organosolv fractionation in a demo plant (by industrial partner CIMV). Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research will continue the fractionation of lignin to produce lignin fractions with more homogeneity and functionality for use in added value products like resins and coatings. A patent for the lignin fractionation was filed in 2014. Wageningen UR will also continue working on the synthesis of furan-based molecules for polymer applications. (KL)

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