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Seaweed Biorefinery: towards third generation biobased fuels
and chemicals
Jaap W. van Hal
Presented at the European Algae Biomass Conference, 25-26 April 2012, London, United Kingdom
July 2012 ECN-L--12-044
www.ecn.nl
Seaweed Biorefinery: towards third
generation biobased fuels and chemicals
Jaap W. van Hal
2012-04-26
Parts of seaweed plant
Holdfast
Stipe
Blade
Does not compete with food
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No land use issues
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Bio-Offshore
• Seaweed cultivation area
5.000 km2 (<10 % of the NL
area of the North Sea @
57.000 km2)
• Integration with off-shore
wind parks & (other)
aquaculture operations
• Energy potential up to 350
PJth (25 Mton dry biomass
per year)
• ECN-C—05-008
Why seaweeds
• Does not compete with food
• Does not compete with any other land use
• Grows in cold seawater
• The fastest growing biomass at our latitude
- The Netherlands is as far north as New
Foundland
• Biochemical composition: complementary (for
fuel/chemicals production) to micro-algae
- Comprised of carbohydrates, protein and ash
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Foto: M. Bartosch
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ECN (570)
NRG (370) COVIDIEN (290)
JRC-IE (275)
Petten: energy research campus
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R&D units
Solar energy Wind energy Policy
Studies
Biomass and
Energy
Efficiency
Sustainable energy technology to the market
• Bivkin, gasifier
• Olga, tar removal
• Green Gas and CHP (Milena, Olga)
• Torrefaction demo and commercialisation
• Marga aerosol and gas sampler
• Automatic Colum leaching test
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National research project: seaweed
biorefinery (EOS LT 08027)
• ECN (Project coordinator)
- Irish Seaweed Center
• Wageningen University Food and Biobased
Research (WUR-FBR)
• Wageningen University Plant Research
International (WUR-PRI)
• ATO-NH (Technology transfer company)
• Process Groningen BV (Digestion)
• Project 1-9-09 until 1-9-2013
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Is a biorefinery worth it?
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Conceptual Process
Raw
Seaweed
Processing Primary
Biorefinery
Sugars
Proteins
Minerals
Mannitol
Alginate
Fucoidan
Laminarin
Furanics
Butanol
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Process synthesis
• To determine the maximum allowable raw material cost
• Compare different biorefinery options
• Identify profit drivers
• Methodology
- Determine market value of potential products
- Determine mass balance
- Estimate CAPEX and OPEX
- Estimate gross revenue per product
- Evaluate market size vs plant output
16 2011-12-15
Three Cases Estimated
• Full biorefinery
• Alginate only
• Simplified biorefinery
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Product Spectrum
Product Estimated Value (€/ton, 2010)
Mannitol (as sorbitol) 1,500
Fumaric acid (as adipic acid) 1,600
Fucoidan (as detergent) 2,900
1-Butanol (chemical grade) 1,200
Ethanol (fuel grade) 600
Protein 1,000
Fertilizer (as ore) 350
Furanics 800
Alginates 3,000
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Profit Drivers (for a 330 kta plant)
Product Kta % of gross
Mannitol 35.3 21%
Fucoidan 16.2 19%
Butanol 18.3 9%
Ethanol 18.3 5%
Fumaric acid 18.3 11%
Protein 41.6 17%
Fertilizer 77 12%
Furanics 52 17%
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Maximum Raw materials cost vs. Pay Out Times
-200
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2 5 10
Pay Out Time (Years)
Ma
xim
um
ra
w m
ate
ria
ls c
ost
(Eu
ro/t
on
d.w
.
se
aw
ee
d
Full Biorefinery simplified biorefinery Alginate Production
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Pre-
cultivation
on Land
Planting at
SeaCultivation Harvesting Transport
Primary
Bio-
Refinery
Secondary
Bio-refinery
Products
and Energy
SBIR EOS LT
Offshore Seaweed Cultivation
Project
The Ecofys Test Module
© ECOFYS | |
Design of the test module 1
© ECOFYS | |
Location of the test module
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Seaweed species native to the North Sea
Laminaria saccharina Laminaria digitata
Ulva sp.
Laminaria hyperborea
(Perez)
Alaria esculenta (Irish
Seaweed Centre)
Palmaria palmata
(AWI)
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Rehydrated Laminaria
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Laminaria Digitata
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Month
Su
ga
r %
Mannitol Laminarin
27 2011-12-15 27 29-5-2012
Fractionation
Water +
Seaweed
Optional
Catalyst
Liquid
Solid
T: 20-160 °C
t: 10 min-4 h
Liquid:Solid = 0-10%
Cat: none or acid
• After reaction, separation by centrifugation (10
min, 4000 rpm) and separation of the phases.
Digestion results
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0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
300%
350%
400%
450%
Microalgae Seaweed low Seaweed high Cow manure Whole sugar beet
Normalized methane production
Normalized methane production
Summary
• Large potential for using seaweed as sustainable
biomass supply
• Seaweed farm (1 km2) for rent (noordzeeboerderij)
• Seaweed is a excellent source of (specialty)
carbohydrates
• Seaweeds digests well (to methane)
• Seaweed carbohydrates can be fermented to
chemicals and fuels
• Selective extraction of carbohydrate molecules
appears technically feasible
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Question?
Further information
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Jaap W. van Hal
The Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN)
Biomass, coal and environmental research
Transportation fuels and chemical
P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten
+31-(0)224-564297
www.ecn.nl
http://seaweed.biorefinery.nl
http://www.noordzeeboerderij.nl/
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Seaweed biorefinery process concept
Raw
Seaweed
Processing Primary
Biorefinery
Sugars
Proteins
Minerals
Fermentation
Chemical
Conversion
Energy
Carriers
Bulk
Chemicals
Residues
Energy
Conversion
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