In a biorefinery a complex biobased feedstock is separated and processed in such a way that sustainability and application opportunities are maximized. In this course we will focus on tools and techniques to efficiently disentangle, separate and convert different biomass based feedstocks into simpler (functional) components.
First we will discuss available techniques and processes for biomass activation/disentanglement and separation.
Next we explore how to design a biorefinery taking into account feedstock and sustainable energy use. Therefore we will dive into:
- mass and energy balances;
- design of biorefinery process units to obtain multiple products from one type of biomass;
- how to recover energy and resources in the biorefinery system;
- evaluation of the designed system with respect to sustainability and economic criteria;
- evaluation of criteria for successful implementation (operational and investment costs).
