Category: Sidestream Valorization

With view on circular economy, recycling of products after use is key. Currently merely 30% of our plastic and textile waste is being recycled. The vast majority of recyclable products are actually one component materials, circumventing the necessity of a separation step.

Coated and laminated materials are difficult to recycle because of their hybrid nature: the coating layer is difficult to separate from the bulk material or the coating layer can be cured to prevent melting or dissolution in conventional solvents.

The current routes for end-of-life of “complex”-composite products are mainly focusing on burning or converting into RDF pellets (Refuse Driven Fuel). The energy content and presence of a fusible fraction (carrier and possibly also coating) explain why this waste disposal method is widely spread. Another commonly used route is mechanical reduction via shredders and subsequent use as filler material.

The project RECYCOAT aims to investigate various technologies to separate the different layers present in complex coated or laminated (multilayer) materials (in particular textiles and plastics). The focus is on developing a good design (eco-design) of the multi-layered products and/or altering the chemistry of the coating or adhesive layer. The material should be developed in such a way that maximum separation (i.e. recycling) is made possible: the different layers present in the complex material must be completely separable from each other.

An example of such a technology is an adapted adhesive layer of a carpet allowing separation in boiling water. After 30 seconds the secondary backing is split off.

This collective project, funded by Catalisti, started beginning of March and will run for two years. Companies are still welcome to join the user committee of the project. For more information, please contact us.

Ine De Vilder (textile) – ivi@centexbel.be

Isabel De Schrijver (plastic) – ids@centexbel.be

All renewable CCU based on formic acid integrated in an industrial microgrid

The 2030 framework for climate and energy policies contains a binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions in EU territory by at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, and has the ambition to further reduce them by 80-95% by 2050. As theoretical limits of efficiency are being reached and process-related emissions are unavoidable in some sectors, there is an urgent need to develop efficient carbon capture and utilisation systems. In the past, most research has focused on the capture and storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂), also referred to as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). CCS is a technology directed to CO₂ abatement and removes carbon from the economy. In addition to CCS, CO₂ can also be transformed into valuable added products. This is known as carbon capture and utilization (CCU). Since the use of CO₂ as a carbon feedstock has the potential to create attractive business cases for production of chemicals, more and more novel CCU technologies are being reported and the range of CO₂-derived products is expanding. However, these emerging technologies all have different technology readiness levels (TRL) and a comparison for different technologies is missing.

The main objective of the project is the development of technologies for the conversion of CO₂ to value-added chemicals using catalysis and renewable energy. To benchmark, compare and develop the various technologies, the formation of formic acid was selected as the initial target. Formic acid is the first product of the hydrogenation of CO₂ towards value-added chemicals. In the project, the development of 4 catalytic routes (homogenous & heterogeneous catalysis, photochemical plasma-catalysis, electrochemical catalysis and bio-catalysis) is planned, enabling the sustainable synthesis of formic acid and more complex value-added chemicals (Single Cell Proteins, etc.). Sustainability is the common denominator of the different routes investigated in the project as they will enable the creation of a circular economy using (i) abundant reagents: CO₂, H₂O and electricity produced by surplus of renewable energies production through electrolysis and (ii) sustainable catalysts: earth-abundant metals will be used in homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, in photochemical and electro-catalytic syntheses, and set-ups will fully exploit renewable electricity. Finally, the potential of enzymatic catalysts (microbes and bacteria) will be exploited to use nitrogen from waste water sources to produce organic molecules of added value and microbial proteins for feed/food applications. At the end of the project, the partners want to be able to select the best technology  (CO₂ source, purity and intended product, availability of excess electricity) for the conversion of CO₂. A decision support framework will be developed to support this decision process. Via a techno-economic analysis, the different catalytic routes towards formic acid will be benchmarked against each other and against the classical process via base-catalyzed carbonylation of methanol.

The second objective is the valorization of formic acid. On the one hand, formic acid will be used as a building block for the bio-catalytic production of value-added chemicals such as Single Cell Proteins. On the other hand, formic acid is considered as a H₂ carrier to propose a circular economy with CO₂ and H₂/electricity generated from renewable sources (POWER to CHEMICALS): when renewable sources (solar, wind, …) produce energy surplus, this energy can be converted in H₂ (through electrolysis) that is chemically converted with CO₂ into formic acid. When utilizing the H₂ upon conversion of formic acid, CO₂ is released and can be used recycled/reused with a new supply of H₂ for the formation of formic acid generating a true circular approach.

This project has the ambition to strengthen the position of Flanders in terms of research into CO₂-based processes and materials. The relevance of this cluster SBO project is further emphasized by an industrial advisory board, who are eager to implement the results and create economic valorisation. Current members of the advisory board include: 3M, Alco Biofuel, Arcelor Mittal, Avecom, Borealis, Cargill, Eastman, ENGIE Laborelec, Hydrogenics, INEOS, Messer, Monsanto, Nutrition Sciences and Smart Bioprocess.

Project type:	cSBO
Approved on:	14/12/2017
Duration:	01/03/2018 – 01/03/2022
Total project budget:	EUR 2.612.101
Subsidy:	EUR 2.612.101
Partners:
Advisory Board:

Alternatives to chemical treatment techniques for cooling towers

In general, there are three major issues an industrial cooling water system may encounter: corrosion, deposition/scaling, and microbial growth. Because these problems can have a direct, negative impact on the value of the entire process, a wide range of cooling water chemicals is used to provide protection against these cooling system challenges. These cooling water chemicals, however, might pose an environmental burden when the cooling water is discharged in surface water. Catalisti is initiating a collective research project on alternatives to chemical treatment techniques for cooling towers to demonstrate and benchmark available technologies for biocide-free treatment of cooling water (as a direct alternative of liquid sodium hypochorite, i.e. bleach). In addition, apart from biocide-free treatment, alternative corrosion chemicals can also be investigated (depending of the interest that is expressed by the participating companies).

If your company is interested in this project, please send an email to Luc Van Ginneken (lvanginneken@catalisti.be).

Upgrading steel mill off gas to caproic acid and derivatives using anaerobic technology

One of the greatest challenges of the 21^st century is the drastic reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere to minimize/mitigate the impact of global climate change. The European Union is taking up a leading role by imposing stringent emission regulations to all member states and industries. The European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) forms the basis of the EU’s policy to combat climate change, and requires industries in Europe to decrease their GHG emissions year by year, to reach a 43% lower emission level in 2030, compared to 2005. A crucial aspect to achieve the emission reduction is the transition to a carbon-neutral economy, in which the emission of CO₂ to the atmosphere is avoided.  

In this context, the possibility to capture CO₂ at point sources, which account for 45% of the emissions in Europe, and transforming it into added-value products, is gaining attention. The steel industry sector is one of the largest GHG contributors. In their strive for GHG emission reduction, strategies such as improvements in energy efficiency, resource recycling, utilization and recovery have already been implemented, but further emission reduction can only be achieved by capturing CO₂ emissions. Valorisation of CO₂ into chemical building blocks is possible through biological or chemical processes. Biotechnology is in particular a very interesting way to valorise these waste gases due to their low energy requirements and mild reaction conditions. Traditional disadvantages of biotechnology, such as low yields, low substrate affinity and low selectivity have been overcome in recent years.  

ArcelorMittal is exploring the use of syngas fermentation technology as part of the CO₂ emission reduction strategy, with pilot projects at the plant in Gent. New fermentation technologies of industrial gases have been tested at pilot scale and are ready for scale up. Many of them are focussing on the fuel market to take off their fermentation products, and are facing a low revenue from the end products, which sometimes require an energy-intensive distillation process to meet the quality standards. The CAPRA-technology  is offering an alternative to avoid this expensive distillation, and  turns the fermentation products into a high value chemical.  

The composition of syngas fermentation broth, a dilute mixture of ethanol and acetic acid, with a high ethanol/acetic acid ratio, makes it an ideal substrate for further biological upgrading through anaerobic conversions. Ethanol/acetic acid mixtures can be transformed to medium-chain carboxylic acids by biological chain elongation, resulting in a bio-oil with higher value (more than double) compared to fuel. This bio-oil, composed mainly of caproic and caprylic acid, readily phase-separates, circumventing energy-intensive distillation, and facilitating downstream processing of the final product. The bio-oil can be further processed in the chemical industry, where sources of caproic and caprylic acid are rare, while interest is growing.  

As of today, the feasibility of converting syngas effluents to C6-C8-rich oils has been proven through a limited number of studies and solely at lab-scale. To pave the road for the development of a process to upgrade syngas fermentation effluent via biological chain elongation, a number of research questions and challenges need to be addressed. Also, little is known about the chemical conversion routes to produce high-value, marketable products from the generated bio-oil. Furthermore, the optimal approach to assess the sustainability and profitability of new processes in the bio-economy is lacking.  

The CAPRA project brings together industrial and academic partners with the required expertise to solve these research challenges: ArcelorMittal, OWS, Proviron, CMET (Ghent University), EnVOC (Ghent University) and VITO. The CAPRA project will:  

• Assess the critical operational parameters of the biological chain elongation process to determine 1) the best product recovery system; 2) the required nutrient additions for the chain elongation process; and 3) the optimal operational conditions (CMET, OWS);
• Scale-up the chain elongation process to lab-pilot level, to upgrade real syngas fermentation effluent to a medium-chain carboxylic acid bio-oil at the kilogram scale, in a continuous process (OWS, CMET, ArcelorMittal);
• Transform the produced bio-oil into high-quality added-value products for different applications such as plasticisers (Proviron); 
• Evaluate the process value chain based on its sustainability and profitability, using newly developed tools (EnVOC, VITO, OWS; with input from ArcelorMittal, CMET, Proviron). 

The research carried out within CAPRA will bring the valorisation of syngas fermentation products well beyond the state-of-the-art, delivering to the steel industry a technology to capture CO₂ into added-value products. For instance, the coupling of the CAPRA process to a syngas fermenter converting the off-gas of AM Gent would result in the production of 35,000 tonne caproic acid oil per year, showing the high potential of the CAPRA value chain. Also, CAPRA develops a new biotechnological platform that can be translated to other industrial sectors, such as waste management. This has the potential to generate employment and strengthen the role of Flanders as a leading region in the bio-economy.   

Project type:	ICON
Approved on:	26/10/2017
Duration:	01/01/2018 – 31/12/2020
Total project budget:	EUR 1.023.079
Subsidy:	EUR 521.334
Partners:

Sustainable membrane technology-based solutions for solvent-rich wastewater treatment

Today, huge amounts of waste water from chemical/pharmaceutical companies is transported for incineration at specialised facilities, even though these companies have large on-site waste water treatment plants. Companies as Janssen and Omnichem thus have to treat in this way several 1000s of tons per year per factory. Currently, biodegradation of these streams via conventional waste water treatment is excluded, since these waste water contain (1) Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API’s), (2) other ecotoxic substances, (3) too large volumes of solvent and/or salts, and/or (4) traces of metals such, as Zinc or Palladium as remainders of homogeneous catalysts.  This forced external waste water incineration represents not only a high financial cost, but also a detrimental environmental impact.

Membrane technology is world-wide considered as a very powerful method to treat different types of waste water. However, for the treatment of the challenging, recalcitrant, salt- and solvent-rich waste waters of this project, high-performance nanofiltration membranes with sufficient solvent-resistance and/or extreme pH stability will be required. Although during the last two decades quite some research effort has taken place in this field, few applications have so far found their way to industrial implementation. This can generally be ascribed to the novelty of the technology. However, for this specific case,  the multitude of requirements for the membranes mentioned above, makes the treatment extra challenging, emphasizing the limited process understanding/predictability, and high uncertainties with respect to scalability and long-term robustness.

This project aims at realising a breakthrough in this field by developing innovative, efficient and economic membrane-based technology solutions for the sustainable treatment of these very complex solvent-rich waste waters in a holistic approach. The partners envision that the most optimal processes will be hybrid processes combining appropriate, robust membranes in synergy with powerful pre- or post-treatment (e.g. adsorption, advanced oxidation or others), allowing a (semi)-continuous on-site treatment of large volumes of waste with minimal effort. The intention is that the purified water can be processed in the existing waste water treatment plant, and, where possible, valuable compounds as precious metals can be recuperated. This will not only decrease costs, but close material loops and add to a more circular economy.

Project type:	ICON
Approved on:	26/10/2017
Duration:	01/11/2017 – 30/04/2020
Total project budget:	EUR 1.520.228
Subsidy:	EUR 1.271.039
Partners: