Transforming industrial process streams into valuable resources—shaping the future of a sustainable bioeconomy
We, as the Biorefinery Working Group, develop innovative processes for isolating valuable compounds from biobased process streams, ensuring sustainable raw material utilization throughout production chains. Our research supports the transition from fossil-based to biobased economies, focusing on biofuels, bioenergy, and bioproducts.
Key areas that we are working on are the development, adaption and smart interconnection of downstream processes for product isolation and water management in biorefineries. Technologies include membrane processes (pressure driven processes, forward osmosis and membrane extraction) but also extraction, absorption and precipitation processes are investigated. Second key area is the development of lignin first processes with a product driven approach trying to develop cause-effect chain in terms of disintegration process and lignin quality. An overlaying topic is the preparation, characterization and application of new solvents from renewable resources. Applications that we are working on range from energy technologies (absorption heat pumps), over CO2 sequestration to (reactive) extraction processes.
