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).
This course is part of the Biobased Sciences for Sustainability MicroMasters program.
What you'll learn
Students will be able to:
- To choose proper (chemical) pretreatment and conversions to arrive at the required products.
- Conceptually design a biorefinery process.
- Critically evaluate a process design with respect to energy and feedstock efficiency.
- Compare that design with fossil based processes.
- Know how to activate/disentangle and separate biobased feedstocks.