NEXT-GENERATION BIOFUELS FROM THE ORGANIC FRACTION IN MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE (MSW)

BioRen contributes to the circular economy

NEXT-GENERATION BIOFUELS FROM THE ORGANIC FRACTION IN MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE (MSW)

BioRen contributes to the circular economy

NEXT-GENERATION BIOFUELS FROM THE ORGANIC FRACTION IN MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE (MSW)

BioRen contributes to the circular economy

BioRen is a research project funded by The European Commission through its Horizon 2020 research program. This project will develop competitive, next-generation drop in biofuels from the organic fraction in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), thereby contributing to the implementation of the circular economy.

Challenging the food against fuel discussion

Biofuel from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

The production of biofuels from agricultural crops, such as sugar cane and corn, puts undue pressure on the available land for growing food crops.

By investigating the possibility to produce biofuels from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, BioRen’s contribution will be twofold; better waste processing as well as biofuel production.

 

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BioRen offers a solution for the global waste crisis

Next level waste treatment
to challenge the global waste crisis

All countries are part of the waste crisis, which urgently demands alternative waste treatment
on a global scale. Governments around the world and the European Commission
in particular, are pushing legislation to target this crisis.
The need for viable green energy sources is more urgent than ever. The depletion of fossil fuels
continues worldwide and CO2-emissions still peak to record heights.
Discover BioRen
The BioRen partners are
Separation and sorting of waste

As a first step, the organic fraction is isolated from other waste at the pilot plant using a fully automated sorting installation with a combination of a number of separation techniques:

  • Wind sifters
  • Drum sifters
  • Magnetic and eddy current separation (to separate non-ferrous metals)
  • Infrared sorters

This step is followed by the preparation and conditioning of the feedstock to optimize the yield in the next process steps. Vossen Laboratories of the Netherlands is Responsible of the optimization of this process step.

High quality biocoal pellets
After distillation, the fermentation sludge is treated at the Ingelia pilot plant facilities in a slightly acidic environment at a temperature of ca. 200°C and with 18 bar of pressure in order to convert it into biocoal pellets of high quality:

 

  • Water resistant
  • High carbon content
  • Maximum of 10% ash content
  • At least 23MJ/kg caloric value
These pellets will be sold on the market as a second generation alternative to wood pellets and can be used as a starting material for the production of syngas.
Developing competitive second generation drop-in biofuels
BioRen helps to solve the waste problem by producing biofuels from waste.

The objective of the project is the development of competitive drop-in second generation biofuels such as bio-ethanol and bio-isobutanol, from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) rather than agricultural crops. This way, BioRen contributes to the circular economy.

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Validation and lifecycle analysis

The second generation biofuels the BioRen project produces are subject to extensive engine tests at the University of Lund in Sweden, assessing their performance, emission specs and fuel consumption rate.

In order to assess the process and to find the optimal business case for exploitation on an industrial level, it is subject to a lifecycle analysis. The first industrial application of the process developed by the BioRen Consortium is realized at the pilot plant facilities of DeCiDe in Ostend, Belgium.

It is there that all stakeholders, from legislators to the industry and investors as well as the general public are able to catch a first glimpse of the future of waste processing and biofuel production.

News
Visit to project partner Procede
The project consortium was invited to Enschede, the Netherlands, to visit our project Partner Procede en check the set-up to derive first bio-isobutene from 2nd...
Bioren workshop at RRB 2022
The Bioren consortium presented its key project results on the 18th International Conference on Renewable Resources and Biorefineries on 1 - 3 June 2022 in...
New technology succesfully tested on pilot scale at BBEPP
Novel technologies such as pervaporation, usually only applied in the chemical and environmental industry, are being investigated for their feasibility in in situ isobutanol removal...
Bioren workshop in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland
Every year on April 22, we celebrate World Earth Day. On this occasion, at the Marshal's Office of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, international discussions were held about...