1) The FuBio Joint Research 2 program aims to establish a world-leading competence platform in wood biorefinery R&D in Finland through research projects, publications, patents, and industry collaboration. 2) The competence platform includes people, business concepts, processing technologies, R&D facilities, and networking. To date there have been over 80 publications, 100 conference presentations, 5 completed PhDs, and 10 patent applications. 3) Research has led to new processing technologies and solutions, techno-economic models of business concepts, and opportunities for industry partners to work with researchers on product development. The program has advanced wood biorefinery capabilities in Finland.

1. FIBIC Future Biorefineries
Development of the
competence platform in
wood biorefinery R&D
D.Tech. Annaleena Kokko, Program Manager, FuBio Joint Research 2
WP leaders: Risto Korpinen, Alistar King, Antti Ojala, Jonas Hartman,
Jarmo Ropponen, Niina Saarinen-Aaltonen, Eemeli Hytönen

2. Position of SHOK programs
FOCUS AND
INDUSTRIAL
RELEVANCE
Spin-out company
Commercial
Industry-led
Value chain
Main playground of SHOK programs
Joint Research
TIME
FuBio JR2

3. FuBio – Future Biorefinery program
• FuBio program
• 5 year (2009-2014) program entity of FIBIC
• Currently, the on-going programs are FuBio Joint Research 2 and
FuBio Cellulose (both 1.6.2011-31.5.2014)
• Main objective: to establish a world-leading competence platform
in the field of wood biorefinery R&D in Finland & for Finland
• Focus of FuBio: Novel value chains, in which wood is refined
into new materials & chemicals
• A competence platform comprises many attributes, for example
•
•
•
•
•
People
Business concepts
Processing technologies
R&D and testing facilities, and
Networking

4. Competence platform of FuBio
New Cellulose Products
and Process Technologies
FuBio JR2

5. Hydroxy acids from black liquor
Intermediate
black liquor
to foul condensate
VA
Water
CO2
CO2/
UF
ED
EVAP
CHR
to foul condensate
EVAP
HA
ISA
NaOH
Lignin
to green liquor dilution
to evaporation or recovery boiler
Water
Intermediate
black liquor
UF
Water
CHR
H2SO4
IEX
VA to foul condensate
EVAP
HA
ISA
Na2SO4
Lignin
to green liquor dilution
to evaporation or recovery boiler
Water
Intermediate
black liquor
UF
VA To foul condensate
Water
CHR
ED
EVAP
HA
ISA
NaOH
Lignin
to green liquor dilution
to evaporation or recovery boiler
to foul condensate
Intermediate
black liquor
Lignin
CO2
CO2+
H2SO4
to evaporation or recovery boiler
FuBio JR2
VA
H2SO4
COOL
CRST
Inorganics
EVAP/
NF
to green liquor dilution
To foul condensate
CHR
EVAP
HA
ISA
HA – hydroxy acids
ISA – Isosaccharinic acids
ED – electrodialysis
CHR – chromatography
IEX – ion exchange
UF – ultrafiltration
EVAP – evaporation

6. Fractionation of biomass : biorefinery concept
FuBio JR2

7. Fractionation by ionic liquids
Phaseseparable
ionic liquids
(PSILs)
Recycling
Techno-economic modeling
‘Distillable’
ionic liquids
(DILs)
FuBio JR2
IONCELL
‘Switchable’
ionic liquids
(SILs)
Purification

8. Competence in biorefinery products
1) Production of glycolic acid ~15 g l-1 has been achieved by bioreactor
cultivations of the engineered Kluyveromyces lactis strain
–
Koivistoinen, O.M., Kuivanen, J., Barth D., Turkia H., Pitkänen, J-P.,
Penttilä, M., Richard, P., Glycolic acid production in the engineered
yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Kluyveromyces lactis, 2013,
Microb Cell Fact 12: 16 pp
2) In health-promoting products: the work paves way for the development of
high-value products from lignocellulosic material sources and is valuable as
part of the industrial renewal process (4 IDs to date)
FuBio JR2

9. Competence in biorefinery products
3) The developed lignin-fiber composite materials demonstrate competitive
tensile properties when compared to commercial WPC materials (i.e. wood
fiber reinforced polyolefins) (3 IDs, 1 patent application).
4) A concept for the production of 3D mouldable paper in paper mill has
been developed. The paper material has in lab scale demonstrated better
performance than commercial samples. (3 IDs)
5) The preparation process for cellulosic membranes utilizing IL as a solvent
has been tuned to result UF membranes of properties equal to commercial
RC-membranes.
FuBio JR2

10. FuBio - Summary
• The competence platform in wood biorefinery R&D has reached
high international quality in several topics
• Main competence impacts in the wood biorefinery R&D
– To date 88 peer reviewed articles from the program
– Over 115 international conference presentations
– 34 MSc thesis finished
– 5 PhD thesis finished & over 40 PhD thesis ongoing
– 44 Invention disclosures
– More than 10 patent applications
FuBio JR2

11. FuBio - Summary
• Currently the main industrial impacts of wood biorefinery R&D:
– 5 of the patent applications are owned by an industrial partner or
partners
– Techno-economic modeling has shown feasibility in new business
concepts
– New processing technologies and solutions are available
– R&D and testing facilities and cooperation among partners are excellent
– Networking within Finland has developed into solid international
cooperation
– Multiple possibilities for the industry partners to start company driven
product development projects together with experienced researchers
– We are several steps closer to the next generation biorefineries
FuBio JR2