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People’s increasing awareness of climate change and its impacts has given rise to several alternatives for obtaining energy and feedstocks from renewable sources. One promising alternative is bio-oil, a liquid derived from biomass pyrolysis, which can be used not only as a fuel but also as a feedstock for fine chemicals. On the other hand, in Europe there is a big stock of renewable carbon in forest areas which is increasing year by year due to lack of economic profitability and rural depopulation, which results in a lack of forest management and a rise of forest fires. In the present work, developed within the European Project LIFE BIOREFFORMED, an innovative strategy to boost forest management through the production of renewable chemicals is proposed, using a pyrolysis plant to produce bio-oil from wood. This bio-oil is then used as a source of value-added chemicals which can be isolated with biorefinery techniques., Proceedings of the 30th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 9-12 May 2022, Online, pp. 1111-1114

Torrefaction improve lignocellulosic biomass properties to obtain a higher quality and more attractive biofuel. A semi-industrial plant with a capacity up to 100 kg/h has been developed by Energies Tèrmiques Bàsiques SL to thermochemically process different types of biomass, from lignocellulosic biomass such as forest or agricultural by-products, to certain residues with high carbon content to study the influence of the feedstock and operating conditions on the process performance and the properties of the products. The pelletisation capacity of the torrefied samples is also evaluated, since torrified pellets have higher energy density, higher hydrophobicity resulting in a higher water-resistivity and resistance to biological attacks, improved grindability, reactivity and homogeneity, making them an improved energy vector compared to conventional biomass pellets. This technology allows the production of torrefied biofuels in small units (up to 1 ton/hour) at local and regional scale, since it is flexible, with low energy consumption and robust. Also, a pilot project was carried out in a municipality to use agricultural residues as feedstock to produce torrefied pellets, which, in turn, were used as energy source in the municipal facilities. The semi-industrial plant was installed in the municipality over ten months to test its performance and to add value to the local agricultural wastes. Marketable torrefied pellets were achieved according to European standards using this technology and the economic viability of the process was shown. This project showed the feasibility of implementing a biomass valorisation process to increase the added value of agroforestry wastes and their value chain, as well as moving towards the bioeconomy concept, with the cooperation between local administration, universities and companies., Proceedings of the 24th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-9 June 2016, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 1676-1680

Bio-oil is biomass-based pyrolysis product which is used as useful products and energy. The search of new upgrading processes for the enhancement of the yields and the quality of bio-oil is the key to improve the efficiency and reduce costs. Catalytic cracking upgrading is a process where deoxygenation occurs in presence of a catalyst at atmospheric pressure and hydrogen is not required. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of using 5, 10 and 15% of bentonite and zeolite as catalysts on bio-oil to improve its properties. Raw and upgraded bio¬oil properties (pH, total acid number and water content) and its chemical components are tested to follow the process. Both catalysts achieve the same reduction of acidity in bio-oil: pH increasing of 0,7 and TAN decreasing of 7 mg KOH/ g bio-oil. Water content remains constant at 22%wt. A study of using the HZSM-5 over the time shows that the upgrading process takes place in 15 min and zeolite replacement permits a further improving of bio-oil properties to pH of 3,4., Proceedings of the 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 18-22 June 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 1231-1234

This study is part of a larger project whose goal is to develop a novel bio­oil upgrading process based on catalytic activity of (bio)nanomaterials (modified carbon nanotubes, CNTs) to obtain an upgraded bio­oil which is meant to be used as second­generation biofuel in the transportation sector, although it can also be used to produce heat and power and as a chemical platform in a future biorefinery scenario. The first step of that project, which results are presented in this paper, aims to achieve the methodology for the bio­oil physicochemical characterisation in order to obtain the necessary information to design the upgrading process. Water and acidity content, and the chemical characterisation have been determinate. The bio­oil characterized has 24,5% of water content and pH of 2,4. Functional groups identified are sugars (36% total area), phenols (28%), aldehydes (11%), ketones (10%), acids (8%) and hydrocarbons (3%) and the main compounds are D­allose, acetic acid and 2­methoxy­4­methyl­phenol. Obtained results confirm that the methodology followed is well applied due to the similarity compared with literature data and that upgrading process has to be focused on seeking a stable fuel, with low acidity, low­oxygen compounds, less water content and optimum viscosity., Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 2148-2152

Coffee silverskin (CSS) is the only by-product from the coffee roasting process. This waste is generated on a large scale and most of it is disposed of as industrial waste. However, the rich composition of CSS in products such as phenolics, indicate its potential use as a source of chemicals. In this work, CSS pyrolysis oils and biochars have been studied within biorefinery concept in order to transform the coffee waste into energy and chemical source. Taking into account the effect of temperature on biochar and pyrolysis oil properties, CSS was pyrolysed at 280 °C, 400 °C and 500 °C. The resulting biochars presented significant calorific values, indicating its potential use as energy source for the coffee roasting process. GC-MS analysis showed that pyrolysis oils were mainly composed of caffeine, acetic acid, amino compounds and phenolics, the latter being the most important products due to their antioxidant properties. Antioxidant capacity of the samples were measured through Folin-Ciocalteu and DPPH methods, showing an increase of phenolics in pyrolysis oils compared to CSS, mainly in 280 °C sample. Therefore, pyrolysis at 280 °C would allow the valorisation of CSS, coming closer towards circular economy and bioeconomy in the coffee industry., Proceedings of the 27th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 27-30 May 2019, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 1292-1296