Petrochemicals biorefineries

Though bio-based products are dominated by petrochemicals, biorefineries have the potential to replace them in the futme. The major hurdle is the possible increase in food prices. A promising suggestion is the use of renewable feedstocks (such as algae) as an alternative to food crops. 

Continued development of the biorefinery concept should eventually lead to sources of renewable materials at costs competitive with those from petrochemical sources through... 

For the last 70 years or so the chemical industry has been based on crude oil (petroleum) and natural gas as basic raw materials, hence the name petrochemicals. This may not be so for much longer, however. The chemical industry is currently on the brink of a new revolution, based on the switch from fossil resources to renewable agriculture-based raw materials. From a distance the production facility of Cargill in Blair, Nebraska looks very much like a small oil refinery or medium-sized petrochemicals plant. However, closer inspection reveals that it is a corn-processing plant a biorefinery producing, inter alia, high-fruc-tose corn syrup, ethanol and lactic acid. As James R. Stoppert, a senior executive of Cargill pointed out, the chemical industry is based on carbon and it does not matter if the carbon was fixed 2 million years ago or 6 months ago [1]. 

Cornfields that dot the countryside may some day not only provide food, but also be a huge supplier of fuel. That is because researchers are developing a biorefinery that uses corn or other renewable resources rather than traditional petrochemicals to produce fuels and chemicals. 

The technology used in the petrochemical industry is well defined however due to the complexity of the biorefinery concept, a single technology wiU not provide... 

It seems likely that we will see the development of both small, localized biorefineries that utUize local biomass to satisfy local needs (but may also produce specialty products for export) and larger scale units that are either based on existing infrastructure (typically petrochemical plants, e.g., Rotterdam) or new large-scale biorefinery plants (e.g., cofiring power station, bioethanol production, etc.). 

Figure 70.7 Pictorial representation of PA610 petrochemical and biorefinery route.

Brehmer, B., Boom, R.M. et al. (2009) Maximum fossil fuel feedstock replacement potential of petrochemicals via biorefineries. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 87(9), 1103-1119. 

Ethanol, categorized as a supercommodity, can be converted to olefins such as ethylene for the production of the commodity plastic polyethylene, which provides a direct interface between the biorefinery and the conversion infrastructure of the petrochemical industry. The Braskem company has established the product line for biopolyethylene production. 

Often a comparison is made between traditional petrochemical refineries and biorefineries. 

Table 1.2 gives an overview of the major similarities and dissimilarities of petrochemical refineries and biorefineries while Figures 1.3 and 1.4 give an overview of the base petrochemicals and their major applications as well as the updated top 12 building blocks derived from biomass. ° Table 1.2 and Figures 1.3 and 1.4 clearly illustrate that starting materials, processes, and products are quite different. 

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