Environmental services by multipurpose biorefinary (MultiBio)
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB - Energi och cirkulär ekonomi, BORÅS |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 4 156 712 |
| Project duration | November 2017 - December 2020 |
| Status | Completed |
Important results from the project
MultiBio has achieved its aims and objectives by testing a cascade process for residual streams from pulp mills. Biohydrogen production technology is scaled up, biopolymer production is evaluated with proposals for step-by-step implementation. The bacteria from the biohydrogen process and the biopolymer have been tested as a fish feed ingredient. The development takes us in the right direction to achieve 7 of the 10 Swedish environmental goals. The project had 42% female participants and created great media attention with 65 media listings.
Expected long term effects
A fiber-rich, CTMP residual stream was suitable for the concept. The biohydrogen process has been scaled up to pilot scale (TRL-5). An assessment was made that 3,600 tonnes of PHA / year could be produced from residual currents at the two mills. Bacteria as a fish feed ingredient had no significant effect on the growth of Tilapia fish, but PHA showed favorable results. The MultiBio concept has a positive climate impact in comparison with current process, but is not implementable in its entirety in the next few years.
Approach and implementation
Due to safety risks, the demo scale experiments with the biohydrogen gas technology were moved from Biorefinery Demo Plant with 40 m3 capacity to ATEX-classified pilot scale plant with 0.4 m3 capacity. Therefore, the bacterial biomass for large-scale fish feed ingredient could not be exported. Instead, PHA biopolymer was used for experiments at Gårdsfisk AB. The MultiBio cascade process can be implemented with further necessary development, but this is not expected to happen in the next ten years. However, the biopolymer technology could be demonstrated in the coming years.