Mercedes Ballesteros: CLaMber – Castilla-La-Mancha Bio-Economy Region Project
Presentation
The last presentation of the afternoon session was given by Mercedes Ballesteros, who is Head of Biofuels Unit at CIEMAT in Spain, about the bioenergy region concept CLaMber.
Ms Ballesteros first set the frame of the project, stating that Research & development statistics show that compared to the US (48%) and China (58%) the EU figure for demonstration projects is very low with only 6%. The CLaMber project, located in Puertollano, is then is an initiative of the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha with EU-Funds to support the strategic sector of bioeconomy. The specific project objectives were to create a technologically advanced biorefinery pilot/demo plant that allows the research on production of innovative bio products, to develop a technology hub in the region, to revitalize the local economy and to contribute to an efficient public-private cooperation system in order to increase scientific and technological progress and to stimulate European and international research initiatives. The project received in total 20 million EURO in funding.
In the project a demonstration scale biorefinery was constructed to test innovative processes for the production of high value added bio products and bio-fuels from biomass on a larger scale. The biorefinery should be integral, modular, flexible and innovative. The planned capacity was 1 t/day and the plant should offer the rental of facilities, procurement of R&D projects, it should be a partner for competitive funding and be as well a possibility for training in biotechnology. The key aspects were efficiency, cost reductions and the validation of new bio processes.
The pilot plant is organized into several areas:
Up-stream: Storage, Milling (200 kg/h), Biomass Preconditioning, Two-step Steam Explosion Reactor (400 L), Solid- liquid separators (2 x 15 m3/h)
Mid-stream: Microbiology laboratory (starters, inoculants, etc.), reactors for hydrolysis and aero and anaero fermentation (2x3 L , 2x30 L , 1x300 L, 1x3000 L , 1x20000 L), Substrate Preparation System (1xm3 , 1x5 m3), Sterilization, addition of sterile reactants, CIP and other utilities
and Down-stream: Harvesting tanks 2x10000 L 2x1500 L, Microfiltration (1m3/h), Centrifugation system (1,5 m3/h).
It contains the following utilities: Electrical Power Supply, Steam Boilers, Process water, Cooling tower water, Chiller water, Glycol water, Compressed process air, Instrumentation & service air, Process Gases - NH3, N2, O2, CO2
Ms Ballesteros then showed some expressions of the plant and continued with an interesting fact of CLaMber: The benefits of the site (new technology, modernization, employment, economy) shall be made available for the local community. The innovation development in this case is demand driven by the public sector to achieve this; other than the common approach when the innovations are supply driven. Two different forms are on the market right now: Public Procurement of Innovative solutions (PPI) and Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP).
Feedstock to be taken into account by the authorities are lignocellulosic and oleaginous biomasses, residual biomass from the agro-food industry and residual biomass from livestock and non-agro-food.
Concluding Ms Ballesteros showed two valorization pathways:
• from grape marc it’s possible to produce anthocyanin, oleanolic acid, functional oil and oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPC).
• from whey it’s possible to win lactulose, PHA (Polyhydroxyalkanoates) and D-lactic acid.
It will be interesting to see which impact this model will have on the long run, bridging the gap between laboratory research and industrial production.