Biorefinery

A biorefinery is capable of producing and isolating refined materials from organic (agricultural) feedstocks. Biorefineries gain efficiency by integrating multiple refinement processes into a series of processes in a single location so the feedstock can be completely processed with minimal transportation and without duplicating chemical treatments.

A biorefinery utilizes single or multi-step pretreatment to initially separate fractions of different biomass components (sugars, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin). Pretreatment can include steam explosion, enzymatic treatments, strong or dilute acid, and/or physical treatments such as milling. Fractions of enriched components are processed in treatment steps such as saccharification, fermentation, and/or purification to produce high quality refined products. Products can be materials such as phenols or energy containing molecules such as ethanol.

Wiki links and Product ecology

• Silage, as proposed here: http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Upper_Austria_Green_Biorefinery

External links

• paper "Integrating Biomass Feedstocks into Chemical Production Complexes using New and Existing Processes" (Louisiana State University)
• paper: Techno-economic and environmental evaluation of lignocellulosic biochemical refineries: need for a modular platform for integrated assessment (MPIA)
• paper: Production of bioethanol and other bio-based materials from sugarcane bagasse: Integration to conventional bioethanol production process
• NREL: What Is a Biorefinery?