Assembly of green PROcesses for optimal biomass Valorization – APROVE

Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is regarded as a key element to respect the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. LCB can be used for sustainable production of added value components and energy. To maximize the economic profitability of LCB biorefinery (currently mainly based on cellulose and hemicellulose valorization), the concept of lignin-first biorefinery has emerged, as lignin is the single aromatic biopolymer found in nature. To fractionate LCB with valuable lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose streams, deep eutectic solvents have emerged. However, the scale up of deep eutectic solvents-based LCB valorization processes is still limited. To compete with current established models for molecules and energy production and be viable, processes must be adaptable to changing parameters such as the feedstock fluctuation, the purity requirements of generated streams for further molecules or energy valorization process, or the impact of deep eutectic solvents presence on the various processes performances. Scaling-up such processes require to lift scientific and technological barriers such as: i) the understanding of deep eutectic solvents influence on processes, ii) gathering experimental data on the impact of inter-connection of extraction, adsorption, membrane and bioproduction processes and their related streams characteristics and iii) defining suitable deep eutectic solvents recycling strategies. Therefore, establishing green processes and their assembly offering this adaptability is highly expected and correspond to the ambition of the APROV(E) project.