Prof Heeres receives Topsector Bio-Based Economy grant of EUR 500.000

For his project ‘Co-Fluid Catalytic Cracking of Pyrolysis Liquids in Existing Refineries (CoRe)’’, Prof. H.J. Heeres from the Engineering and Technology institute Groningen (ENTEG) received a Topsector Bio-Based Economy grant of the ministry of Economic affairs worth EUR 500,000. Collaborators in the project are the University of Utrecht and the BTG Biomass technology Group BV.

The transition of the current Dutch economy towards a biobased, circular economy is directly linked to the ongoing climate discussion. The most important source of renewable carbon is biomass. Biomass can be used for the generation of energy (e.g. biomass co-incineration in power plants) but also for higher quality applications such as transportation fuel, bulk and fine-chemicals. Among the technologies for converting biomass into higher-quality products, pyrolysis is one of the most interesting. The pyrolysis technique has developed strongly in recent years and the Netherlands is market leader, with amongst others companies as BTG and BTG-BTL Bioliquids. The pyrolysis technology is applicable for a wide range of biomass, and suitable for low-value biomass as well as agricultural residues. However, the primary product, the liquid pyrolysis oil, is not directly applicable as a transportation fuel and must first undergo further treatment for commercial applications. The current CoRe project focuses on valorising the pyrolysis liquids in existing refineries. It involves co-feeding of the pyrolysis liquids to typical refinery FCC feeds to obtain green fuels and bulk chemicals.