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Furfural Chemicals and Biofuels from Agriculture by Wondu Business and Technology Services
November 2006
RIRDC Publication No 06/127 RIRDC Project No WBT-2A
Background
Furfural (FF) is an intermediate
commodity chemical used in synthesising a range of more specialised chemical
products, starting mainly with furfural alcohol (FFA), which also has many
derivatives.
Furfural is used mainly in the production of resin, which is then used as a binding agent in foundry technologies. The second main use is as a selective solvent in petroleum production of lubricants.
There are many other uses (adhesive, flavouring and as a precursor for many specialty chemicals (see figure 2.1)), but resins account for over 70 per cent of the market. Furfural is highly regarded for its thermosetting properties, physical strength and corrosion resistance.
Furfural is important in terms of its presence, as a carbohydrate, in a chemical industry dominated by hydrocarbons. It seems to be one of the few renewable carbohydrate biomass products that can compete with hydrocarbon chemicals and without recourse to subsidies. Furfural is derived from the pentosan in the cellulose of plant tissues, the most prominent sources of which are corn/maize cobs, bagasse, paper-pulp residue, bamboo, kenaf, grain hulls, wheat and rice straw, nut shells, cottonseed and wood (soft and hardwood). Most furfural that is being produced today is derived from bagasse and corncobs. The best raw material prospects for Australia are bagasse, rice hulls and timber-processing residues. Bagasse, which is currently used mainly for energy in sugar mills, rice hulls and timber waste and sawlogs all have the volume available to provide feedstock for a small furfural plant of 5,000 tonnes/year.
Target audience
RIRDC supports the development
of new industries and furfural and the associated products derived from
carbohydrates fits within the mission of the corporation. This study is
seen to be of use to chemical companies, agricultural processors, other
R&D corporations (such as those dealing with sugar, rice, agro-forestry
and timber) and producers of agricultural products. It is also of use to
other researchers working in this and related fields.
Objectives
The scope of this report
covers:
The study does not extend
to an economic/financial feasibility evaluation or to regional impacts.
These concepts could be undertaken later.
Methods
This is the report of a
concept study, not a detailed feasibility study. The concept being evaluated
is new furfural processing technology, which is claimed to enable higher
yields and improved productivity from a given level of inputs.
Data for the study has been collected from the new technology originators, the Latvian State Institute x of Wood Chemistry, and other technology sources. Market data came from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, other statistical agencies and general providers of information about biomass-based chemical products, as well as the traditional petrochemical industry. The raw material sources are identified in the context of an Australian operation, but because furfural is an internationally traded commodity, chemical data on raw materials from other suppliers is also collected as a benchmark.
Results
The viability of furfural
is sensitive to the cost of raw materials and, because of this, materials
that are already assembled as waste, with potential negative costs at processing
sites, have a significant cost advantage over materials that involve cash
costs.
The use of agricultural materials to make industrial products like furfural would add competition to the current supply chains, which are dominated by food uses. This competition would improve farm-gate prices for agricultural materials. Agricultural materials also offer the potential to improve environmental performance in the chemical industry, which currently have a heavy reliance on nonrenewable energy.
In 2002–03, Australia imported about 500 tonnes of FF, valued at $1000/tonne, and 1100 tonnes of FFA valued at $1170/tonne. China, Thailand and South Africa are major suppliers. The world market for FF and FFA is around 300, 000 tonnes/year. World markets are not all free, and anti-dumping duties apply to imports from China into the USA and EU. These duties would probably not apply to imports from Australia into the USA.
A minimum-sized furfural plant needs an output of at least 5,000 tonnes of furfural or derivatives, suggesting the need for exports from a plant based in Australia (which uses just 1600 tonnes of FF and FFA), or development of other derivative products. Phenol, which could be produced, along with furfural at the same plant, could be another option, with Australia consuming about 100 000 tonnes/year, most of which is imported. Phenol today, however, is a product of the major chemical companies, which have large, efficient-sized plants and low unit costs. There are also new technologies coming on stream, which will reduce costs and prices of phenol made from the traditional propylene and benzene feedstocks. Researchers need to factor-in the impact of new chemical industry technologies on future costs and prices of chemicals produced by the traditional hydrocarbon feedstock stream.
A furfural plant with capacity of 5,000 tonnes/year would generate revenue of at least $5m/year, with potential to increase this to $10m depending on the extent to which further value adding takes place through development of products like phenol derivatives. The overall Australian market for phenol products is estimated to be more than $100m/year, with imports accounting for over 85 per cent.
Biochemical production is attracting increasing interest as the price of oil approaches $US50/barrel.
Research organizations in both North America and the EU are investigating new ways of making biochemicals from carbohydrates with a view to reducing dependence on fossil fuels. In addition, biochemical production offers the potential for impact mainly at the regional level. This is because a biochemical refinery would need to be located near the supply of carbohydrate materials to achieve the cost competitiveness necessary to operate in world markets.
Conclusions
Furfural, along with many
products and co-products of biorefineries, requires more detailed technical,
environmental, economic and institutional analysis. From this study it
is clear that economic outcomes surrounding furfural are subject to major
assumptions about the cost and availability of raw materials, processing
yields, unit prices for products sold, capital investment required for
commercial operations, and economies of scale and use of capacity. A small,
independent start-up biorefinery faces significant risks because of both
its small size and lack of distribution network for sales. This structure
would probably need to demonstrate a return on invested capital of more
than 20 per cent to compensate investors for these and other risks, compared
to 10 per cent if it were associated with an established, larger chemical
company. This underlines the importance of strategic alliances in developing
biorefineries. In their present state the technologies examined here lack
detailed and robust links between technical and economic measures of performance
and this limits the analysis necessary to enable selection and testing
of different material inputs, different costs and product possibilities.
It is generally agreed, however, that the chemical industry is vulnerable to environmental impacts and public perceptions about those impacts, as well as exposure to oil price increases. For this reason further research into products like furfural and other biorefinery co-products is likely to continue. To achieve useful results from further research into furfural and other biochemicals, it is important to have sufficient resources to systematically take a program of research through development, beyond laboratory scale results, then through a pilot plant to the commissioning of a small commercial plant.
There is a lot of research into technical discovery at the theoretical and laboratory level, motivated in part by the benefits that might flow to the holders of the intellectual property. In reality, however, there are great risks in commissioning of plants and associated requirements for commercialisation.
More attention is needed to deal with requirements of biochemicals along the whole supply chain, including measuring the environmental effects. International collaboration in research and development is essential, but inclusion of chemical industry partners is equally important if biorefineries are to move from a position of technical curiosity to even minimal commercial reality.
The next step should be a detailed feasibility study into establishing a biorefinery, producing a range of chemical products, one of which would be furfural. This study should be undertaken in collaboration with one or more European and/or USA research institutes, and a chemical company with an interest in this area. The IP for making the furfural and related products such as phenol could be from the two technologies examined in this study, although this also needs to be kept under review as there are new discoveries being made with the considerable level of research going into this area.. It would also be useful to undertake this study with a pilot plant being established to enhance confidence in subsequent developments and commercialisation. In addition, end users of the materials made from biochemicals should be brought into the stakeholder network.
 
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