Printview, Biorefinery / Plug-flow Replaces CSTR

A rich, but still largely untapped source of raw materials for the chemical industry represents cellulose and lignin biomass, including wood, straw or waste from food production. With help of enzymes, the polymeric structures can be broken down and split into sugars. In fermenters, these are then converted into so-called platform chemicals such as succinic or muconic acid and through conventional synthesis routes into to chemical intermediates and end products.

EKATO has developed an alternative approach for a continuously stirred reactor for this process. By a thermal pretreatment, the water moistened biomass reaches the top of the reactor and is mixed with the enzymes. This mixture flows through the tank and becomes ever thinner with the increasing degree of breakdown and leaves the reactor almost as thin as water. A plug flow is desired in order to achieve a narrow residence time distribution and thus a complete breakdown within a minimum volume.