The Future Biorefinery: The Impact of Upscaling the Reductive Catalytic Fractionation of Lignocellulose Biomass on the Quality of the Lignin Oil, Carbohydrate Products, and Pulp

After a decade of intensive mostly lab-scale research on reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF), this manuscript aims to promote RCF’s further advancement toward higher technology readiness levels (TRL). Three RCF biorefinery variations in different solvent and temperature conditions were studied on three reactor types for their impact of upscaling (from 100 mL to 50 L) on the quality of the lignin oil, carbohydrate products, and pulp. Comprehensive analysis of the products shows minor changes that can be explained by inherent differences of the setup on larger scales (such as heating/cooling cycles, etc.). For example, a similarly high delignification (with similar monoaromatic yield) was obtained for each variation regardless of scale. In addition, a comparable pulp yield and similar soluble carbohydrate products yields were obtained for each variation with no influence of the scale. Repetitions at 100 mL and 2 L demonstrated the reproducibility of all RCF variations. Overall, this study shows the scalability potential of RCF biorefining, which seems ready for pilot, demonstration, or commercial scale process integration and development.