Safety related research needs as perceived from biorefinery focused FP7 projects (EUROBIOREF,BIOCORE and SUPRABIO )

Transcription

1 Safety related research needs as perceived from biorefinery focused FP7 projects (EUROBIOREF,BIOCORE and SUPRABIO ) Guy MARLAIR Senior research scientist & technial advisor Research programme officer, PIVERT project Accidental Risk Division EC workshop on Industrial Safety, Brussels, 24 septembre 2014

2 What is biorefining? Most agreed definition according to IEA Task 42 Sustainable transformation of biomass (renewable feedstock) into a portfolio of marketable products Advanced Biorefining: perceived as the still emerging industrial tool serving the biobased economy Very versatile concept types of biorefineries: biofuel-driven biorefinery chemical and material driven biorefinery

3 A first practical insight of real future in biorefining provided by recently completed EU-funded programmes vision and associated roadmap towards biorefining horizon 2020/2030: Star Colibri ( (not a research project) Two major outputs in the form of downloadable reports

4 Biorefining research in FP7 in a nutshell: projects funded from FP7 joint call in 2009 Significant increase in EC funding from previous programmes FP (4 to 6) Minor input from INERIS, as official partner ( no actual connexion with applicants to call in due time)

5 2009 Joint FP7 call projects : a major step forward to emergence of advanced biorefining EUROBIOREF: integrated biorefinery concept development valorising several value chains incl. Fuels, materials and chemicals Franck Dumeignil (UCCS) BIOCORE: Exploring some 20 LC value chains, concept relying on combined bioetech and advanced chemical processes (organosolv), flexible biomass (SRC, rice and wheat straws, soft and hardwood) and location SUPRABIO R&D work from lab to demo stage to develop intensification processes for implementation in sustainable 2G biorefineries

6 From apparent simplicity of major involved processes / Solviolysis Torrefaction (biomass pretreatment) Many contextual factors of complexity in practice Adapted from Green Power Academy, 2014

7 Fatty acids A quite complex potential indeed also from a chemistry viewpoint! (source : top value added chemicals from biomass, vol. 1 : US DOE (2004)

8 INERIS contribution on the period ( ) BIOCORE Member of the SAB ( ) Stakeholder in the final meeting of the project Contributor to first summer school on biorefining schelduled in end of August 2011 (introduction to technological risks): 1 hour lecture on risks in biorefining (1st of the kind!) EUROBIOREF Limited exchanges with coordinator on the context of bio-jet fuels SUPRABIO None Star-Colibri: Contributor to R&D rodmap at invitation of Developing our own roadmap as an expert in technological risks Review of accidentology in 1G biorefineries, contribution to related EC funded projects like Alfa-bird Since 2012, on-going work housed inside the PIVERT project in France By now tight links with all three coordinators of FP7 projects, involvement in H2020

9 FP7 joint call projects major achievements Significant boost in technological development : Proof of concept at lab scale TRL improvement up to pilot/demo scale in some cases Wide diversity of value chains explored Consolidated common methodology for dedicated LCA study performance Effective Research consortiums established, better visibility of portfolio of competences at EU level However, very limited input on safety management, although clearly eligible as underscored pillar of sustainability Some weak signals indicates safety issues might disturb business development if not properly considered

10 Some critical biorefinery characteristics to be addressed in terms of safety policy and management Feature of advanced biorefinery Key new products on full value chains from new biomass and residues to end products Safety queries Do we know about their hazard profile re. phys/chem, health and environment (new energy crops, ILs, organic acids, new biofuels, bioplastics )? High degree of Innovation Emerging risks on full value chains possible! Emergence of biotechnologies/ in combination of conventional chemical processes Intensification of processes Water and energy integration (economy) zero waste target (economy of carbon) Expected extreme flexibility in intrants and end products, also in operability output vs nominal Limited experience, high variety of stakeholders in terms of industrial culture Multi-operators complex No risk with white biotech? limitation to GRAS as efficient enough safety barrier? Erroneous feeling of intrinsic safety antagonistic with flexibility (highly demanded), may alter corrosive environments (cost = 4% of GDP) Underscored hazards of recycling Safety margins may be compromised, in addition somewhat contradictory to water and energy integration goals Lack in apropriate knowledge or safety training Corporate safety difficult to handle Not an exhaustive list of potential issues

11 Biorefineries vs petroleum refineries Mostly feared corrosion issue? Dry corrosion Wet corrosion Food & feed Differences between biorefineries and refineries, according to Kamm et al. Reaction environment Petrochemical Processes Concentrated Biochemical Processes Diluted Phase type Gaseous-Solvent Aqueous Reaction High yield (> 80%) Average yield (50-80%) Conditions of reactions Recycle, purification Drastic (high T,P) Easy Generally Mild (low T,P) Complex After Roquette, Journée technique Panorama, Paris, 2014 Source: Marlair et al, EUROCORR CONGRESS, Pisa, Sept. 2014, 9th to 12th

12 Safety of white biotechnologies on focus Making use of GRAS» micro-organisms just enough? Confinement as a barrier from regulation to uncontroled dissimination of GMOs and other micro-organisms used in white biotech? But: fast progress in biology sciences allowing more and more complex and innovative biobased systems (factory cell) : metabolic engineering, genomics synthetic biology Are we sure that we have eveything under control at strain design level? Dedicated risk assessment procedures to be developed Worth operating a WG housed in ETPIS to progress on this issue

13 Learning on hazards profiles of key chemicals: Ionic Liquids Presence of water in ILs reported to influence on the corrosion rates... by a factor of ten or more... Uerdingen et al., Green Chem., 2005, 7; Due to cost of ILs, likely to be used as mixture with water! Figure 1. Increase of ILs corrosivity by 10% water-dilution, according to Uerdingen et al. (2005) Fig. 2 Influence of cation alkyl chain length on corrosion inhibition (a) [C2mim]TCM, (b) [C4mim]TCM, (c) [C6mim]TCM and (d) [C8mim]TCM at 80 C for 1 day, according to Molchan et al.

14 For opening discussion & as take-away messages 1. Research devoted to safety management in advanced biorefining: still limited achievement, worth to promote in H2020 programmes visible incentives to safety focused R&D in future calls desirable 2. Safety often underscored aspect of sustainable development attached to societal indicator like number of working days without injuries at workplace (no real value at design stage) 3. The sooner the better to meet ISD (inherently safer Design) goals today a plus, tomorrow, mandatory ISD targets in the EU? 4. Proactive action for safety always better than remediation Simply checking for no accident occurrence dangerous and costly appropriate safety consideration in due time may provide business competitive advantages!

15 Thank you for your attention! My special thanks to Michael O Donohue, coordinator of the BIOCORE project Further source of information on major findings of FP7 joint call on biorefinery research: Conf. in BRX, Feb. 2014: tomorrow s biorefineries in Europe, Guy.marlair@ineris.fr Tel +33(0)