Many studies of pretreatment of lignocellulose with sulfur compounds have been carried out. However, the presence of sulfur is known to cause problems, especially if the intention is to integrate second generation and first generation ethanol production with animal feed and/or biogas production. This project focuses on the pretreatment step in order to verify the technology of sulfur-free pretreatment on a larger scale at the BDP in Örnsköldsvik.

The project has a strong connection to our ongoing project (37821-1), focusing on a fungi-based biorefinery concept. Pretreatment methods with phosphoric acid would be verified for straw at the demo plant. The effects on the subsequent process steps will also be investigated in laboratory scale. 

On the basis of these results, a techno-economic evaluation on different integrated process alternatives will be carried out for the future commercialization.