A year ago ECN proudly announced the production of the first liter of bio-BTX. Now they are going a step further.
Together with project partners Avantium, Catalok and Kodok they are working on a pilot plant for the production of green benzene. 5 kg lignin will be gasified per hour using the MILENA / OLGA process of ECN. The gas contains 0.5 to 1% benzene, which will be separated in an absorber-stripper together with the other aromatics. If this were to become a standard operation, the total need of benzene in the Netherlands could be covered. Avantium will focus on the winning of ethylene, which is also present in the pyrolysis gas.
The pilot must be up and running by the end of 2017.
The project is funded by TKI-BBE, a consortium in which top sectors Chemistry, Energy and Agro & Food work together.