UNRAVEL aims to develop an innovative lignocellulosic value chain based on the FABIOLA™ fractionation process and subsequent separation and conversion of the biopolymers to high value products. Technologies and processes will be scaled up from lab to pilot scale. To achieve this overall goal, UNRAVEL will work towards an ambitious set of technical and strategic objectives:
Objective 1 Develop a pre-extraction process optimised for mixed lignocellulosic biomass streams.
Objective 2 Achieve at least 80% delignification, 90% glucan recovery, 80% yield of monomeric hemicellulose sugars and less than 1% solvent loss.
Objective 3 Achieve at least 95% lignin recovery and 99% (non-condensed) solvent recovery from the liquor.
Objective 4 Develop an economically viable process for purifying the hemicellulose hydrolysate to ferment the hemicellulose sugars effectively into chemical building blocks.
Objective 5 Achieve over 90 percent sugar conversion, over 20 percent reduction of hydrolysis time and 20 percent reduction of enzyme dosage compared to cellulose alone.
Objective 6 Demonstrate the low inhibitory effect of the C5 and C6 hydrolysate in fermentation.
Objective 7 Activate and depolymerise lignin from the FABIOLA process.
Objective 8 Establish a series of high-value lignin applications.
Objective 9 Show a 30 percent reduction in operating expenses through lower overall energy consumption and costs as compared with a benchmark pre-treatment process.
Objective 10 Demonstrate an overall reduction of at least 15 percent in the carbon footprint compared with the state-of-the-art bio-based operation.
