Bionic µfuel technology unlocks potential of Lignin

As early as 2009 experiments have been conducted using pure lignin as a sample feedstock for Bionic's µfuel technology. A detailed report about the laboratory level tests has been published by a scientific partner, Erik Karlsen, in a Danish chemical journal. An English translation can be downloaded from Bionic servers: "From Lignin to Oil by Microwaves".

The central finding from the above report: the studied liquid product phase consisted of more than 85% phenols and still more than 75% methoxy phenols. This result suggests a significantly more homogeneous liquid phase from the Bionic µfuel process than reported so far in any other available paper on Lignin treatment with various (catalytic) pyrolysis methods. Commonly extremely heterogeneous combinations of complex aromatic molecules are found where good yields of highly homogeneous chemical substances are necessary for further conversion or processing into the final lignin derived building blocks which can economically serve as the raw material for future bioplastics like novel polyesters.

The Bionic µfuel Laboratory Reactor used for Lignin testing

The conversion of Lignin into higher value products is the primary challenge for the global cellulose and wood processing industries. Lignin alone makes up a share of 25-30 wt.% of all processed dry wood for cellulose and hemicellulose pulp extraction which is later used for paper, fiber and bioethanol production.

A lot more about the composition and properties of wood can be found at the excellent Pulp & Paper Resource & Information Site.

Despite billions of R&D money spent to date convincing pathways for lignin upgrading have yet to be identified. Scientific work usually labels the pyrolysis of lignin as highly promising for the building blocks of a future biochemical industry, but no true break throughs for commercial application are reported. Thus, enormous quantities of high quality lignin, estimated at more than 50M tons/year are still seen as a waste product and used primarily as a solid fuel for conventional industrial boilers.

A Frost & Sullivan study focusing on the commercial potential of lignin predicts it will become the most important natural aromatic raw material for future biochemicals with a combined market potential of more than USD 130 Billion at current market conditions.

Being the only natural and renewable source of aromatic compounds, lignin is one of the three major components of plant cell walls which together make up 90% of the cells biomass. Possible sources are wood, wheat and rice straw and grasses.

Currently Bionic is embarking on an extensive test program with major industry players to transform the promising lab results into a successful industrial application using the Bionic µfuel range of microwave conversion reactors.

Bionic's organic fertilizer and soil enhancer resembles Terra Preta

Many exciting things happened at the Bionic Group over the course of 2013, but one development is clearly standing out: the development of the Bionic Bio-Elite Carbon Plus production system. I have written here before about the Bio-Elite^TM organic fertilizer licensed by Bionic Lab in Germany. Now Bionic has made the already excellent product even greater by integrating the Bionic char product directly into the Bio-Elite production process.

The Bionic µsoil production process

The result is a soil improvement product of a fundamentally new quality. Not only an organic replacement for standard synthetic fertilizers, not only a supply for all required micro nutrients, but also a long term activator of healthy top soil development maintaining sufficient levels of carbon for a more natural plant growth. Thus, Bionic has created a contemporary descendant of the supposedly mysterious Terra Preta soil discovered by archaeologists in the Amazon region of Brazil.

While the bionicfuel process delivers a bio-char product with outstanding capabilities, this product is completely sterilized during production. Such a microwave sterilization effectively eliminates any danger of infecting one’s soil with pathogenic micro-organisms. However, it also takes time a lot of time afterwards for the bio-char to be settled again by healthy microbes. Bionic’s new process effectively accelerates such a natural soil fertilization by processing the char with the most effective micro organisms available. Subsequently the highly effective Bio-Elite organic fermentation process integrates the top soil forming char properties with the highly effective plant nutrition capabilities of an advanced organic fertilizer production systems.  The result is Bionic µsoil.

The fermentation process is almost complete

It takes just 50 days in one of the Bionic licensed fertilizer plants to process the final product beginning to end. A process that would take nature many years to complete unassisted.

Over the recent months Bionic has developed a business model for a franchise system concentrated on the production of its new fully organic soil enhancer. Franchise partners will typically operate their own plant and take care of the acquisition of the raw materials waste biomass and animal manure. Initial interest is specifically high from large commercial scale animal husbandry operations like poultry and pig farms.

All product not used internally in the franchise partner’s own farming operation will be marketed via a joint whole sale sale platform addressing garden centers, hardware stores and municipal gardening departments. An online platform will also be established as an additional sales channel for direct orders by individual commercial and private customers.

In December 2013 a German State Government has taken a preliminary decision to substantially support Bionic’s initial reference plant under an economic development program. Constructed during 2014 in collaboration with Bionic’s prime manufacturer SMERAL as from Brno in the Czech Republic, the plant will later serve for R&D, training and demonstrations within the franchise system.

The advantages of the Bionic µsoil system are many. It is not only a new organic fertilizer of outstanding quality which is completely carbon neutral. It is also a solution to the serious manure problems of animal mass husbandry, the long underestimated health hazards of common biogas plants deriving from dangerously infested residues and the proper disposal of food waste. All these categories of waste become constantly more and more regulated which has heavily increased cost for the affected businesses. Bionic is now effectively offering a way to reverse this development by eliminating the high cost by converting the issue into a profitable business option for new SME businesses.


Innovative organic fertilizer and soil conditioner

The official bionicfuel video... The Past - The Present - The Future

Healthy soil is Bionic's focal point for 2013

At Bionic we have for years again and again discussed issues around the sustainable use of arable soil in more than one way. After all Bionic Fuel’s microfuel technology produces one of the most effective biochars available (besides the main product: liquid drop-in fuels), while Bionic Palm started more than 5 years ago to actively explore methods of sustainable and organic farming in tropical Africa. Soil fertility, i.e. the soils natural content of macro and micro nutrients required by practically all plants for a healthy development, is a major feature defining the usability of a stretch of available land.

Bio-Elite fertilizer production

Against that background it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that when the chance came up during 2012 at Bionic Lab in Germany we worked hard to develop a new cooperation implementing a patented bio fertilizer production technology for a 100% organic NPK substitute. Feedstock for the process is a combination of biomass and manure, treated with special fungi and bacteria over a period of 45 days. Opposed to common uses of composted biomass and animal manure as fertilizers which are difficult and risky to apply, the Bio-Elite process guarantees a completely normalized macro nutrient content, allowing the application of exact nutrient amounts as required. Typical negative effects of over- or under-fertilization are a thing of the past.

For quite some time now experts and researchers agree on the need to better reuse plant nutrients, as synthetic fertilizers are not only getting more and more expensive, they also contribute significantly to climate change and some of the required natural resources are quickly running out. Nature does recycle plant nutrients at an almost 100% rate, but with modern farming and food processing chains most nutrients end up anywhere but where they came from: the farm. It would be necessary to close the loop from waste management and manure treatment plants back to the farm. The key issue, as already mentioned above, is the fact that modern intensive farming requires a relatively precise calculation and application of the key nutrients.

Here is exactly the point where Bionic Lab’s new approach comes in: with the Bio-Elite process invented and patent by Bionic’s partner Wolfgang Wondrak (unfortunately the linked website is currently in German only). From 2013 Bionic will actively market the unique Bio-Elite process to its waste processing client base as an exciting addition to the microfuel waste-to-fuel conversion technology.

Mechanical turning every few days

It is important to mention, that from the very beginning this new organic fertilizer is highly competitive against its synthetic rivals in terms of production cost. So this new fertilizer product is fully substitutive, organic, 100% climate neutral (if bio energy is used for the production and logistic processes) and even comes at a lower cost. No wonder, that after only a few months of unofficial marketing the interest from potential clients is already overwhelming.

Further information can be found on Bionic World.

Healthy soil is Bionic's focal point for 2013