Technology
FirstSugar™ - extraction of sugars without enzymes
BioGasol’s Carbofrac® system enables unparalleled extraction of hemicellulosic sugars from a number of different types of biomass without the use of enzymes. This offers a unique opportunity to integrate the Carbofrac® system with well-established biomass value chains to enable the production of hemicellulosic sugars as a valuable co-product to the main biomass output (e.g. wood pellets production).
Hemicellulosic sugars can be sold on long-term contracts to companies using sugar as a key raw material in their production and at a higher price per tonne than wood pellets. Furthermore, the pretreatment will most often improve the properties of the main product, e.g., higher energy content, particle size distribution, hydrophobic, etc. The integration of the Carbofrac® system in an existing biomass plant is achieved by replacing and/or complementing current conventional process equipment.
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The Carbofrac® system enables a number of different production value chains using a variety of biomasses as input. Two main approaches are currently being pursued: as a bolt-on concept to existing plants, where a side stream is utilised for FirstSugar™ production or as a complete process step for a pellet plant, where all the woody biomass is converted into improved pellets and the sugar is extracted.