Biorefinery & Circular Bioeconomy
The bio-based specialisation: characterise a lignocellulosic feedstock, hydrolyse it to fermentable sugars, ferment and recover the product, and cost the plant that does it. Built on the platform's biomass components and the custom-feedstock builder, so the flowsheet can be run on the learner's own biomass rather than only on the worked example.
What you demonstrate: Can model a lignocellulosic biorefinery end to end — feedstock definition from an analysis, pretreatment and saccharification, fermentation and product recovery — and read the capital and energy picture that decides whether it is worth building.
Learning is free; issuing this certificate is a one-time paid step ($29 · Pro $19) — Pro members save, Campus included.
Modules (0/3 passed)
Module 1 · Biomass Feedstocks & Composition
A feedstock is not a chemical: cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and ash, defined by an analysis rather than looked up. Where the mass and the energy in a biomass stream come from, and where the lignin goes.
Assessment: Open the cellulosic ethanol flowsheet and run it. Confirm the plant closes on 10 t/h of stover and that the lignin leaves as a solid residue of at least 4 t/h — the boiler fuel the steam balance depends on. (pass 70%)
Module 2 · Pretreatment & Hydrolysis
Turning solid polymer into dissolved sugar: dilute-acid pretreatment on the hemicellulose, enzymatic saccharification on the cellulose, and why the second one is the expensive one.
Assessment: Run the two hydrolysis steps. Reach at least 88% conversion of the hemicellulose in PRETREAT and 80% of the cellulose in SACCHARIFY, and confirm the hydrolysate carries both sugars — at least 1.2 mol% glucose and 1.0 mol% xylose. (pass 70%)
Module 3 · Fermentation & Product Recovery
Glucose to ethanol and CO2, then getting a 6 wt% beer up to something worth shipping — and running into the azeotrope that decides how a bioethanol plant is laid out.
Assessment: Ferment the hydrolysate and concentrate the beer. Reach at least 90% conversion of the glucose, vent at least 95% of the CO2 before the column, and deliver a distillate of at least 50 mol% ethanol. (pass 70%)
Capstone
Cross-module capstone
Deliver a converged cellulosic ethanol plant on the given price set (stover 0.075, ethanol 0.62, lignin 0.03 $/kg): at least 50 mol% ethanol overhead, at least 4 t/h of lignin residue to the boiler, a compact flowsheet (no more than 12 units), and fixed capital under $3.5M. Then read Economics -> Profitability and account for the NPV: which utility line dominates the cost of manufacture, and what would you change first?
Pass mark 75% · graded on the server.
Sign in to start
Sign in, then subscribe to Pro to take the assessments — or unlock this certificate directly. Issuing the credential is a one-time step.