Skip navigation to main content.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)NREL HomeInnovation for Our Energy Future
About NRELScience and TechnologyTechnology TransferApplying TechnologyLearning About Renewables

Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility

A photo looking down a long hallway with silver tanks along each side. The tanks are connected by a network of pipes. A man wearing a hard hat examines a tank at the far end of the plant floor.

Equipment in the Biochemical Process Development Unit.

NREL's Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility (IBRF), scheduled for completion in May 2010, will expand the Alternative Fuels User Facility by adding 900 m2 (9,700 ft2) of high-bay laboratory space to house new pilot-scale biomass processing equipment, as well as a 900-m2 basement for feedstock milling and storage. This new addition increases the Biochemical Pilot Plant—the process development unit housed in the Alternative Fuels User Facility—from a 743-m2 (8,000-ft2) facility to a 2,543-m2 (27,400-ft2) facility and improves NREL's ability to test bioprocessing technologies for the production of ethanol, other fuels, and chemicals from cellulosic biomass.

The Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility contains the following equipment and related capabilities that will be brought online in 2010:

  • Process Development Trains
    When complete, the IBRF will house multiple pilot-scale process trains for converting biomass to ethanol at a rate of 450–900 kg (0.5–1 ton) per day of dry biomass. Unit operations will include feedstock washing and milling, pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, distillation, and solid-liquid separation.

    The IBRF's pilot-scale systems are currently equipped with:

    • Reactor system with continuous 1-ton-biomass-per-day (dry basis) capacity for vertical pressure pretreatment
    • Reactor system with continuous 200-kg-per-day (dry basis) capacity for horizontal-screw pressure pretreatment
    • Batch mixed reactor with 130-L high-solids capacity; reactor is steam-jacketed and steam-injected
    • One 20-L fermenter, two 160-L fermenters, two 1,500-L fermenters, and four 9,000-L fermenters operating in continuous or batch mode
    • Numerous sterilizable support and feed vessels ranging in size from 100 L to 9,000 L
    • 10-m-tall by 0.5-m-diameter sieve tray distillation column
    • Continuous forced recirculation evaporator for concentrating or evaporative operations
    • Small solid-bowl high-speed centrifuge (17,000 G) for cell recovery
    • Sterilizable high-performance decanter (5,000 G) with continuous 100-L-per-hour capacity
    • Continuous decanting centrifuge (3,000 G) with 1,200-L-per-hour capacity
    • Semi-automatic basket centrifuge (900 G) with automatic feed and discharge capability
    • Semi-continuous pressure belt filter
    • Continuous sterilizer
    • Continuous ultrafiltration/reverse-osmosis system.

    New IBRF equipment and capabilities that will be brought online in 2010 include:

    • Continuous 1-ton-per-day horizontal pressure pretreatment reactor with expanded residence-time capability to two hours and ability to handle multiple catalysts
    • High-solids enzymatic hydrolysis reactors
    • Stirred tank for low-solids enzymatic hydrolysis
    • High-efficiency, solid-liquid separator with washing capability
    • Expanded floor space for additional equipment installation.

  • Steam Gun Pretreatment Laboratory
    The IBRF houses a batch 4-L steam gun reactor that uses high pressure and temperature for dilute acid pretreatment.

  • Fermentation Mini-Pilot Unit
    This unit offers aerobic or anaerobic batch, fed-batch, and continuous enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation processing with a flexible system consisting of several vessels ranging from 10 L to 100 L.

  • Compositional Analysis and Process Monitoring Equipment
    The IBRF's compositional analysis process monitoring equipment includes:

    • A range of spectrometers (infrared, visible, and ultraviolet), automated extraction units, and high-performance liquid chromatographs equipped with a variety of columns and detector systems
    • Sophisticated data acquisition and control system that permits effective, real-time process control and monitoring during any mode of operation (batch, fed-batch, or continuous)
    • Dedicated mass spectrometer that permits online monitoring of fermenter exhaust gas compositions.

Learn more about the Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility (PDF 519 KB). Download Adobe Reader.