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Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility

Stage I of NREL's Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility (IBRF) expansion was completed in August 2010. An additional 900 m² (9,700 ft²) of high-bay laboratory space houses new pilot-scale biomass processing equipment and a 900-m² basement provides space for feedstock milling and storage. This addition expands the Biochemical Pilot Plant 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:

• Process Development Trains
  The IBRF houses 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 include feedstock washing and milling, pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, distillation, and solid-liquid separation.

  New IBRF equipment and capabilities 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.
  
  

  Learn more about the Horizontal Biomass Preatreatment Reactor System, the Vertical Pretreatment Reactor System, and the High Solids Enzymatic Hydrolysis Reactors.

  Other IBRF pilot-scale systems include:

  • 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
  • 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.
  
  

• 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 NREL's Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility.

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