About
The project
NewWave is a Horizon Europe funded research project which will contribute to building a circular economy by introducing sustainable raw materials in 4 manufacturing lines, replacing toxic chemicals, and lowering the environmental footprint of the products.
The innovative approach of NewWave is to apply Thermo-Chemical Fractionation (TCF) to unlock and fractionate residual biomass. TCF combines fast pyrolysis of the biomass with subsequent liquid-liquid extraction of the obtained fast pyrolysis bio-oil (FPBO), keeping the key chemical functionalities in separate, depolymerized fractions.
Thermo-chemical fractionation
Pyrolysis oil produced from residual biomass or end-of-life products are separated into two main streams; a pyrolytic lignin stream (PL) and pyrolytic sugars stream (PS). Each of the fractions can be a starting point for further processing into the green chemicals and products.
Depending on the application or subsequent downstream processing the fractions can be further upgraded or purified. PS contains up to 20% of the anhydrosugar levoglucosan. The remaining 80 wt% consists of anhydro-oligomeric sugars like cellobiosan, and small amounts of water soluble lignin’s and other organic compounds.
The PL stream is a highly viscous liquid containing depolymerized lignin fragments. The PL can be further processed to produce e.g. a pastillated solid PL and a monomeric PL fraction.
Circularity & By-products
