Valorisation of residues from the vegetable oil industry based on a biorefinery approach -VALREO

In order to achieve the global Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nation, it is necessary to increase resource efficiency while reducing the climate impact of waste. This project aims to explore the possibility of transforming existing vegetable oil industries (VOI) into biorefineries by converting process residues into new value-added products and energy, whereas creating the circularity in the life cycle of resources. The motivation for this research lays in the fact that the vegetable oil industry (VOI) in the EU produced approximately 16 million metric tons of oils in 2022 and this amount is expected to increase to 17.5 million metric tons by 2031. During the oil production and refining, various types of process residues are produced, such as oil seeds cakes (OC), spent bleaching earth (SBE), soapstocks, fatty acid distillates, acid oil, and others. Those materials are mostly unutilized. Within this project, strong interdisciplinary team will work on development of new technologies of converting those materials into valuable products leading to many environmental, social, and economic benefits. First, mapping of the VOI in the Europe will be performed, where the data on availability, quantity and current management of residues will be collected. Different scenarios for the transition of VOI into integrated biorefinery will be studied by optimisation approach and process modelling. Then, an experimental research on a) advanced thermo-chemical methods (particularly hydrothermal treatment), b) fungal-based biological methods with two different fungi, and c) synergy of two methods will be done using residual materials from the production of hemp, pumpkin, and flax oil, particularly oil cakes, as a model materials. During the treatment, a variety of the products will be produced and characterized: hydrochar, volatile fatty acids, phenols, bioactive components (obtained during hydrothermal carbonization), and xylanase and lipase (obtained during fungal-based biological methods). Further, to close the loop, the advanced use of obtained products for various applications (adsorption, catalysis, agricultural purposes) will be investigated. Products of biological treatment (enzymes xylanase and lipase) will be tested as a biocatalysts in various biotransformations (oil hydrolysis, saccharification), while carbonaceous materials (hydrochars) obtained in HTC treatment will be chemically modified and tested as adsorbents/catalysts. Products of thermo-chemical treatment and residues of biological treatment will be subjected to germination test with plants and toxicity test to assess their potential agriculture use.   At the end, a life cycle assessment (LCA) of obtained products (enzymes, hyrochars, etc.) will be performed and the environmental impacts of the used technologies (thermo-chemical and biological treatment) will be analysed and quantified.