Toray Industries has announced that it has decided to establish a joint
venture company with Mitsui Sugar for seeking business opportunities for
manufacturing system of cellulosic sugar, a raw material used for
producing various biochemical products, from the surplus bagasse generated at sugar mills.
Chemical Products Made from Inedible Biomass:
The technological demonstration is part of the research and
technological development of bioprocess using membranes that combines
Toray's water treatment membrane and bio technologies. Bioprocess using
membranes is a technology that would enable the production of a high
quality, low cost cellulosic sugar from inedible biomass while saving
50% energy in manufacturing by using water treatment membranes in the
saccharificationand refining processes, and contributes to the
realization of materials and chemical products made from inedible biomass.
Energy-Saving Cellulosic Sugar Production System:
Further, Toray and Mitsui Sugar will carry out the Demonstration Project
for an Energy-Saving Cellulosic Sugar Production System using Bagasse
in the Kingdom of Thailand under the International Energy Conservation
Technology and System Demonstration Project of New Energy and Industrial
Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and the project is aimed at
examining the possibilities of commercialization of the cellulosic sugar
production system. Thailand is one of the foremost producers of
sugarcane in the world and is the largest exporter of sugar in Asia. It
has been promoting biomass-based businesses as well as research and
technology development and is suitable for pursuing the demonstration
project.
High Quality Cellulosic Sugar:
The demonstration plant of this project will have a capacity to handle
15 tons of bagasse per day (dry weight) and will manufacture about 4.2
tons of cellulosic sugar after going through the processes of
pretreatment, enzymatic saccharification, and membrane separation. The
pilot plant will employ concentration technology that uses Toray's water
treatment membranes to produce high quality cellulosic sugar while
conserving energy. Cellulosic sugar can be used as a raw material for
producing various biochemical products such as ethanol, lactic acid and
succinic acid, and this would enable the creation of a new supply chain
from surplus bagasse to biochemical products.
Further, in addition to cellulosic sugar, the plant will manufacture
polyphenol and oligosaccharide, which can be made into livestock feed,
using the same raw material and process to raise the economic benefit of
using bagasse and the company will pursue commercialization through the
demonstration project.
Toray places environment as the linchpin of its business strategy so as
to contribute to the realization of a sustainable low-carbon society,
and under this management policy, the company has established itself as a
pioneering comprehensive chemical manufacturer in Japan to promote LCM
environment management based on the LCA concept. As part of its
endeavor, Toray
will actively pursue open innovation between different industries
related to bioconversion technology using membranes and drive forward
the development of supply chain and provisioning of solutions.
Source: Toray
