Swedish researchers look to extract lignin from wheat straw
Researchers from the University of Borås in Sweden are developing a method to efficiently turn lignin from waste wheat straw into bio-oil-based products. While the use of lignin-based feedstock in ethanol plants is not new, these projects' low profitability has meant they are unsuitable for commercial production. However, the researchers are still developing the hydrothermal liquefaction process for transforming the lignin into high-value bio-oil. Lignin can also be converted into high-performance carbon fibre, bio-oil and vanillin, researcher Swarnima Agnihotri said.
In Sweden, University of Borås researchers are investigating ways to extract and refine lignin from wheat straw for use in industrial applications.

Lignocellulosic ethanol plants currently use lignin to heat and power plants, but high investment costs and low profitability are driving the need to valorize more of fractions.

“If biofuels are to become a reality, we need to realize the industrial potential of lignin and get more value from it,” says UB research Swarnima Agnihotri. “Seeing the complexity and richness of its functional groups, there are various potential applications of lignin by converting it in variety of value added products like high performance carbon fiber, bio-oil and vanillin, to name a few.”

Once the extraction from wheat straw is optimized, the group will work to transform the pure lignin into bio-oil through a hydrothermal liquefaction process.

Agnihotri’s work is part of AGROinLOG, a European Union Horizon 2020 project.