Aims of the project
The EU project CTS has set itself the goal of making ‘countless’ products from the plant-based raw material lignin. In the future, building foams, adhesives, or even suntan lotions could be based on lignin. To this end, numerous experienced partners from science and industry across Europe have joined forces to drive this development forward.
Background
What is Lignin?
Lignin is one of the main components of plants, especially trees. Most plants make it to help them stand upright, from grasses to shrubs to trees. It is a renewable raw material, made as the plants grow. Lignin is not a single molecule, but a complex polymer. This gives it structure and rigidity.
Why are we using lignin?
Lignin is very interesting for the chemical industry, as it can – at least in theory – replace fossil raw materials such as crude oil, which are currently used. It has many molecules with ring structures, called aromatics. Unfortunately, lignin is a difficult material to process. After all, this complex molecule is what gives wood its resilience and strength. To become useful, it must first be broken up before it can be processed further.
What are we making from lignin?
At VITO, our coordinator, researchers have built a process to cut the complex lignin structure into smaller building blocks. We call these platform molecules because the can be used as building blocks in different reactions to make a range of materials. These are the aromatic molecules chemists need as ingredients for their reactions.
Before the project started, VITO had developed an innovative process that can chop the lignin in a customised way. In COUNTLESS, they are recreating this process at a much bigger scale to make more material. They are also building this process in a way similar to what it would look like in an industrial setting, in a chemical plant.
From the demonstration plant, other partners in the COUNTLESS project will receive the smaller tailor-made building blocks that they can further process to their products.
And what are the products?
Lots – countless maybe even.
The aromatic platform chemicals produced in COUNTLESS can be used for a wide array of day-to-day products and applications, ranging from plastics to textiles. Thanks to the aromatic compounds, these products can have a range of properties: increased UV-absorbance (think sunscreen), antimicrobial, antigenotoxic, or even antimutagenic effects (protection), they can be stiffer, more scratch resistant (important for any coating), more stable, they can be used as flavourings and fragrances.
Our application developers are working on:
- PU thermal insulation foams – to insulate buildings, meaning less heat is wasted in winter and houses stay cooler in summer
- PU coatings – to coat and protect wood, like furniture
- Flame retardants – to prevent fires from spreading, using less toxic chemicals
- Functional additives for personal care products – using the UV protection properties of lignin, e.g. for sunscreen
- Bitumen binders – making roofing materials more sustainable
What impact will the project have?
In the chemical industry today, about 40% of all building blocks used are aromatic molecules. About 120 million tons of these are used every year! Changing their base from fossil fuels to renewable materials will make a huge difference for the overall fossil carbon we use.
Are we making green materials?
That is one of the we are analysing and aiming to prove: that making chemicals from woody biomass instead of fossil fuels is more sustainable, or “greener”. Ultimately, the new applications for lignin must not only be more environmentally friendly, but also economically competitive. With COUNTLESS, we will show that bio-based solutions do not need to hide behind their fossil-based predecessors.
A milestone achieved through teamwork:
Behind every technological breakthrough are the people who make it happen. One of COUNTLESS’ most important achievements to date was the successful operation of VITO’s LignoValue Pilot Plant for over 80 continuous hours, processing almost three tonnes of lignin-rich feedstock into valuable bio-based chemical intermediates.
Reaching this milestone required months of preparation, process optimisation and close collaboration across the project. During the multi-day pilot run, dedicated teams worked around the clock in rotating day and night shifts to monitor equipment, analyse process performance and ensure stable operation throughout the entire campaign. The successful completion of this demanding 24-hour operation demonstrated not only the robustness of the technology but also the commitment and expertise of the people behind it.
For COUNTLESS, this achievement marks an important step towards bringing lignin valorisation closer to industrial reality. By proving that lignin can be processed continuously and reliably at pilot scale, the project is laying the foundation for new bio-based value chains and the production of sustainable chemicals for applications ranging from construction materials to coatings and polymers.