tu delft
TU Delft is a state university and is the oldest (1842) TU in The Netherlands. TU Delft is characterized by cutting edge research while providing first class education. With circa 23,000 students and 3,000 academic staff TU Delft is the largest TU in The Netherlands. The research yearly results in about 185 PhD theses and more than 5,500 journal publications. The Large Scale Energy Storage section, part of the faculty 3mE and the Process & Energy department has more than 20 years of experience in thermochemical, thermal and chemical conversion of biomass. The focus of research the past years is on the further development of the concept of the biorefinery integrated with energy storage concepts (hydrogen, CO2 utilization); deriving multiple products from biomass through either the syngas route producing biofuels and chemicals via C1-chemistry and also based on sugar platform chemistry, first hydrolysing the biomass with production of sugars that are converted to added value chemicals. In the last approach furfural has been the focal point chemical from the hemicellulose part of biomass, which constitutes a substantial part of many biomass types. Regarding the sugar platform research, experimental studies have concentrated on deriving the kinetics and mechanisms of the conversion of C5 (and C6 blends) to produce furfural (with hydroxymethyl furfural); also industrially derived bio-hydrolysates have been studied concerning their conversion. A process has been developed in concept to continuously produce furfural with substantially higher yields than current processes; this concept has been patented.
