Shell biorefinery: A comprehensive introduction

Biomass refinery is considered to be a key technology in the 21st century due to the importance of the sustainable production of various bioderived fuels and fine chemicals. Besides the synthesis of oxygen-containing chemicals mainly from lignocellulosic biomass, nitrogencontaining chemicals belong to some of the most important commodity and fine chemicals. In this introductory short review, the main similarities and difficulties between petroleum oil- and biorefinery will be discussed and future challenges will be highlighted. As a particular example, recent developments in the shell biorefinery - the utilization of shell waste - will be reviewed. Particular emphasis will be placed on the structure of shell biomass, the current and emerging fractionation methods and the conversion of chitin and chitosan to various heteroatom-containing chemicals. This review is meant to provide an introduction to beginners in the field of biorefinery as well as a comprehensive discussion of recent proceedings in the field of shell biorefinery. An outlook on the future potential and challenges will be given. (C) 2018, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V.