Professor Cristofor I. Simionescu and the concept of biomass biorefining

• Main Author: Valentin I. Popa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Publishing House of the Romanian Academy 2020-11-01
• Series: Memoirs of the Scientific Sections of the Romanian Academy
• Subjects: phytomass; biomass; biorefining; energy; fuels; chemicals
• Online Access: http://mss.academiaromana-is.ro/mem_sc_st_2020/4_V%20I%20Popa.pdf

Settlement of the world crisis of energy and chemical compounds, strongly manifested since 1973, urged the intensification of researches for finding new renewable resources capable of assuring a sustainable development. In this context, phytomass/ biomass was considered a solution, due to its complex composition. It was appreciated that biomass can be converted to produce fuels, power and chemicals based on procedures similar to those used in petrochemistry. Thus, the concept of biorefining was introduced. The same proposal was put forward by professor Cristofor I. Simionescu and his coworkers as “complex phytomass valorization” in a paper published in 1987, which represents the first contribution to biorefining definition. The obtained results, applied and demonstrated at pilot plant level, continued along the years, being published and included in different internal and European programs.