• FrançaisFrançais
Biomass Technology Laboratory Biomass Technology Laboratory
  • Home
    • Government
    • Student
    • Industrial
  • Who We Are
    • Our team
    • Our expertise
    • Laboratory
      • Analysis
      • Our equipment
    • Organizational chart
    • BTL International
  • Publications
  • News
  • Video
  • Contact us
  • FrançaisFrançais
Biomass Technology Laboratory

Challenge us! Find us a problem we can't solve!

The BTL offers a unique window in terms of research and development in the field of valorizing different sources of residual carbon, and now, also food industry related challenges. Discover our research fields, our services and our recruiting opportunities.

Government
Students
Industrial

Developments

The BTL focuses on the production of renewable fuels to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thereby reduce dependence on imported oil Quebec.

Research

The BTL mainly based his research on the upgrading of biomass to fuels and also aims to make processes developed at an industrial level.

Analysis

The BTL performs various analyzes to determine the content of different compounds and develop analytical methods for the characterization of biomass, the identification of unknown molecules, much more.

Research chair

Industrial Research Chair in Maple Syrup Technologies

Discover

New

BTL International

Discover
planet

Our research fields

The BTL offers a unique window in terms of research and development in the field of valorizing different sources of residual carbon, and now, also food industry related challenges. Discover our research fields, our services and our recruiting opportunities.

Use of sugars extracted from biomass

For more than 10 years, the BTL works in valorizing lignocellulosic residues using a thermochemical approach aiming at the conversion of structural molecules (such as cellulose and hemicelluloses) into simple sugars so that they can be used for the production of different biofuels targeted at transportation sector.

Use of lignocellulosic residues

For more than 10 years, the BLT team has worked on different complementary ways to valorize lignocellulosic biomass to produce different added value biosourced chemical compounds. Year after year, the team has deepen its expertise, especially in the synthesis pathways including furanes and their derivatives.

Conversion of different residual carbone sources into alkanes

Thanks to a close collaboration with its partners, the BTL has settled different process aiming at the production and the characterization of alkanes generated from lignocellulosic biomass but also from other residual material such as plastics and tires.

Lignin and solid biofuels

In order to address the Clean Fuel Standard and to answer its partners expectations, the BTL has developed an expertise in the production and characterization of pellets destined to be used as solid biofuels. In addition to contributing to the development of third generation pellets, the BTL works on the development of different approach to valorize lignin, an important challenge for biorefineries.

Chemical storage of renewable electricity as fuels and green chemical products

For more than 5 years, the BTL and its team are working on the chemical valorizing of renewable electricity. Using this approach, electricity is converted into fuels or chemical commodities using CO2 as carbon source.  This approach allow to solve two problems (GHG and renewable electricity excess) by offering a solution that could contribute to the production of fuels targeting road, heavy and air transport.

Anaerobic digestion of renewable carbon

In close collaboration with its partners, the BTL is now developing a unique approach allowing to integrate carbon sourced from lignocellulosic biomass into a classical anaerobic digestion. Regarding the worldwide expansion of biomethane market, as well as in Quebec, this technology will soon be able to represent a new approach in valorizing lignocellulosic biomass.

Technologies and food engineering

Since 2019, the BTL has been involved into different technologies destined to the food sector, but more precisely, in the maple syrup industry. This action implies some works in the fields of fermentation and distillation of alcoholic beverages, in order to address the activity resurgence in this sector in North America.

Analytical technologies dedicated to process engineering

The BTL possesses an important amount of analytical equipment dedicated to biomass analysis, and characterization of solid, liquid or gaseous biofuels made from it. Still, there is an increasing need from BTL’s parterns to adapt diverse technologies in order to make them available inline, in close relation with processes, specially those developed by the BTL.

Our expertise

Analytical chemistry
Process Engineering
Equipments
Scale-Up

Visit our installations

Labo_small

Our partners

Stay informed

Recent news

Mehdi Bahrami
2 January 2023

Mehdi Bahrami

Mehdi BahramiPhD student Mehdi is from Shahsavar, Iran. In 2012,...
Véronique Ducharme
27 October 2022

Véronique Ducharme

Véronique DucharmeIntern Véronique is a fourth-year Chemical Engineering undergraduate from...
Ghazal Azadi
26 October 2022

Ghazal Azadi

Ghazal AzadiPhD student Ghazal is from Iran. She graduated from...
Gabriel Cirilo Do Nascimento
26 October 2022

Gabriel Cirilo Do Nascimento

Gabriel Cirilo Do NascimentoIntern Gabriel is originally from Mossoró, Brazil,...
View all news

Discover our publications

See all our research papers
Selective Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide into Methanol

Selective Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide into Methanol

Doan Pham Minh, Anne-Cécile Roger, Ksenia Parkhomenko, Valentin L’Hospital, Bruna Rego de Vasconcelos, Kyoung Ro, Devinder Mahajan, Lyufei Chen, Sharanjit...
in
2019, Springer
Renewable antioxidant additive for biodiesel obtained from black liquor

Renewable antioxidant additive for biodiesel obtained from black liquor

Lavoie, J. M., Ghislain, T., Bahl, E., Arauzo, J., Gonzalo, A., Gil-Lalaguna, N. & Sanchez, J. L. (2019). Renewable antioxidant...
in
2019, Science direct
Single-stage extraction of whole sorghum extractives and hemicelluloses followed by their conversion to ethanol

Single-stage extraction of whole sorghum extractives and hemicelluloses followed by their conversion to ethanol

Damay, J., Boboescu, I. Z., Beigbeder, J. B., Duret, X., Beauchemin, S., Lalonde, O. & Lavoie, J. M. (2019). Single-stage extraction of...
in
2019, Science direct
Phytoremediation of bark-hydrolysate fermentation effluents and bioaccumulation of added-value molecules by designed microalgal consortia

Phytoremediation of bark-hydrolysate fermentation effluents and bioaccumulation of added-value molecules by designed microalgal consortia

Beigbeder, J. B., Boboescu, I. Z., Damay, J., Duret, X., Bhatti, S. & Lavoie, J. M. (2019). Phytoremediation of bark-hydrolysate...
in
2019, Science direct
logo-white
Government
Student
Industrial
Analysis
Equipments
Our team
Publications
News
Contact us

Centre de mise à l’échelle – CME
3000 boul. de l’université (P3 pavillon)
Sherbrooke, Québec J1K 0A5

ltb@usherbrooke.ca
819.821.8000 p.65505