VoltaSplit is an advanced electrified distillation technology that dramatically reduces both energy consumption and CO₂ emissions in industrial processes by leveraging electricity and mechanical vapor recompression. This adaptable technology can be customized to meet specific industry needs, making it a versatile solution for driving sustainability improvements in the chemical, agrochemicals, biofuels, or pharma sectors.

Electrified distillation: market-leading efficiency

VoltaSplit redefines distillation with a CO₂-neutral process that sets a new standard for sustainability. By utilizing mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) powered by electricity, the system significantly reduces reliance on fossil fuels. With energy savings of up to 95% compared to traditional methods, VoltaSplit minimizes operational costs while cutting direct CO₂ emissions by 100% depending on the electricity source.

Accelerated payback time with long-term solution

One of the standout features of VoltaSplit is its quick payback time, in most cases below two years. This is achieved through significantly lower energy consumption and reduced water usage to lower operating costs, which create an economically and environmentally sustainable solution. Companies can also capitalize on government incentives and subsidies for energy-efficient technologies, making VoltaSplit an even more attractive option for industries under pressure to meet sustainability goals imposed by market demands and regulations.

A fully integrated solution from a trusted leader

VoltaSplit offers more than just efficiency it provides a complete solution from a market leader in separation processes. Sulzer’s expertise ensures optimal performance and reliability, from initial feasibility studies as well as CAPEX and OPEX assessments to carefully designed column internals that minimize pressure drops. This integrated approach simplifies implementation and maximizes operational stability, giving companies confidence in their investment.

Versatile applications across industries

Designed to adapt to diverse industrial needs, VoltaSplit excels in processes such as solvent distillation, recovery of light boilers like alcohols and esters, water removal, and product purification. This versatility makes it an ideal choice for companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and renewable energy sectors. Whether purifying methanol or recovering solvents, VoltaSplit™ meets the demand for high-performance and environmentally responsible solutions.

Driving sustainability through electrified distillation

As global industries face rising energy costs and increasing regulatory scrutiny, VoltaSplit delivers a decisive edge. Its design enables businesses to reduce their environmental footprint without compromising on efficiency or profitability. By transitioning to electrified distillation, companies can align with market demands for greener processes while maintaining competitive advantage in their respective sectors.

Lignocellulosic Chemicals

From Biomass to Bio-based Value: Powering the Future of Green Chemistry

Lignocellulosic biomass represents the most abundant renewable carbon source on Earth, offering a sustainable alternative to fossil-fueled chemical production. However, separating complex polymers like lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose requires high-precision thermal and mechanical separation. Sulzer enables this transition by providing advanced purification technologies from evaporation to fractional distillation that extract high-purity platform chemicals such as vanillin, xylitol, and organic acids. Our mission is to help you convert agricultural residues and woody biomass into virgin-grade chemicals, driving the global shift toward a circular bio-economy.

Download Brochure

Contact an Expert

Specialized Recovery Portfolio

HMF (5-Hydroxymethylfurfural)

As a key "platform molecule," 5-HMF is essential for bio-plastics and fine chemicals. Sulzer utilizes specialized extraction and low-temperature evaporation to recover 5-HMF from acidic aqueous phases, preventing thermal degradation and ensuring high chemical stability.

Furfural Recovery

Commonly found in steam condensates from steam explosion plants, Furfural is a high-demand solvent and chemical intermediate. We utilize advanced Steam Stripping combined with Azeotropic Distillation to break water-furfural bonds, delivering technical-grade purity for the global market.

Acetic Acid Concentration

Biomass pretreatment often generates significant Acetic Acid, which contributes to high COD levels. We leverage Liquid-Liquid Extraction (LLE) with proprietary solvents to "wash" the acid out of the water, followed by fractional distillation to reach high-purity specifications.

Transforming Lignocellulosic Waste into High-Value Chemicals

Lignocellulosic (2G) biomass is the cornerstone of the next-generation bioeconomy, but its processing often leaves valuable chemicals trapped in dilute aqueous streams. Sulzer delivers innovative, cost-effective, and energy-efficient solutions to recover and purify these compounds from challenging sources like black liquor or steam condensates. We empower producers to turn a costly waste problem into a profitable revenue stream, driving circularity and commercial success.

Mastering the Separation of Lignocellulosic Derivatives
Expert Recovery from Complex Waste Streams
The key to unlocking the value of 2G chemicals lies in efficiently extracting them from large volumes of water. We leverage our deep expertise in liquid-liquid extraction, combining it with our industry-leading technologies in evaporation, stripping, and fractional distillation. This powerful, integrated approach is specifically designed to capture and concentrate target chemicals from challenging streams, such as the steam condensates generated in steam explosion plants.

Dual-Benefit: Profitability and Environmental Compliance
Our solutions are engineered to deliver two critical outcomes simultaneously.
Create a Revenue Stream: We purify the recovered compounds into technical or higher-grade saleable chemicals, enabling our customers to generate significant profit from a former waste stream.
Ensure Environmental Performance: The process effectively cleans the water, producing an effluent with low COD and BOD. This allows for safe discharge into the wastewater stream, ensuring you meet or exceed environmental regulations.

Your Partner for a Profitable 2G Biorefinery
Sulzer’s tailored process solutions are built on a foundation of process innovation and robust, proprietary equipment. We partner with producers of wood-based and 2G chemicals to design and implement systems that are not only highly effective but also energy-efficient, minimizing operational costs. Let us help you transform an environmental liability into a valuable asset and secure a competitive advantage in the growing market for lignocellulosic chemicals.

Contact our experts

Explore our resources

Article

Pumps for bio-oil plant

3 pages

Select a Resource

Choose from these documents

Article

Pumps for bio-oil plant

Overview

The world’s first commercial-scale CHP-integrated bio-oil plant is equipped with Sulzer pumps. he use of this type of bio-oil has a significantly positive environmental impact because it reduces green-house emissions by more than 70% compared to fossil fuels.

3 pages

Our solutions for Lignocellulosic industry

OptimEXT™

Liquid-liquid extraction solutions

Go

VoltaSplit™

Electrified distillation

Go

EvapCare™

Direct heat-integration for distillation and evaporation plants

Go

Some of our success stories for Lignocellulosic industry

United States

Succeeding in bio‑based platform chemical manufacturing

Challenge:

Entering the fast‑growing market of bio‑based platform chemicals requires producing large volumes of high‑purity intermediates at competitive cost.

Solution:

Sulzer provided advanced separation and purification technologies tailored to bio‑based feedstocks, including flexible low‑temperature systems that prevent product degradation while maximizing energy efficiency.

Technology:

Lignocellulosic

Results:

Enabled reliable production of high‑purity bio‑based platform chemicals, improved process economics, reduced operational costs, and accelerated market entry for biopolymers, organic acids, bio‑alcohols, and furans.

Portugal

Transforming cellulose waste into profitable resources

Challenge:

A cellulose producer needed to reduce the environmental impact of wastewater containing highly diluted acetic acid and furfural, while converting these byproducts into valuable resources for resale or biofuel use.

Solution:

Sulzer delivered a customized liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) solution based on a world-scale Kühni™ extraction column (3 m diameter), supported by seven skid-mounted distillation columns. The process was fully validated through extensive pilot testing using real wastewater at Sulzer’s Allschwil facility, enabling a guaranteed performance.

Technology:

Lignocellulosic

Results:

Successfully recovered high-purity acetic acid and furfural from wastewater, significantly improving environmental performance while creating a new revenue stream.

Contact an expert

Our technical specialists are ready to help you find the optimal distillation solution for your specific application

jesus-rangel-voltasplit-product-line-manager (1) (1).webp

Kai Joedicke

Director Key Accounts and Regional Sales

"With over 20 years of experience in distillation systems, I'm here to help you maximize efficiency and achieve your process goals."

Contact us

Get detailed technical information and project consultation

Talk with our team

Schedule a call

Let’s schedule a quick call to kick off the project and align on the next steps.

Schedule meeting

Lignocellulosic fractionation is the industrial process of separating the three main components of non-food biomass: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. By breaking the complex lignocellulose matrix, biorefineries can extract high-value sugars and aromatic polymers that serve as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based chemicals.
Lignin recovery often faces challenges with fouling and high viscosity. Sulzer utilizes EvapCare™ falling film evaporation technology, specifically designed with advanced liquor distribution and tube surfaces that prevent scaling. This ensures continuous concentration of black or brown liquors even at high dry-solids content, maximizing operational uptime.
Yes. During pretreatment, inhibitors such as furfural, HMF, and acetic acid are often formed, which can hinder downstream fermentation. We provide high-efficiency stripping and Kühni™ liquid-liquid extraction systems to selectively remove these impurities, ensuring a high-purity sugar syrup (C5/C6) suitable for the production of ethanol or bio-based organic acids.
Our separation portfolio is engineered to recover a wide range of platform chemicals, including:

Organic Acids: Lactic, succinic, and acetic acids.

Aldehydes: High-purity Vanillin extracted from lignin.

Sugar Alcohols: Xylitol and sorbitol.

Bio-Fuels: Cellulosic ethanol and SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) precursors.
Scale-up risk is a major hurdle in green chemistry. Sulzer mitigates this through a three-step approach:

Feasibility Studies: Evaluating thermodynamics and chemical equilibria.

Pilot Testing: Conducting trials at our global test centers to validate performance.

Modular Skids: Delivering performance-guaranteed, pre-assembled process units that reduce on-site installation time and risk.
To support Net-Zero goals, we offer VoltaSplit™ technology, which integrates Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR). This allows the electrification of evaporation and distillation trains, replacing traditional fossil-fueled steam with high-efficiency heat pumps, significantly reducing the carbon intensity of the bio-chemical production.