Date: September 17, 2014
CLARIANT DOUBLES CAPACITY FOR PIGMENTS AND PIGMENT PREPARATIONS IN ROHA, INDIA
- Expansion represents an investment in production facilities
- Increased production of pigments and pigment preparations will serve local and export markets
Muttenz, September 17, 2014 – Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, today announced the inauguration of an important new extension to its production facility in Roha, south-east of Mumbai, India. The expansion doubles its capacity at the facility for pigments and pigment preparations. This higher output will enable the company to increase its market coverage in India and the neighboring countries of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and to provide products better tailored to customer needs.
The increase in capacity has been made possible with the introduction of the very latest equipment for high-end pigment preparation. The improved plant, in which Clariant has invested CHF 3.2 million (INR 20 crores), forms part of a strategic program that the company has been carrying out in recent years to support customers in emerging markets with high quality pigments and pigment preparations that comply with local and international eco-labeling schemes.
Pigments and pigment preparations produced at the Roha plant are for a wide range of applications, including interior and exterior coatings, packaging, personal, home and fabric care products seed coatings, and dispersions for printing.
“Clariant is investing across Asia to develop production, technical support and commercial service capabilities that will enable our customers in this rapidly growing region to be successful in growing their business,” saysHariolf Kottmann, CEO of Clariant. “The enhanced capability in Roha complements improvements we have made and continue to make in our various operations in China, Indonesia, and elsewhere.”
“The capacity expansion in pigments and pigment preparations will support our dynamic growth in the domestic Indian market for high quality, environmentally safer colorants and point of sales tinters used by our customers in coatings, printing and other special applications where we continue to experience double digit growth”, comments Marco Cenisio, Senior Vice President & General Manager Business Unit Pigments, Clariant.
Last year, Clariant’s Pigments Business Unit doubled its marketing and sales organization in Asia. It has strengthened its team of Regional Product Managers for both pigments and pigment preparations to support the growing number of customer requests. The Pigments Business Unit continues to bring new and innovative materials to the market, with a strong emphasis on environmental aspects and sustainability.
Source: Clariant Website
DATE : 2014-09-17
Dans son fief finistérien, l'homme d'affaires concentre ses batteries électriques.
L'impressionnant nouvel ensemble industriel, développé sur 31.000 m2, borde la route qui conduit au centre du bourg, mais impossible d'y pénétrer sans sésame. Le site est hautement protégé, car stratégique. Installée à Ergué-Gabéric, dans le Finistère, là où a démarré l'aventure du groupe Bolloré dans le papier à cigarettes, sa filiale Blue Solutions conçoit et fabrique principalement des batteries au lithium métal polymère qui équipent les véhicules électriques Bluecar. La technologie reste confidentielle et est protégée par plus de 1.000 brevets issus des laboratoires de Blue Solutions à Ergué-Gabéric et de la seconde usine située au Canada.
Spécialiste des composants électriques pour condensateurs, ainsi que dans la production de papiers ultrafins, Bolloré a utilisé ses compétences dans ces différents domaines pour concevoir ses batteries électriques sèches. A Ergué-Gabéric, les différentes phases de production sont automatisées au maximum pour développer des batteries de haute densité énergétique et pouvant dégager une forte puissance. Un travail de près de deux décennies pour un investissement (bâtiments industriels compris) de plus de 1 milliard d'euros. « Aucun incident n'a été déclaré, alors que les Bluecar viennent de parcourir 24 millions de kilomètres », explique-t-on au sein du groupe Bolloré.
Si le véhicule Bluecar concentre une partie importante des productions de l'usine d'Ergué-Gabéric, celle-ci s'intéresse désormais aux tramways qui pourront se recharger à chacun des arrêts distants d'un kilomètre en seulement quelques minutes. « Le prix de revient de ces tramways est dix fois moins élevé que les équipements traditionnels », a l'habitude d'expliquer Vincent Bolloré, qui pourrait installer une première ligne Bluetram entre l'aéroport de Bordeaux et le centre-ville. L'entreprise déploie également un projet d'énergie renouvelable pour les logements isolés. Sa solution Bluehouse permet le stockage dans des batteries situées à l'extérieur du bâtiment de l'énergie solaire, produite grâce à 120 m2 de panneaux photovoltaïques installés sur la toiture. Un exemplaire de cette Bluehouse est présenté à Ergué-Gabéric. L'entrepreneur souhaite vendre ces petits pavillons en Afrique pour abriter des écoles et des dispensaires médicaux situés dans des zones très isolées et privées d'électricité. Des prospections commerciales sont en cours. Autre déclinaison, le Blueboat, pour les bateaux électriques.
Une extension sur 8.000 m2
L'aventure est loin d'avoir atteint sa vitesse de croisière. L'usine finistérienne peut fabriquer 2.500 batteries par an. Un projet d'extension est en cours, a récemment confirmé Vincent Bolloré, qui table sur une nouvelle tranche de 8.000 m2 de locaux industriels dans les prochains douze à dix-huit mois. L'entreprise emploie à ce jour 300 salariés, répartis entre les deux usines d'Ergué-Gabéric et du Canada. L'an dernier, le chiffre d'affaires a atteint 47 millions d'euros… avec une perte de 35 millions.
La région quimpéroise se frotte les mains. Vincent Bolloré est resté fidèle à ses origines bretonnes, puisque son grand-père et son oncle ont démarré leur aventure industrielle à Ergué-Gabéric - où la famille possède une propriété désormais destinée aux réceptions du groupe. Près de 200 emplois ont été créés sur place. Le site finistérien devrait encore embaucher une centaine de salariés supplémentaires au cours des prochaines années. Une véritable aubaine pour un secteur jusqu'à présent très dépendant d'industries traditionnelles comme l'agroalimentaire.
SOURCE Les Echos
DATE : 2014-09-02
Taiwan’s Formosa Chemical and Fibre Corp (FCFC) shut its 600,000 tonne/year No 3 styrene monomer (SM) unit on 1 September for maintenance, a company source said.
The unit, located in Mailiao, is scheduled to restart in October, with normal operations expected in mid-October.
The company operates another 250,000 tonne/year No 1 and 350,000 tonne/year No 2 SM plants at the same location. These units are operating normally.
The other SM producers in Taiwan are Taiwan Styrene Monomer Corp and Grand Pacific Petrochemical Corp.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-09-01
China’s Sinopec Great Wall Energy and Chemical Co is running its new 450,000 tonne/year vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant in Yinchuan at 20% capacity, after conducting trial runs at the unit on 26 August, a company official said on Monday.
“We started the rectification device on 27th and the on-spec product was available last weekend,” the official added.
The company’s downstream 100,000 tonne/year polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) unit at the same site will undergo test runs in mid-September and some of the VAM output from the new VAM plant would be used as material,according to the official.
The official estimated that on-spec products could be available to China’s domestic market by the end of September.
Sinopec Great Wall Energy and Chemical Co is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Petrochemical Co.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-09-16
Russia's Lukoil has postponed the shutdown for scheduled maintenance at its 150,000 mt/year acrylonitrile plant in Saratov, southern Russia, till October a source close to the company said Tuesday.
Originally, the plant was slated to commence its shutdown this week, lasting until to November 3 but it was delayed to coincide with the postponed shutdown at the company's Norsi facility in Nizhny Novgorod.
The source said that the ACN unit will commence its turnaround at the beginning of October and was expected to restart at the beginning of November.
Last week, Lukoil said it would postpone maintenance at its Russian refineries to November from September.
The company previously planned partial maintenance at its Norsi and Perm refineries this month.
The decision to postpone the refinery maintenance was aimed at securing sufficient gasoline supply on the domestic market, Lukoil's CEO Vagit Alekperov was quoted as saying by the country's Prime news agency last week.
According to traders, Norsi was set to carry out works on its FCC for most of September and October and although the works have been postponed the actual dates of the maintenance have not been confirmed.
Norsi has one FCC with a capacity of 41,000 b/d. Lukoil is planning to launch a second catalytic cracking unit at the facility in June 2015, with a capacity of around 2.6 million mt/year.
SOURCE Platts
DATE : 2014-09-04
Dow Chemical apparently has lifted its force majeure on US vinyl acetate monomer (VAM), customers said on Thursday.
The company did not respond immediately to a phone call. Customers said Dow lifted the declaration on 1 September, as some had predicted in late August, and is now operating at 100% sales control levels.
All of the major US VAM producers have been hit by a supply squeeze this year because of outages, mechanical failures and scheduled maintenance turnarounds. And conditions in the US have compounded a tightening in Europe stemming from two plant closures there late last year.
US VAM spot prices have soared from the tightening this year and essentially doubled for some customers. Shortly after Dow declared its force majeure, VAM spot prices rose to $1,700-1,900/tonne during the first week in July and have remained at that level.
Dow shut down its 365,000 tonnes/year VAM unit in Texas City in late June and declared force majeure after discovering a leak in a reactor, according to a state filing.
In a statement on 2 July, Dow explained that the "unexpected mechanical failure" had caused the plant to be shut down and had impacted the producer's ability to meet supply obligations.
Dow's move leaves two US VAM producers still under force majeure - Kuraray and LyondellBasell. Japan-based Kuraray took over DuPont's VAM plant in La Porte, Texas in early June.
US VAM producers include Celanese, Dow, Kuraray and LyondellBasell.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-09-01
Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co plans to restart its styrene monomer (SM) units in Tokuyama in October, after shutting them late last week for maintenance, a company source said.
The units, with capacities of 120,000 tonnes/year and 220,000 tonnes/year respectively, are scheduled to restart around the middle of October, the source said.
“The units should be running well by 20 October,” the source added.
The company operates a separate 210,000 tonne/year SM unit in Chiba.
Other producers of SM in Japan include Asahi Kasei Chemical, Taiyo Petrochemical and Denka.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-08-29
Styrolution is in plans to shut a styrene plant for maintenance turnaround. A Polymerupdate source in the US informed that the plant is likely to be shut towards the end of September 2014. It is expected to remain shut for around 30-35 days.
Located in Bayport, Texas, US, the plant has a production capacity of around 1.7 billion mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
DATE : 2014-09-01
Bayer Crop Science plans to release a new broadleaf corn herbicide, DiFlexx, which it said will offer growers flexibility for a broad range of application while also fitting a variety of soil and weather conditions.
The product is expected be on the US market in 2015, following regulatory approval. The US is by far the world's largest corn producer, growing more than one third of global output.
DiFlexx is a blend of dicamba andBayers Safener Crop Safety Innovation technology that the company said enables corn plants to better withstand herbicidal activity. With a liquid formulation, it will have a wide window of application from burndown to V10, targeting tough weeds such as Palmer amaranth, lambsquarters and waterhemp, but also more than 100 annual and perennial weeds, including those resistant to glyphosate-, PPO- and ALS-based herbicides.
Jeff Springsteen, Bayer CropScience US product manager, said DiFlexx can improve overall plant health and ultimately increase yields as it improves soil and foliar uptake of plants. The herbicide can be applied to all soil types, making it applicable for silage, white corn, seed corn and popcorn crops.
Additionally, Springsteen said, DiFlexx can be safely combined with MSO (Methylated Seed Oil) or COC (Crop Oil Concentrate) for improved weed control as compared to non-safened dicamba.
SOURCE ChemManager
DATE : 2014-09-09
Renault SA has confirmed it is teaming up with French billionaire industrialist and businessman Vincent Bolloré, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of investment group Bolloré, to make electric cars as the two struggle to establish a market for the emission-free vehicles. As Automotive Purchasing editor Drew Hillier reports, Renault will assemble Bolloré Group’s Bluecars at its factory in Dieppe, France, starting in the second half of 2015, Renault said in a statement which held back from providing volume targets.
The two companies say they will also set up a joint venture, 70 percent owned by Bolloré and 30 percent by Renault, to provide car-sharing services in France and elsewhere in Europe. They will also carry out a feasibility study for Renault to make a new three-seater electric vehicle equipped with Bolloré’s batteries.
Bolloré Group, based in the Paris suburb of Puteaux – headed by Vincent Bolloré (pictured), ranked the ninth-richest person in France with an estimated personal fortune of $5.9 billion dollars – has assets in the transport, agriculture, energy and communications industries, including stakes in French advertiser Havas SA and Paris-based phone and entertainment company Vivendi SA.
The agreement comes after Paris-headquartered Renault and Japanese partner Nissan Motor Co confirmed they will miss a target of jointly selling 1.5 million electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe, by 2016. There is also intense competition among makers of electric batteries such as Bolloré to attract car manufacturers. Renault currently uses rival batteries in its electric vehicles.
Expansion
Bolloré’s Bluecars can travel about 150 miles (241 kilometers) per charge and are used in the Autolib car-share program in Paris. They were designed by Italy’s Pininfarina studio in Turin and are produced nearby by Cecomp. Bolloré is starting a similar sharing service in Indianapolis in the United States.
Batteries made by Bolloré’s Blue Solutions in France’s Brittany province are cheaper than lithium-ion cells used in other electric cars, holding down the cost of his small vehicles, Bolloré said in an interview in May. Bolloré said he wants to expand to other US regions such as California and offer his car-share service and electric vehicles to China and other markets.
Renault and partner Nissan Motor have a medium-term budget of 4 billion euros to develop electric-car models. Renault delivered 19,093 electric autos last year out of a total of 2.63 million cars and light commercial vehicles.
SOURCE Automotive Purchasing
DATE : 2014-09-01
The chemical process industries (CPI) have experienced many benefits from the so-called shale-gas boom — recent years have seen an unprecedented rise in construction and expansion activity in the petrochemicals sector. Shown in Figure 1 is construction at the Freeport, Tex. facility of The Dow Chemical Company (Dow; Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com). Dow is just one of many companies to initiate large petrochemical projects on the U.S. Gulf Coast in the wake of increased shale-gas availability.
“We are in the midst of unprecedented growth due to the abundance of natural gas liquids,” explains Bob Maughon, Dow’s global R&D director for performance plastics and feedstocks. “The use of natural-gas liquids took hold in 2009. In 2011 and 2012, the abundance of ethane compelled the industry to flex strongly toward natural-gas feedstocks and away from petroleum-derived naphtha.”
The Dow Chemical Company
Since this shift, though, the changing feedstock landscape in petroleum refineries has led to shortages for many co-products, including 1,3-butadiene (butadiene; Figure 2), an important building block for synthetic rubber and nylon. Says Maughon: “As naphtha cracking has waned and ethane cracking increases, cracker co-product production drops. The slate of products that have been affected include propylene, butadiene, isoprene, benzene and others. It isn’t that the industry doesn’t want to produce these chemicals. The economics of ethane-only cracking have become so compelling that naphtha cracking has been squeezed. Production is driven to the lighter feedstocks and co-product production is lost.”
Figure 3 shows the variation in production from naphtha-cracking operations versus the cracking of lighter feedstocks. The shale-gas-imposed scarcity for chemicals like butadiene presents opportunities for new technologies to arise. This article covers some actions that companies are taking in response to butadiene shortages, including the development of on-purpose production methods and the use of bio-based feedstocks.
Oxidative dehydrogenation
TPC Group Inc. (Houston; www.tpcgrp.com), has been commercially operating its OXO-D butadiene process technology for over 40 years. TPC’s OXO-D technology converts butylenes into butadiene through oxidative dehydrogenation. In June 2014, TPC announced a partnership with Honeywell’s UOP LLC (Des Plains, Ill.; www.uop.com) to further develop and globally license this technology in the wake of increased demand for on-purpose butadiene. There will be research and development teams and pilot plants at both companies’ facilities to jointly develop process advancements. Also, through this agreement, UOP acquires the worldwide exclusive licensing rights of the TPC OXO-D process.
Jim Rekoske, petrochemicals global business director for UOP, describes what attracted UOP to this partnership, saying “A key distinguishing feature of the OXO-D process is the more than 40 years of operating experience. This operating experience allows TPC and UOP to understand and position on-purpose butadiene technology for our licensing customers.” Rekoske goes on to emphasize that timing is key for this collaboration, stating that “This is not a technology that needs a long development period or a long market incubation period — the opportunities are now.”
The Dow Chemical Company
Both companies stress the importance of on-purpose butadiene production going forward — demand for butadiene-based products, such as tires, is rising, as traditional feedstocks are becoming less readily available. “Lighter feedstock slate means, on average, fewer kilograms of butadiene produced per metric ton of ethylene produced. On-purpose butadiene technologies will be needed to fill this gap,” explains Rekoske.
With the ongoing flurry of activities in the shale-gas sector, TPC Group sees global potential for the licensing of the OXO-D process. Miguel Desdin, senior vice president and chief financial officer of TPC Group states that “The global market will need on-purpose butadiene to meet future demand, and in order to satisfy that demand, multiple on-purpose butadiene plants in various regions of the world will be required.” Desdin goes on to say, “Since the announcement, there has been a significant amount of interest in the technology. UOP is currently in the process of creating a licensing package for the OXO-D technology, which will be available to prospective licensees in the fourth quarter of 2014.”
In the earlier stages of development is another technology partnership focused on butadiene, also announced in June 2014, by The Linde Group (Pullach, Germany; www.linde.com) and BASF SE(Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com). The two companies are collaborating on the development and licensing of an on-purpose route from butane to butadiene via butenes. For butene synthesis from butane,BASF is contributing a high-yield monolithic catalyst. In the presence of a metal-oxide catalyst, those butenes are then subsequently converted via an oxydehydrogenation step into butadiene. Although the process is still quite new, progress to commercialization is moving ahead, with developments occurring at both kilogram-scale and pilot-plant-scale operations in Ludwigshafen (Chem. Eng., July 2014, p. 14).
Last year, Wison Engineering Ltd. (Shanghai; www.wison.com) introduced its own on-purpose butadiene technique, also based on oxidative dehydrogenation principles (Chem. Eng., June 2013, p. 15). With a proprietary high-yield catalyst in its arsenal and a process-design package completed, Wison expects to announce a license agreement for commercial deployment of the technology in the coming months.
Another on-purpose technology developed in response to the prevalence of lighter cracking feedstocks and the associated reduction in butadiene supply is the butene-to-crude-butadiene process (abbreviated BTcB), which was introduced by Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC; Tokyo, Japan; www.m-kagaku.co.jp) at the 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Spring Meeting. The BTcB process (Figure 4) involves the oxidative dehydrogenation of a C4 mixture to produce 1,3-butadiene in the presence of air, steam and a very selective catalyst. Yields are estimated to be 10–25% higher than past butadiene-production technologies, per MCC’s evaluations. Also, the catalyst achieves a very long operational life without the need for regeneration, says the company. The reaction runs at ambient pressure, and operating temperatures are typically between 300 and 400°C. MCC also estimates that this process involves up to 80% less wastewater than past butadiene technologies, decreasing the environmental impact of operations.
The process is flexible enough that all industrial C4 mixtures, including n-butenes and C4 streams from naphtha cracking and fluid-catalytic-cracking (FCC) operations can be processed to produce butadiene. The feedstock versatility of this process makes it feasible to retrofit into an existing facility or construct new-build plants. Testing at a demonstration plant with a capacity of 200 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) and development of a process design package were both completed in 2013, and technology licensing activity commenced in 2014. Currently, feasibility studies for commercial plants are being executed with potential customers.
Mitsubishi Chemical
Bio-based butadiene
While many groups are investigating on-purpose butadiene solutions that utilize existing chemical streams (like butene or butane) as feedstock, others are investing in bio-based routes to alleviate concerns associated with butadiene availability. Last fall, a bio-based butanediol process technology from Genomatica (San Diego, Calif.; www.genomatica.com) was awarded the Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award (Chem. Eng., November 2013, pp. 15–19). In the months since winning the Kirkpatrick Award, Genomatica has announced multiple milestones in developing its next bio-based process technology focused on the production of bio-based butadiene. They have announced two high-profile partnerships with Braskem S.A. (São Paulo, Brazil; www.braskem.com.br) and Eni S.p.A.’s (Rome;www.eni.com) chemical subsidiary Versalis.
The combination of these strategic collaborations gives Genomatica global reach for the licensing of its bio-butadiene technology. Under a December 2013 agreement, Genomatica and Braskem will together develop and commercialize a process to make butadiene from renewable raw materials. With this agreement, Braskem gains exclusive licensing rights to use the technology in the Americas. The Versalis partnership is targeted on licensing activities for bio-butadiene production in Europe, Asia and Africa, and will specifically focus on using non-food lignocellulosic biomass as a raw material.
Genomatica sees global viability for bio-butadiene, citing shifting refinery feeds and an increased awareness of product sustainability. The company says that the butadiene development program is off to a fast start, with $100 million in industry investment and strategic partners with commercialization intent.
Genomatica’s butadiene platform employs proprietary microorganisms that convert biological feedstocks into butadiene directly or via an intermediate. All of the steps in these metabolic pathways have demonstrated functional expression. A patent was granted in November 2013 covering a method for the direct production of butadiene. According to the company, the process involves all aspects of separation and purification to deliver a chemical product that will work in existing applications without requiring changes by downstream users. This versatility, along with the use of renewable feedstocks, are the main aspects that have drawn commercial interest in the process.
Another company seeking a renewable pathway to butadiene is Cobalt Technologies (Mountain View, Calif; www.cobalttech.com), which has developed a fermentation platform that takes sugars sourced from cellulosic biomass and converts them into n-butanol, which can subsequently be reacted to form many other chemicals, including butadiene. The ability to leverage the flexibility of n-butanol as a chemical starting point is a huge benefit, says Andy Meyer, president of Cobalt Technologies. “N-butanol is an incredible building block into other renewable chemicals and fuels. Given our cost position in the production of n-butanol, and given the impact of shale gas on C4 molecules, it became a natural fit to pursue butadiene as a product platform.”
According to the company, Cobalt is finalizing a joint-development agreement with strategic partners in Asia, which will complete the work required to scale the remaining elements of the technology. “Upon successful completion, we plan to move forward with commercialization with our Asia partners and further monetize the technology globally through other licensing and partnership arrangements,” says Meyer. Cobalt is also in the preliminary stages of pursuing various opportunities in the U.S.
Cobalt and Genomatica are just two of the many companies at the forefront of bio-based butadiene technology. Several other notable developments have been announced in the past year, including the BioButterfly project, a research partnership between Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net), IFP Energies Nouvellas (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.ifpenergiesnouvelles.com) and Michelin (Clermont-Ferrand, France; www.michelin.com) to create and market a process for producing bio-sourced butadiene. Scoped for eight years, the project is focused on the need for alternative raw-material sources for the synthetic rubbers industry, and, with €52 million in backing, the partners hope that it will be a major step toward a more environmentally friendly rubber industry.
Additionally, Global Bioenergies (Evry, France; www.global-bioenergies.com) was granted a patent in April 2014 for production of bio-butadiene via enzymatic dehydration. Further development of this process is the scope of a partnership with Synthos Group S.A. (Oswiecim, Poland; www.synthosgroup.com). Also investigating enzymatic technology for butadiene production is Arzeda Corp. (Seattle, Wash.;www.arzeda.com), which has designed specific enzymatic pathways to convert biomass into butadiene. For the process development of this technology, Arzeda has collaborated with Invista (Wichita, Kan.;www.invista.com), citing butadiene price volatility as one of the main drivers behind this partnership.
LanzaTech
Utilizing waste gas
A novel technology developed by LanzaTech (Skokie, Ill.; www.lanzatech.com) aims to create a platform for butadiene synthesis from waste-gas feedstocks. The feed gases for LanzaTech’s process can come from a variety of sources, both industrial and biological, including offgases from steel mills and CPI plants, and syngas generated from municipal solid waste or agricultural waste.
Together with SK Innovation, (SKI; Seoul, South Korea; www.sk.com) in a partnership announced in late 2013, LanzaTech plans to commercialize a two-step platform to create butadiene from waste gases that contain carbon monoxide (CO). First, through a patented fermentation process, an acetogenic microbe converts the CO from the feed gas into 2,3-butanediol and ethanol. Via downstream catalytic technology provided by SKI, the 2,3-butanediol fermentation intermediate undergoes double dehydration to form 1,3-butadiene.
The biochemical pathway used in LanzaTech’s process (called the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway) for fermentation to 2,3-butanediol is shown in Figure 5. A hallmark of this process technology is its ability to run continuously rather than in batches. “Syngas can be constantly processed and butanediol can continuously pass to the catalysis step,” says Alice Havill, senior process engineer and separations lead atLanzaTech. With advanced lab-scale testing underway at both companies, a pilot demonstration of this technology is planned for the first quarter of 2015 at SKI’s research facility in Daejeon, Korea, with an eventual goal of making the platform available for licensing.
Another benefit of this process is its versatility. As seen in Figure 5, either CO or CO2 can be used as a raw material to synthesize butadiene. LanzaTech has partnered with Invista on further development of processes utilizing a CO2/H2 feedstock, targeting the nylon 6 and 6,6 product chain as a potential application for the butadiene product. Commercialization for this project is expected in 2018.
Commercial interest has been piqued, especially in the areas of polymers, synthetic rubbers and industrial solvents, with companies requesting samples of fermentation-based butadiene as a “drop-in” replacement for butadiene produced via traditional methods. LanzaTech touts the technology’s unique feedstock as a driver for commercial success, citing price fluctuations as a crucial factor in the development of new butadiene-production techniques, not only in the case of crude oil, but also in the sugar-based feedstocks that are used for many bio-based routes, which can experience similar price volatility. According to Havill, “LanzaTech has developed an innovative platform that recycles carbon-rich waste gases and residues and converts these local, highly abundant waste and low-cost resources into sustainable, valuable commodities.” She continues, saying “The need for new butadiene sources will only be exacerbated by the rising global demand for butadiene-based products. This will especially be evident in the growing consumption of rubber in emerging markets — the commercial reach is global.”
Eliminating butadiene
The use of alternative raw materials can also allow companies to decrease their reliance on butadiene. At the 2013 PCI American Nylon Symposium, Rennovia, Inc. (Menlo Park, Calif.; www.rennovia.com) announced the demonstration of a continuous bio-based pathway to hexamethylenediamine (HMD) that utilizes widely available, renewable feedstocks. Traditionally, HMD, an important component in the production of nylons and polyurethanes, is produced from a butadiene hydrocyanation reaction forming adiponitrile, which is then hydrogenated to HMD. Rennovia’s new process uses glucose as a raw material for a two-step catalytic conversion to HMD — no butadiene is required. The process has been demonstrated to run continuously, and the construction of a mini-plant is planned for 2015. In February 2014, Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM; Decatur, Ill.; www.adm.com) invested $25 million for the advancement of Rennovia’s renewable technologies. Subsequently, Genomatica announced in August 2014 that they would begin developing bio-based routes to various nylon intermediates, including HMD, caprolactum and adipic acid.
Others are searching for alternative products altogether. In addition to their butadiene partnership with Genomatica, Versalis has joined forces with agricultural biomaterials company Yulex Corp. (Phoenix, Ariz.;www.yulex.com) for the manufacture of biorubber materials using guayule, a renewable, non-food crop, as a raw material. Plans for an industrial production facility in Europe are underway, where the biorubber will be a supplementary product to Versalis’ traditional butadiene-based synthetic rubber. Once again, forecasted scarcity and price volatility of butadiene are among the factors driving this partnership.
On-purpose chemistry’s future
In the case of butadiene, it is clear that on-purpose and bio-based technologies are not merely a fad. Companies are investing and showing confidence in the commercial potential of these processes. On the future of on-purpose technologies in the CPI, Dow’s Bob Maughon remains optimistic about the industry’s willingness to adapt, saying, “In general, we were forced into the co-product ecosystem and we learned to love it. I am convinced that we will learn to love the on-purpose world even more.” He also emphasizes one major positive aspect of an on-purpose economy: companies can apply capital to make precisely the product they want. There are obviously great opportunities in the field of on-demand production technologies for byproducts of crude-refining processes. Beyond butadiene, speaking about the next on-purpose trend on the horizon, Maughon explains that cyclopentadiene, like butadiene, is a cracker co-product with many uses. However, there are no on-demand routes to it currently. Also among the chemicals affected by the move toward ethane-only cracking are isoprene and piperylene, as well as aromatics like benzene, toluene and xylene. It seems likely that companies will continue investigating advanced butadiene process technologies, and perhaps they will follow suit for cyclopentadiene and other chemicals.
SOURCE Chemical Engineering
DATE : 2014-09-05
PTT Asahi Chemical has commenced the restart process at its acrylonitrile (ACN) plant. A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the plant is expected to attain full production levels by this weekend. It was shut in early July 2014 for maintenance turnaround.
Located at Map Ta Phut, Thailand, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
DATE : 2014-09-05
PTT Asahi Chemical will be restarting a methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant following maintenance turnaround. A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the plant will be restarted on September 9, 2014. It was shut on July 23.
Located at Map Ta Phut, Thailand, the plant has a production capacity of 70,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
DATE : 2014-09-12
Idemitsu SM Malaysia is in plans to restart its styrene monomer (SM) plant. A Polymerupdate source in Malaysia informed that the plant is planned to be restarted on September 15, 2014. It was shut for maintenance turnaround.
Located at Pasir Gudang in Malaysia, the plant has a production capacity of 240,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
DATE : 2014-09-10
Mylan has entered into an agreement to acquire the U.S. commercialization, marketing and intellectual property rights relating to Arixtra® (fondaparinux sodium) Injection and the authorized generic (AG) of Arixtra from Aspen Global Incorporated. Arixtra is indicated for the prophylaxis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which may lead to pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients undergoing hip fracture surgery, including extended prophylaxis, hip replacement surgery, knee replacement surgery or abdominal surgery who are at risk for thromboembolic complications. Mylan already is selling Arixtra in the U.S. through an interim distribution arrangement with Aspen and Apotex is currently selling the AG of Arixtra, which will be transitioning to Mylan Institutional by year end.
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch commented, "DVT/PE is a serious health concern that is estimated to affect up to 600,000 people in the U.S. The addition of Arixtra is an attractive opportunity to broaden the range of therapeutic categories we market in the U.S., in both the hospital and retail settings, and bolster our growing portfolio of complex injectables to better meet our customers' needs."
Mylan will pay Aspen $225 million upon completion of the transaction. An additional $75 million will be held in escrow and released upon satisfaction of certain conditions. Aspen will supply Arixtra and the AG of Arixtra to Mylan, subject to certain terms and conditions. The transaction is subject to regulatory clearances. All other terms of the agreement remain confidential. The transaction will be immediately accretive to Mylan's adjusted earnings.
Arixtra and the AG of Arixtra had U.S. sales of approximately $18.8 million and $95.3 million, respectively, for the 12 months ending June 30, 2014, according to IMS Health.
SOURCE Pharmaceutical Processing