Chemical Processing - October 2007 - (Page 21)

ajor manufacturers such as DuPont and Dow are joining a growing roster of rms relying on biofeedstocks. Economics as well as increasing corporate emphasis on sustainability and environmentally friendly products are spurring the use of such materials to make chemicals and fuels. Concurrently the menu of biofeedstocks continues to expand. It now includes virgin materials such as corn, sugar cane, oils from cotton seeds and soybeans, grass and hardwoods, as well as biofuels’ byproducts such as glycerin, and even animal-derived materials like pork lard and chicken fat. Here’s a look at some biofeedstock-based plants now being commercialized or on the drawing boards, plus some promising bioresearch projects. Diol development DuPont, Wilmington, Del., has joined with Tate & Lyle, London, U.K., to commercially manufacture 1,3 propanediol from corn via fermentation. On June 8, its DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products joint venture of cially opened the world’s rst full-scale plant, a $100-million facility at Loudon, Tenn, to make Bio-PDO (Figure 1). “We have two generic products,” explains the joint venture’s president Steve Mirshak; their different characteristics suit them for specific applications (Figure 2). Zemea propanediol finds use in personal-care and liquid-detergent consumer goods. Susterra propanediol finds use in industrial applications such as de-icing fluids, antifreeze and heattransfer fluids. To get the right bug to transform corn’s sugar into Bio-PDO, DuPont worked with Genencor, a Rochester, N.Y.-based division of Danisco A/S, Copenhagen. Then, DuPont allied itself with Tate & Lyle. They began development in 2000 at a pilot plant at Tate & Lyle’s research center and North American headquarters in Decatur, Ill., and in May 2004, created the joint venture. The 100-million-lb/yr plant went onstream in November 2006. The Loudon facility features nine-story fermentation vessels, the world’s largest, says Mirshak, who expects output to reach full capacity by 2009. The plant also boasts a positive environmental impact. “We use 40% less energy to produce Bio-PDO than a petroleum-based [glycol] product,” he says. “We recently revised our lifecycle estimates and found that cradle-to-gate, from the cornfield to the exit of our plant, reduces greenhouse-gases emissions by 56%.” The development is already garnering accolades. www.chemicalprocessing.com M >> Propanediol plant Figure 1. Plant at Loudon, Tenn., makes two product lines based on corn fermentation. Source: DuPont Tate & Lyle. The research teams from DuPont, Tate & Lyle and Genencor received a 2007 “Heroes of Chemistry” Award from the American Chemical Society. Bio-based polyethylene Instead of corn, Dow Chemical, Midland, Mich., is relying on sugar cane as a feedstock. This summer Dow a n d Crystalsev, a Brazilian sugar-cane grower and ethanol producer, set up a 50/50 joint venture to build the first world-scale integrated facility for converting cane sugar into polyethylene. “The joint venture’s product will have the same functionality, look and feel of Dowlex resins manufactured at other Dow facilities,” notes Jim Fitterling, president of Dow Basic Plastics. The Brazilian site will include 120,000 hectares, or approximately 250,000 acres, of sugar-cane production. “We’ll crush about 8 million tons of sugar to produce 700,000 liters [184,000 gallons] of ethanol.” The polyethylene facility will consume about 350,000 liters or 92,200 gallons, he adds. The still-unnamed joint venture has already started a year–long study that will get into the engineering design, location, infrastructure needs, supply-chain logistics, energy and economics. Fitterling predicts ethanol production from the plant’s first unit in 2009 and its second in 2010. “Full production’s expected in 2011, when we can go ethanol-to-polyethylene.” The prime motivation for Dow, which has an established position in the Brazilian polyethylene market, is to insulate itself from high and volatile costs of conventional feedstock. A positive impact on climate October 2007 • 21 http://www.chemicalprocessing.com

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Chemical Processing - October 2007 Contents From the Editor ChemicalProcessing.com Field Notes In Process Energy Saver Compliance Advisor Biofeedstocks See Real Growth Become a Cyber-Security Pacesetter Go Beyond Condition Monitoring Disposable Equipment Earns Lasting Role Improve Control Loop Performance Ethanol Plant Boosts Output and Saves Energy Process Puzzler Plant InSites Equipment & Services Ad Lits Product Spotlight/Classifieds Ad Index End Point

Chemical Processing - October 2007

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