The Catalyst Review April 2016 - 2

COMMERCIAl NEWS
Anellotech Advances
biobased Aromatics...
Renewable aromatics startup Anellotech
(Pearl River, NY) is building momentum
toward commercializing its catalytic
technology, lining up a number of bigname process and technology partners
late last year. It has also received an
indication from leading Japanese beverage
maker Suntory Holdings (Osaka) last
January to consider building the first
commercial plant pending the outcome at
a pilot/demonstration-scale unit slated to
come online later this year. Unlike many
renewable chemical firms that use finicky
fermentation processes, Anellotech's
Bio-TCat thermocatalytic, single-step
process converts lignocellulosic biomass to
benzene, toluene, and p-xylene (BTX) in a
fluidized-bed reactor. Biomass is thermally
decomposed to form pyrolysis vapors,
which are converted into the desired
aromatics. The basic process was invented
by George Huber at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst and licensed
for further development and scale-up
by Anellotech in 2009. Bio-TCat makes
aromatics directly. Anellotech's technology
avoids the production of bio-oil that
requires extensive and costly hydrotreating
to convert oxygenates into hydrocarbons.
Anellotech has emphasized a capital-light
strategy by leveraging the know-how and
infrastructure of experienced partners. It
has entered development partnerships
with leading technology providers
IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), IFPEN
subsidiary Axens, and Johnson Matthey.
Downstream, it has commitments from
Suntory to move ahead with studies to
consider the first commercial-scale BioTCat plant. Anellotech plans to license
its technology rather than try to build,
own, and operate their own plants-a
daunting prospect considering the
scale needed to be meaningful in large
petrochemical markets, like p-xylene and
benzene. Since Suntory is not a chemical
company, Anellotech is still looking for an
appropriate operating partner. Source: IHS
Chemical Week, 4/11/2016.

The Catalyst Review

biodiesel Catalyst Ranks to Expand: Seeing More
growth Ahead, Two Small Companies Invest in New
Plants...
Growth in the biodiesel market is spurring two small companies to invest in U.S.
production of sodium methylate, a catalyst used to convert fats and oils into the
renewable fuel. These two companies will be going up against two biodiesel catalyst
majors, the German chemical makers BASF and Evonik Industries. New Heaven
Chemicals is starting up a plant in Manly, Iowa, that will make 18,000 metric tons per
year of sodium methylate for biodiesel industry customers. Prasad Devineni, the firm's
director, says the plant is being commissioned and should be running in the next few
weeks. Although New Heaven will be new to U.S. production, its parent company,
India's TSS Group, has been importing sodium methylate from Saudi Arabia since 2006,
Devineni notes. New Heaven anticipates building a second, similarly sized, sodium
methylate plant in Houston. Meanwhile, Interstate Chemical is advancing plans to
produce sodium methylate in Erie, PA, to serve customers such as the nearby firm
Hero BX, which calls itself the largest biodiesel maker east of the Mississippi. Interstate
says it will spend $60 million to build plants for sodium methylate and methanol, the
latter of which is reacted with sodium hydroxide to make the catalyst. Interstate has
been producing sodium methylate for close to 10 years using an older process that
starts with sodium metal. The firm's plan to invest in the newer route follows DuPont's
decision to close its sodium facility in Niagara Falls, N.Y. U.S. biodiesel consumption
has enjoyed a meteoric rise from less than 100 million L in 2004 to almost 8 billion L
in 2015, according to the National Biodiesel Board. During those years, Evonik erected
sodium methylate plants in Alabama and Argentina. BASF built in Argentina and Brazil.
However, the years ahead may not be as heady for the catalyst newcomers. U.S.
imports of biodiesel are on the increase. And a growing portion of biodiesel is socalled renewable diesel, which is made via a hydrotreating process that doesn't require
sodium methylate. Source: Chemical & Engineering News, 4/18/2016, p. 18.

PIC, Pembina Planning World-Scale PDH-PP facility in
Alberta...
Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC; Kuwait) and Pembina Pipeline (Calgary,
AB, Canada) are evaluating the feasibility of a combined, world-scale propane
dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene (PP) production facility in Alberta,
Canada. Pembina and PIC expect to complete the study in six months. If the project
continues into front-end engineering and design (FEED), the partners would make a
final investment decision by mid-2017, says Pembina, with startup expected by 2020.
The PP plant would have a capacity of up to 800,000 m.t./year, says Pembina, while
the PDH plant would consume up to 35,000 bbl/day of propane. Pembina says it has
access to the largest supply of propane in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin-
approximately 60,000 bbl/day in the Fort Saskatchewan, AB, area, as well as additional
supply from Empress, AB. The company is currently building a third fractionator that will
increase its fractionation capacity to over 200,000 bbl/day. Source: IHS Chemical Week,
4/12/2016.
April 2016

The Catalyst Review April 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Catalyst Review April 2016