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North-C-Methanol project is launched to be a landmark example of sustainable industrial symbiosis

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Versión en Español Type of post: NEWS.  Last month, ten private- and public-sector partners ( Alco Bio Fuel , ArcelorMittal , ENGIE , Fluxys , Mitsubishi Power , North Sea Port , Oiltanking , PMV , POM Oost-Vlaanderen , Proman ) launched the North-C-Methanol project. Together they will reduce annually the CO2 emissions by 140,000 tons and generate 44,000 tons of green methanol, which can be used as feedstock for the chemical industry as well as fuel for ships and trains.  Press release: “ Multi-million-euro project transforms CO2 into green raw material in North Sea Port ”, 21/10/2020.  Figure 1. North-C-Methanol project concept (taken from the project website)   North-C-Methanol is the first project which is part of the North-CCU-Hub programme and right now represents an investment of 140 M€. It entails the construction of two large-scale demo plants and supporting infrastructure on the Rodenhuize peninsula in North Sea Port:  (1) A 65-MW electrolyser th...
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Total Corbion PLA puts its polylactic acid polymerization plant at full-scale into operation in Thailand

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF. Nine months ago, the Blog reported that Total Corbion PLA , the 50/50 joint venture between Total and Corbion, had successfully started-up a 1 kton/year poly(lactic acid) (PLA) pilot plant and produced the first samples of Luminy® resins. That pilot facility has paved the way for the new 75 ktons/year PLA polymerization plant that the company has just put into operation in Rayong (Thailand).   Press release: “ Total Corbion PLA starts-up its 75,000 tons per year bioplastics plant ”, 3/12/2018. Related post: “ Total Corbion PLA starts up its PLA pilot plant in Thailand ”, 16/3/2018. Figure 1. Total Corbion PLA's new 75,000 tons/year PLA plant in Rayong (extracted from the press release) The new commercial-scale facility will produce a broad range of Luminy® PLA resins from sugarcane sourced locally in Thailand: from standard PLA to innovative high heat PLA and PDLA with unique properties. The company will leverage on the integration ...
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Biobutanol biorefineries

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Publication date: 08/02/2016 Last update: 18/12/2017 General description 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 Butanol is a four-carbon alcohol with chemical formula C 4 H 10 O. There are four possible isomers for this molecule: n-butanol, isobutanol, tert-butanol and sec-butanol. Their different structures have a straight impact on their physical and chemical properties. Figure 1. Isomers of butanol Biobutanol is commonly used to refer to the butanol produced from biomass. n-Butanol is the major natural product formed in ABE fermentation. Isobutanol can be produced in alcoholic fermentation. sec-Butanol cannot be directly obtained by fermentation although it can be generated via 2,3-butanediol from fermentative processes. tert-Butanol is not produced by any known biological route. For the purposes of this post, biobutanol will stand for n-butanol, isobutanol or both of them, depending on the case. Butanol formation through anaerobic bacteria fermentation was already observed by ...
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DRT commissions its new tall-oil biorefinery in Vielle-Saint-Girons

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DRT (Dérivés Résiniques et Terpéniques) announced on 14 th September, the commissioning of its new tall-oil biorefinery on its site of Vielle-Saint-Girons (France). DRT is headquartered in Southwestern France (Landes region) and it has 4 production sites in France, 1 in China and 3 in India. The company is specialized in the valorization of rosin and turpentine extracted from pine resin and, to meet the growing demand of the international markets, has decided to increase its production capacities thanks to a new tall-oil fractionation technology. Figure 1. Aerial shot of the DRT site in Vielle-Saint-Girons (extracted from DRT webpage) Tall-oil is a liquid obtained as a by-product of the Kraft process of wood pulp manufacture when pulping mainly coniferous trees. Normally, crude tall-oil contains resin acids, fatty acids and unsaponifiable substances (sterols and other alkyl hydrocarbon derivatives). The crude tall oil does not have a great commercial value, however, whe...
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Braskem and Haldor Topsoe to validate new bio-MEG production process in a demo plant

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A new important partnership is pursuing the commercial production of monoethylene glycol (MEG) from renewable resources. MEG is one of the two monomers of the most important polyester currently (PET) and its global market represents a value of approximately 25 billion dollars. Bio-MEG is attracting increasing attention as key component of bio-PET. In this context, MOnoSAccharide IndustrIal Cracker ( MOSAIK™ ) is a solution for cracking of sugars to an intermediary product which can be further converted to MEG (or other chemicals) using Haldor Topsoe ’s patented processes and catalysts . This solution uses only two simple steps to produce MEG from biomass and could compete on commercial terms with traditional production from fossil feedstock. MOSAIK™ is at the heart of the recent partnership between Braskem and Haldor Topsoe whose aim is to develop a pioneering route to produce MEG from sugar (see press release , 09/11/2017). In this way, Braskem wants to expand its portfolio ...
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