Anellotech receives funding to install its TCat-8 demonstration facility
Anellotech is one of the companies struggling
to produce commercially renewable-based paraxylene (bio-PX), a key component
required to make 100% bio-PET. Despite strong demand from packaging sector,
there is no commercial bio-PX on the market today. On November 18th,
the
company announced having received a funding of $7 million from a new investor.
Such quantity is the first tranche of a total of $10 million that Anellotech
plans to raise. The remaining $3 million is expected to come within the next
few months.
The funding will
be used for the development of its Thermo Catalytic Biomass Conversion (Bio-TCAT™)
process. Anellotech has developed this clean technology platform for producing benzene,
toluene and xylenes (BTX), from renewable non-food biomass. The core of this technology
is based on scientific research initially performed in Professor George Huber's
laboratory at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. In this process, biomass
is dried, ground and rapidly heated in a fluidized bed reactor to be subjected
to a catalytic fast pyrolysis process. The resulting gases are immediately
converted into hydrocarbons by a proprietary, reusable, sand-like zeolite
catalyst. The mixture of bio-BTX, which is identical to petroleum-derived
counterparts, can be further purified and separated by using well-known
commercial technologies.
Figure 1.
Simplified scheme of the Bio-TCAT™ process of Anellotech (extracted from: “Cost-Competitive
Benzene, Toluene and Xylenes From Biomass”, Anellotech, ABLC 2014)
Anellotech is running
a pilot plant since December 2013. The next step is the installation of a new,
fully-integrated development and testing facility called TCat-8, which will be
operational in 2016. The TCat-8 unit was jointly designed by Anellotech and IFPEN. This 25 meter-tall unit
will confirm the viability and suitability of the Bio-TCat process for scale
up, and generate the data needed to design commercial plants using the
technology. The first commercial plant is planned for the end of this decade.