Anellotech receives funding to install its TCat-8 demonstration facility

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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.

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