Circa demonstration plant produces first batch of Cyrene® biosolvent
Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.
The FC5 (50 tons/year) demonstration plant of Circa Group (Circa) and Norske Skog has been successfully
commissioned and operated end-to-end in Tasmania (Australia). The facility is
starting to produce a steady stream of 99% pure Cyrene.
Press release: “Circa
Group’s Commercial Demonstration Plant Comes Online and Produces First Batch of
99% Pure Cyrene®”, 12/02/2019.
Related post: “Biosolvent
plant project of Circa and Norske Skog receives support from the Australian
Government”, 15/3/2018.
Figure 1. Sample of Cyrene (taken from “New
Specialty Chemicals from Lignocellulose - from Concept to Commercial Reality”
and adapted)
Cyrene is a non-toxic solvent made from
cellulosic wastes. It is an alternative to traditional dipolar aprotic
solvents, which are used in large volumes and are under intense regulatory
pressure due their toxicity. In this sense, Circa is one of the partners of the
project ReSolve (BBI JU), which aims to
replace two hazardous solvents, toluene and NMP (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone), with
safer alternatives derived from non-food carbohydrates.
Cyrene is sold worldwide through distributors
Merck/Sigma Aldrich and Will&Co. The start-up of the demo plant paves the
way to a regular supply of this biobased solvent. Circa is now focused on supporting
the development of FC6, a larger commercial-scale plant.