Berkem completes the acqusition of Biopress

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

Groupe Berkem has announced the completion of the acquisition of Biopress, a French producer of 100% natural vegetable oils and proteins. With this acquisition, Groupe Berkem is consolidating its offering in the "Health, Beauty & Nutrition" area of expertise and more specifically in the cosmetics market thanks to the virtues of its oils and the nutraceutical market because of the benefits provided by plant proteins.

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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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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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Glucaric acid biorefineries

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Publication date: 14/12/2015 Last update: 24/05/2017 Description 1,2,3,4 D-Glucaric acid, also called saccharic acid, is a chemical compound with formula C 6 H 10 O 8 and member of a large family of molecules known as oxidized sugars. It is a naturally occurring aldaric acid, typically found in small amounts in a variety of fruits and vegetables. It is a highly functionalized compound with four chiral carbons and a plethora of reaction pathways. Its commercial potential was unveiled in the report “Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass” from the Department of Energy of USA which described its use as a building block for a number of polymers, including new nylons and hyperbranched polyesters. Process technologies 1,3,4,5,6,7,8 The synthetic preparation of D-glucaric acid dates back to a report of Sohst and Tollens (1888) who carried out the nitric acid oxidation of D-glucose to D-glucaric acid. Current methods for its production are based on this process and in...
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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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