Project Details
Description
Project title: Acrylic and Styrenic Monomers and Polymers from Biomass (ACTION)
Project partners:
- BASF
- DSM
- Food & Biobased Research
- GreenICT
- Synbra
- Wageningen University
Bulk chemicals from plant residues and sugars Bulk chemicals, such as styrene and acrylic acid, can also be made from biomass. In the ACTION project, researchers investigate step-by-step how to do this, for the benefit of and in cooperation with the industry. Styrene and acrylic acid are amongst the most used bulk chemicals in the world. They are used to make polymers -polystyrene and acrylates, respectively- and are currently still made from fossil raw materials. Polystyrene is used in plastic packaging, coffee cups, insulation foam, coatings and glues, and acrylates in Plexiglas and optical fibres. In ACTION, the researchers focus on finding ways to get from biomass to styrene and acrylic monomers. ‘All the separate steps to create styrene and acrylates from biomass are known, and now we are putting all these steps in sequence’, researcher Jérôme Le Nôtre explains. The basic material for styrene comes from side products from bio-ethanol production. These sometimes contain up to 35 per cent proteins. These can be used as animal feed, but not all amino acids - which proteins are made of - are needed for this. Some of these amino acids can be isolated and used for other purposes. In this project, researchers turn them into styrene, with enzymes and a chemical reaction using a catalyst. In a separate part of the project they make acrylic acid, in two steps, using a chemical substance from generally available fermentable sugars. ‘We also investigate whether the manufacture of styrene and acrylates can be done more efficiently and cheaper, using different enzymes or chemicals’, says Le Nôtre. As similar techniques are already applied on a large scale, the industry can quickly scale up the process, once the project is completed, Le Nôtre expects.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 1/01/10 → 31/12/15 |