Author: Rob van Linschoten
Imagine a future in which colonies of bacteria produce chemicals in a sustainable manner and in which residual products from chemical processes can be reused in new production processes.
One of the companies working hard to build this future is Photanol. In recent years, the Company has developed a process to produce chemicals, including lactic acid, from CO02 and sunlight, with an LED-driven photobioreactor. An important element in this production process are cyanobacteria. Under the influence of sunlight, these bacteria can convert CO2 into a wide range of molecules that are currently still extracted from oil. This process can therefore be a sustainable way to produce raw materials for the chemical industry in the future, because it requires relatively little land and water, as nature does.
In 2020, the company will start a demonstration factory in Delfzijl together with Nouryon. In preparation for this, Photanol installed a test setup at Zernike Advanced Processing (ZAP) this year to further test the process on a semi-industrial scale. Our facility is a semi-industrial learning-working environment where knowledge institutions and SMEs collaborate on innovative solutions for the biobased economy; working together as nature does.
Another company that works within our facility on the sustainable production of raw materials for the chemical industry is BioBTX. The company developed a process that converts biomass (glycerol) into benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX), raw materials used for the production of various types of plastics. In the meantime, BioBTX also investigated the possibilities for using old plastic as a raw material for this process instead of biomass. In October, a new module was added to the BioBTX pilot plant, with which waste plastic that can no longer be mechanically recycled can be converted into BTX. This concerns mixed plastic that previously went into the incinerator. This new method produces gas and carbon as residual materials, but these can be used as fuel for the process itself. In short: great steps are being taken within ZAP towards the circular economy, closed production processes and independence from fossil fuels, as in nature.
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