Virent pursues non-fermentation route to bio-PX

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Virent is pursuing a two-step process to produce renewable paraxylene (PX) that skips the fermentation route common among bio-based producers, a manager with the US-based company said on Thursday.

Virent is among the several companies that are trying to develop a viable process to produce commercial quantities of PX, one of the two feedstocks used to make polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Renewable monoethylene glycol (MEG) can already be produced by dehydrating ethanol to make ethylene.

If Virent succeeds with PX, then it could provide the crucial second molecule that will lead to 100% renewable PET, something coveted by brand-conscious consumer companies such as Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble (P&G), said Kieran Furlong, director, chemicals, for Virent. He made his comments during the ICIS US Aromatics and Derivatives Conference.

Renewable content gives these companies several benefits, he said.

Companies can build a marketing campaign around the sustainable and renewable qualities that renewable materials provide their products, he said. This matters greatly for something such as bottled water.

Outside of packaging, bottled water does not differ much from company to company.

When Coca-Cola increased sales of its Dasani bottled water, it attributed the success in part to its adoption of PET packaging made with renewable MEG, Furlong said.

In addition to marketing, renewable raw materials can also provide companies a hedge against price volatility, he said. Companies will often be willing to pay a premium to ensure that the prices for their raw materials will remain stable.

Virent uses a two-step process to produce its PX.

The first step, which Virent calls “aqueous phase reforming”, converts sugars into a mixture of organic molecules such as alcohols, aldehydes, carboxylic acids and ketones.

The second step uses conventional petrochemical processing, the company said. The result is predominantly PX.

Virent initially wants to use ethanol as a feedstock before progressing to sugar, Furlong said. Ultimately, the company would advance to biomass.

Virent’s process can use both the C5 and C6 sugars derived from the hemicellulose and cellulose in biomass, he said. In fact, the company can even use some of the lignin, something that distinguishes Virent’s technology from fermentation-based processes.

Commercial-scale production could start in 2017, Furlong said.