Chemical Engineering September 2014 - 23

Mitsubishi Chemical
Butenes/butanes
Reaction
section
Purification
section
Oxidative dehydrogenation
Quenching
Solvent
Absorption
Degassing
Solvent recovery
Wastewater
Off gas
Crude
butadiene
To butadiene
extraction unit
a platform for butadiene synthesis
from waste-gas feedstocks. The
feed gases for LanzaTech's process
can come from a variety of sources,
both industrial and biological, including
offgases from steel mills
and CPI plants, and syngas generated
from municipal solid waste or
agricultural waste.
Together with SK Innovation,
(SKI; Seoul, South Korea; www.
sk.com) in a partnership announced
in late 2013, LanzaTech plans to
commercialize a two-step platform
to create butadiene from waste
gases that contain carbon monoxide
(CO). First, through a patented
fermentation process, an acetogenic
microbe converts the CO from the
feed gas into 2,3-butanediol and
ethanol. Via downstream catalytic
technology provided by SKI, the
2,3-butanediol fermentation intermediate
undergoes double dehydration
to form 1,3-butadiene.
The biochemical pathway used
in LanzaTech's process (called the
Wood-Ljungdahl pathway) for fermentation
to 2,3-butanediol is
shown in Figure 5. A hallmark of
this process technology is its ability
to run continuously rather than in
batches. " Syngas can be constantly
processed and butanediol can continuously
pass to the catalysis
step, " says Alice Havill, senior process
engineer and separations lead
at LanzaTech. With advanced labscale
testing underway at both companies,
a pilot demonstration of this
technology is planned for the first
quarter of 2015 at SKI's research
facility in Daejeon, Korea, with an
eventual goal of making the platform
available for licensing.
Another benefit of this process is
its versatility. As seen in Figure 5, either
CO or CO2 can be used as a raw
material to synthesize butadiene.
LanzaTech has partnered
with Invista on further
development of processes
utilizing a CO2/H2 feedstock,
targeting the nylon 6 and 6,6
product chain as a potential
application for the butadiene product.
Commercialization for this project
is expected in 2018.
Commercial interest has been
piqued, especially in the areas of
polymers, synthetic rubbers and industrial
solvents, with companies
requesting samples of fermentationbased
butadiene as a " drop-in " replacement
for butadiene produced
via traditional methods. LanzaTech
touts the technology's unique feedstock
as a driver for commercial
success, citing price fluctuations as
a crucial factor in the development
of new butadiene-production techniques,
not only in the case of crude
oil, but also in the sugar-based feedstocks
that are used for many biobased
routes, which can experience
similar price volatility. According to
Havill, " LanzaTech has developed
an innovative platform that recycles
carbon-rich waste gases and
residues and converts these local,
highly abundant waste and low-cost
resources into sustainable, valuable
commodities. " She continues, saying
" The need for new butadiene sources
will only be exacerbated by the rising
global demand for butadiene-based
products. This will especially be evident
in the growing consumption of
rubber in emerging markets - the
commercial reach is global. "
Eliminating butadiene
The use of alternative raw materials
can also allow companies to decrease
their reliance on butadiene.
At the 2013 PCI American Nylon
Symposium, Rennovia, Inc. (Menlo
Park, Calif.; www.rennovia.com)
announced the demonstration of a
continuous bio-based pathway to
hexamethylenediamine (HMD) that
utilizes widely available, renewable
feedstocks. Traditionally, HMD, an
Figure 4. MCC's on-purpose
butadiene process is designed
to be compatible with a variety
of C4 feedstocks
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Chemical Engineering September 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering September 2014
