KETs Impact: The SUNLIQUID® and LIGNOFLAG Projects

The recent SusChem White paper ‘Impact: Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) in Horizon Europe’ included a number of success stories highlighting publicly funded innovation involving KETs and the SusChem News blog is featuring a selection of these fruitful 'SusChem inspired' initiatives.

KETs are technologies selected for their ability to address global challenges, support the development of new products, and stimulate economic growth.

Sustainable chemistry is essential to the technological advance of KETs including advanced materials, advanced manufacturing technologies, industrial biotechnology, micro and nanoelectronics, nanotechnology and photonics. SusChem's key enabling technologies provide the critical building blocks for the solutions needed to achieve a sustainable low carbon circular economy. You can find out more here.

Our second highlighted success story is built around the BBI JU Horizon 2020 project LINGOFLAG that aims to optimise the efficiency and increase the capacity of Clariant’s unique flagship plant for the production of cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues (such as straw) based on its sunliquid® technology as a significant step towards a biobased, circular economy in Europe.

Agricultural residues into biobased chemicals

Innovative process technology reduces Green House Gas (GHG) emissions

The realisation of a first-of-its-kind flagship production plant using a new technology is always a high-risk project with significant higher costs compared to subsequent plants. The support through public-private funded projects helps to de-risk the investment in a production plant and leverages private capital in this important industry sector.

Clariant’s sunliquid® process converts lignocellulosic agricultural residues, such as cereal straw, into cellulosic ethanol or other biobased chemicals in a way that is highly efficient, economic, energy-neutral and sustainable. Sunliquid® contributes to the political objectives of reducing GHG emissions in the transport sector, to support the transformation from a fossil-based economy to a biobased, circular economy through creation of green jobs, especially in rural areas, mobilisation of currently underutilised agricultural residues, boosts to local economies and creation of additional business opportunities, and creation of a sustainable and competitive source of domestic renewable energy for the EU. Sunliquid® is a biotechnological process and hence contributes to the KET biotechnology.

How was the breakthrough innovation achieved?

The sunliquid® process was developed by Clariant for more than 10 years to overcome major technological hurdles like the need for high yields, low energy consumption, and a stable and economic process of cellulosic ethanol production. During this time the process was developed from Technology Readiness level (TRL) 4 to TRL 8. The maturity of the process was developed in pilot plant scale in Munich, Germany. As a subsequent step within the process development the technology was further up-scaled to demonstration scale with Clariant’s pre-commercial plant in Straubing, Germany. This plant is operational since June 2012 and successfully demonstrated the process in an operational and integrated environment. Clariant’s sunliquid® technology is now ready for a flagship production plant for lignocellulosic ethanol.

Various development steps and parts of the sunliquid® process received and still receive funding. The funded projects on Bavarian, National and European level as well the partnership with the region Straubing enabled Clariant to develop the technology and still supports the proof of techno-economic viability of the sunliquid® technology at commercial scale.

Impact

Clariant is investing in a new commercial-scale plant for the production of cellulosic ethanol made from agricultural residues, based on the sunliquid® technology, in the southwestern part of Romania. This undertaking will have the following impact:

• Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of up to 95%
• Clariant investment in southwestern Romania of approx. EUR 150 million
• Number of jobs: 80 direct and 300 indirect. 800–900 during construction phase in an underdeveloped region of the country with unemployment rates of 20%
• Additional income for farmers and local businesses: >EUR 20 million
• Additional tax generated in the region: >EUR 1 million annually for the next 20 years
• Regional Development: Industrial plant using agricultural residue as feedstock in a strong agricultural economy along with energy integration of actors along the whole value chain

More information
SUNLIQUID - Large scale demonstration plant for the production of cellulosic ethanol (FP7 GA number 322386)

LIGNOFLAG - Commercial flagship plant for bioethanol production (Horizon 2020/ BBI JU GA number 709606)

Read the SusChem White Paper ‘Impact: Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) in Horizon Europe’

INSPIREWATER: Making Every Drop Count

The SPIRE Horizon 2020 project INSPIREWATER is working to enable process industry companies to implement sustainable water treatment solutions as part of a corporate sustainability strategy. This will be achieved via the development, demonstration and exploitation of innovative, eco-efficient technologies that support sustainable water resources management. The overall goal of the project is to reduce wastewater so that there is zero discharge into the environment and to re-use the treated wastewater.

While 70 % of the earth’s surface is covered in water, less than 1 % is freshwater available for use.  With growing pressures on this finite natural resource, there’s a critical need for more innovative water management solutions.

Water is one of SusChem's innovation priority areas and the platform supports industry involvement in a portfolio of EU funded projects working to improve water and wastewater management including those managed by SPIRE as an entity nurtured and established through SusChem actions. 

In Tarragona, Spain, a region that’s faced a critical water shortage, chemical company Clariant is part of an innovative project to test out sustainable wastewater solutions that can eventually be applied to sectors across the globe. The INSPIREWATER (Innovative Solutions in the Process Industry for next generation Resource Efficient Water management) project brings together eleven industrial and scientific partners working in sectors such as steel and paper. Their goal for 2025 is to reduce current freshwater consumption by 35 % and wastewater emissions by 40 %.

INSPIREWATER technologies aim to increase water and resource efficiency by 20-30 % across the process industry. The project will focus initially on the steel and chemical industries, with the long-term goal of applying the technologies throughout process industry sectors for maximum impact.

The project includes partners representing the steel and chemical industries, technology and innovation SME’s, research organisations and dissemination and exploitation experts. The collaboration of these partners forms an exceptional team to deliver quality innovation and striking impact in the process industry. The emphasis on deployment and impact within the project reflects the target set by SPIRE's research and innovation strategy, the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on ‘Water’ and the EU Commission’s Roadmap on Resource efficiency. In addition, the project will implement European directives and policies in Water Management.

New Tech in an Ancient Port

In recent years, the ancient port city of Tarragona and its surrounding province have dealt with water scarcity issues due to declining summer rainfalls and increased water demand from industry and tourism. The region is also home to a cluster of chemical companies including Clariant’s speciality chemicals facility.

As the representative of the chemical industry within INSPIREWATER, Clariant’s Tarragona site is testing out an innovative multi-membrane technology for waste water treatment demonstrated as an “end-of-pipe” solution, which filters contaminants from water before it can be recycled or reintroduced into the environment. Under current methods, wastewater is purified using “reverse osmosis,” a process that requires hydraulic pressure and energy inputs. The multi-membrane technology currently being tested combines the standard osmosis process with a variety of energy-efficient technologies, so that wastewater can more efficiently pass through membranes to be purified.

Other technologies being piloted by INSPIREWATER will help conserve water across the production life cycle. The end goal is to reduce wastewater so that there is zero discharge into the environment and to re-use the treated wastewater. “To Clariant, the best wastewater is wastewater that barely exists,” says Friedhelm Zorn, Head of Competence Centre Environmental Technologies at Clariant.

Catalyst technology

Within the INSPIREWATER project there are three innovative technologies for sustainable water treatment being developed and tested. One is catalyst technology being developed by MOL Katalysatortechnik GmbH.

The MOL®LIK Catalyst reduces chemical dosage, minimises maintenance, optimises energy demand and saves money. The technology is being evaluated as part of the large-scale demonstration at Clariant.

Biobased innovation wins Climate and Environment award

German chemical company Clariant has been awarded the 2015 German Innovation Prize for Climate and Environment (Der Deutsche Innovationspreis für Klima und Umwelt - IKU) for its innovative sunliquid technology. This biotechnological process produces cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues and was awarded first place in the Process Innovations category winning against 14 other competing technologies.

The sunliquid technology convinced a jury of independent experts from business, science, media and politics chaired by Professor Klaus Töpfer. Biofuels and biobased chemicals made from agricultural residues such as wheat straw are produced sustainably and economically using this process without competing with food or feed production. Cellulosic ethanol made with sunliquid® technology is ground-breaking for climate and environmental protection.

“Clariant is continually investing in the development of sustainable products from renewable raw materials and in the exploration of innovative biotechnologies such as sunliquid. This pioneering process has great potential for the production of environmentally compatible biofuels and a multitude of biobased raw materials that are suitable for various specialty products, such as those of the cosmetic industry,” said Clariant CEO Hariolf Kottmann.

“Biofuels from agricultural residues play a key role in making mobility more sustainable worldwide. Greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by up to 95% compared with fossil fuels. The award from the Federal Ministry validates our approach,” added Andre Koltermann, Head of Group Biotechnology at Clariant pictured above (second left) receiving the award from Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks (second right) and Holger Lösch, member of the BDI Executive Board (far right) with Markus Rarbach, Head Start-up Business Project Biofuels & Derivatives at Clariant (far left).

Innovative sustainable chemistry
The award highlights the chemical sector as a truly high-technology industry at the forefront of sustainable innovation. SusChem welcomes this prestigious German Innovation Prize going to innovative and sustainable chemistry. SusChem is committed to addressing societal challenges via a sustainability based approach (simultaneously addressing the needs of the 3Ps – people planet and profit) using innovative. This commitment is clear from the programmes and initiatives outlined in our Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA).

“The 2015 German Innovation Prize for Climate and Environment warded to Clariant for its innovative sunliquid technology is another very good example that demonstrates the chemical industry’s commitment to addressing our grand societal challenges by investing in sustainable products derived from renewable raw material,” says Martin Winter, SusChem Innovation Manager at Cefic.

“Innovative biotechnologies at the forefront of innovation such as Clariant’s advanced sustainable sunliquid biofuel enable up to 95% savings in greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, it will contribute significantly to the decarbonisation of the transport sector without competing with food or feed resources.”

Sunlight technology
This is the fifth time that the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and the Federation of German Industries (BDI) have awarded innovative projects focused on climate and environmentally friendly processes, products and services. The winning selections resulted from a profound technical analysis of all the applications by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI). The award ceremony with Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks and Holger Lösch, member of the BDI Executive Board, took place at the ministry in Berlin. The award comes with a cash prize of €25 000.

You can learn more about Clariant’s sunlight technology on the company’s website and in the video below.

Catalysts for Cleaner Cement Production

Sustainable chemistry has a major role in building our future Smart Cities, ensuring our technologies are as clean as possible and providing the basis for 'green' living.

SusChem has provided much input on chemistry's contribution to energy efficiency in buildings and their contribution to Smart Cities initiatives including the SusChem report "Innovative chemistry for Energy efficiency of buildings in smart cities" and our visionary flagship project the Smart Energy Home. 

Another clear example of chemistry's contribution to cleaner construction is provided by Clariant. Cement production generates considerable harmful emissions including fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and ammonia, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and sulfur oxides. Cement is the main component of concrete, the most widely used construction material in the world.

Using a combined catalytic process the emissions from cement production can be reduced by 90% or more. In a first stage nitrogen oxides and ammonia in the cement process flue gas react on a catalytic layer, where they bind to iron active centres. The molecules interact with each other forming water and harmless nitrogen.

In the next stage remaining organic contaminants and carbon monoxide are eliminated by catalytic oxidation in an innovative ceramic honeycomb catalyst with an activated zeolite-coated surface. The zeolite matrix provides durable protection against dust, sulfur oxides, and moisture which can result in fast catalyst deactivation. This key innovation enables the catalyst to survive under the harsh conditions of the process for a considerable time.

Benefits
Using the two-stage process toxic pollutants are almost completely purified with pollutant emissions reduced by 90% and more meaning that required emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants can be easily met by cement plants. You can find out more about this innovative process in the video below.

For more information on SusChem initiatives for Smart Cities and construction materials, please contact SusChem coordinator Jacques Kormornicki at Cefic.

SusChem introduces: Martin Winter

Cefic Research and Innovation has recently recruited two new Innovation Managers who will be heavily involved with SusChem activities over the next few years. Martin Winter and Flavio Benedito both started their secondment to Cefic in June and many members of the SusChem community will have met them at the 2015 SusChem Stakeholder event. In this and a subsequent article we introduce both managers and ask them about what they are expecting to achieve for Sustainable Chemistry in Europe during their time with the platform.

In this article we talk to Martin. You can find the interview article with Flavio here.

Career highlights

Martin is a chemist by education and received his PhD on a nanomaterial science topic in 1998 from the Max Planck Society before leaving for postdoctoral study at the Scripps Research Institute in the U.S.

He has a long term background in the chemical industry joining Clariant in 1999 managing several innovation projects as Research and Development group leader and focusing on innovation and growth of new businesses. This included setting up external innovation activities through venture capital mechanisms, e.g. through screening and investments in start-up companies. In addition a marketing and sales responsibility for one of Clariant’s young start-up businesses brought him to Asia/Japan for a while.

Since June 2015 he has been seconded from Clariant to CEFIC in Brussels as an Innovation Manager responsible for driving the innovation agenda for the Chemical Industry by networking regarding research and innovation priorities and connecting them with the European Commission’s funding instruments under Horizon 2020, for example via the SPIRE Public Private partnership.

He likes to spend his free time with his family and also enjoy flying in the sky being an enthusiastic skydiver, instructor and tandem-master.

What is your view on Sustainable Chemistry?

I consider sustainability not only as a simple ‘trend’, but today not considering its significance means not only risking to stay in the business but also exposing future growth opportunities to risk. The concept of “being and developing sustainable” has to be strongly considered and supported by the innovation agenda of our industry to keep us ahead in the race for competitiveness.

The SusChem ETP and its Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) is an excellent platform to support the transformation of our excellent European research into relevant business opportunities by connecting industry, SMEs, academia and technology organizations with the funding instruments under Horizon 2020. 

How do you see your new role contributing to your view on Sustainable Chemistry? 

I will contribute to the already existing strong momentum with my personal commitment to relevant topics and discussions in the chemical and process industry, including Cefic contributing to Horizon 2020 projects.

What do you hope to achieve by the end of your three years at Cefic? 

To support our European Industry to improve their competitiveness and economic growth and at the same time contributing with concrete innovation actions to the key societal challenges we are facing. In addition, and through my involvement in these activities, I will, of course, also enlarge my own network and be able to support my company Clariant when I return after my time at Cefic. 

What areas are you looking to collaborate with others and how do you prefer to be contacted? 

All topics relevant for the chemical and process industries with an initial focus on ICT aspects. I can be contacted by email or phone and of course lets meet personally at SPIRE, SusChem and other events to exchange our thoughts.

Presenting the ICIS Innovation Awards 2014

Today (17 October 2014) the winners of this year’s ICIS Innovation Awards have been announced with Huntsman Textile Effects being chosen as the overall winner for 2014. The judging panel for the 2014 awards included SusChem board member Peter Nagler of Evonik and SusChem coordinator at Cefic: Jacques Kormonicki.

Huntsman’s AVITERA SE poly-reactive dyes for cotton and cotton blends were judged to be a significant scientific advance, and one that goes a long way to answering the textile industry’s sustainability challenge in terms of water, energy and waste reductions. The process cuts water and energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by 50% and salt consumption by 25%.

The Huntsman entry also won the category for Innovation with the Best Benefit to Environment or Sustainability that is sponsored by U.S. Chemicals, LLC.

In their deliberations the judges were looking for innovations that were at or close to commercialisation and that fulfilled a need or created a new need or market. The innovations also needed to be creative and relevant to the market.

The Awards, sponsored overall by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and with category sponsorship from U.S. Chemicals, LLC, recognise outstanding technological and business innovation in the global chemical industry.

Warm glow of Innovation
The award for best product innovation went to Solvay, for its Emana polyamide fibres that contains an additive that converts the wearer’s body heat into physiologically beneficial far-infrared radiation. The winning entry, developed in Brazil, was deemed to have a strong scientific element to it and innovative marketing.

Jacques Korminicki of Cefic said: “It looks like a great innovation and a strong marketing opportunity.”

Honeywell UOP, with INEOS and Total, were awarded the best process innovation award for their advanced methanol-to-olefins process. This award category, which was reintroduced to the ICIS awards after a couple of year’s absence, was judged to be very timely with migration of global petrochemical feedstock from naphtha to coal and natural gas.

Finally the best innovation by an SME award was made to Argex Titanium for a novel route to titanium dioxide pigment.

The judging panel also awarded Clariant a special mention in the Best Process Innovation category, for its Heat Generating Material for use in on-purpose olefin production using the Catofin process.

John Baker, ICIS editor and organiser of the Awards, commented that: “This year the Awards attracted a near-record entry, showcasing a wide range of excellent innovation across the chemical sector. All the winners demonstrate not only that innovation is well and truly alive in the chemical industry but that this innovation brings benefits not only to companies and their customers but the environment as well. And it helps the sustainability of the business of chemicals.”

Full descriptions of all the winning entries, and interviews with the sponsors, can be found on the ICIS website and a special ICIS Chemical Business supplement on the awards and the winners can be accessed on-line here.

What are the ICIS awards
The awards are open to any chemical company or collaborative effort between industry and academia anywhere in the World. The judging panel looks for innovative projects that solve problems or provide solutions for the company or its customers or that demonstrate an innovative approach to business, the environment and sustainability.

In 2014 there were four prize categories:

• Best Product Innovation
• Best Process Innovation
• Best Innovation by a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise (SME)
• Innovation with Best Benefit for the Environment or Sustainability

For more information about the ICIS Chemical Business Innovation Awards or for specific queries contact John Baker at ICIS.