Brazilian polymers producer Braskem (São Paulo; www.braskem.com.br) and catalysts company Haldor Topsøe (Lyngby / Denmark; www.topsoe.com) will start up a pilot plant in Lyngby on 1 March 2019 to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of producing MEG from sugar. The partners announced in 2017 that they would work together on developing bio-based technology to make MEG, a key raw material for PET – see Plasteurope.com of 20.11.2017. Braskem said the global MEG market is currently worth around USD 25 bn (EUR 22 bn).

The process, called "MOnoSAccharide Industrial Cracker" – or “Mosaik” – cracks sugars, including sucrose, dextrose and second-generation sugars, to an intermediary product. This product can be further converted to MEG or other biochemicals, such as methyl vinyl glycolate or glycolic acid, using Haldor Topsøe’s proprietary processes and catalysts.

The Lyngby plant has a capacity of more than 100 t/y of glycolaldehyde, which is converted into MEG. Customers will receive samples for testing starting in 2020. Haldor Topsøe said industrial-scale production is planned to commence in 2023.

Braskem explained that existing processes to produce MEG from biomass involve several steps, but Mosaik can do it in just two simple stages, lowering investment costs and boosting productivity to a level where it can compete commercially with MEG made from traditional fossil feedstocks, such as naphtha, gas or coal. “The process for developing renewable MEG in partnership with Haldor Topsøe represents a major advance in competitiveness for green PET,” said Gustavo Sergi, Braskem’s director of renewable chemicals.

The Brazilian company already produces bio-based PE and EVA made from sugarcane as part of its “I’m green” portfolio. Innovation Fund Denmark (Copenhagen; www.innovationsfonden.dk) has co-financed the development and upscaling of the Mosaik process.