🏭 The Column: November 22, 2024

Good morning. Today we’re talking a bit about Avantium’s CO2-based route to a biodegradable polymer, Exxon’s lithium carbonate offtake agreement with LG Chem, and Japan’s desire to produce phosphorus domestically. Also, heads up: I will be taking next week off—hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Things Happened:

Avantium’s CO2-based biodegradable polymer

It was just one month ago when we last talked about Avantium—the company recently started up their flagship 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) plant, and now they’ve signed an agreement with Thailand’s SCG Chemicals Public Company (SCGC) to build a CO2-based polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) pilot plant. This all started in 2017 when Avantium acquired an electrochemical process technology that Liquid Light had developed: first reduce CO2 to formate, couple the formate to make oxalate, and then acidify that oxalate to make oxalic acid. Oxalic acid can then be reduced partially to glycolic acid, which can then be co-polymerized with lactic acid (which we make from fermenting sugars) to make PLGA. That’s a lot of transformations, so there’s a lot of opportunity for a selectivity or conversion problem, but in any case I’m bullish on electrochemistry’s ability to scale and I hope these companies learn a thing or two from building the pilot plant. (Also, in case you were wondering, SGGC’s involvement here is on the lactic acid side—there’s a lot of sugarcane to ferment in Thailand.) [LINK]

LG Chem agreed to buy Exxon’s lithium

Before I spell this one out for you, quick disclaimer: LG Chem and Exxon signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU), which basically just means that if all goes as planned they are likely to land on a real deal in a few years. I’ll let you decide why it is that public companies feel the need to publicize handshakes like this one. In any case, the announcement is still interesting to me because it demonstrates how easily a well capitalized drilling company can enter a brand new market and land an offtake agreement to supply what will be the largest cathode plant in the US (LG Chem started building the plant about a year ago)—remember, it was just 18 months ago when news broke that Exxon had bought land in Arkansas on top of the Smackover Formation (a geologic formation that houses a lithium-rich subsurface brine). Now they’re talking about drilling, using their own in-house direct lithium extraction process, and selling LG Chem 100 KTA of lithium carbonate. [LINK]

Securing phosphorus in Japan

I haven’t been around for that long, but I’m pretty sure nations have been fighting for energy and material independence ever since the birth of nations. Recently we’ve seen a lot of this in the US for securing stable semiconductor and battery supply chains, but other nations, like Japan, are dealing with another issue: phosphorus. All of the world’s phosphorus is made by contacting phosphorite (a rock that is rich in phosphate) with sulfuric acid, so if the land your nation sits upon doesn’t have meaningful phosphorite reserves you’ll be reliant on nations that do. Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals is tackling this issue by researching the valorization of phosphorus-containing by-products produced by the Japanese manufacturing industry. Ultimately I bet that sewage and water treatment facilities are the most likely candidates for phosphorus-containing waste, but the semiconductor industry is also a potential fit (they use phosphoric acid in the etching process). Also, try not to forget that peak phosphorus is a thing. [LINK]

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Other Things Happened:

Exxon is investing $200m to expand its molecular recycling operations. Syensqo is expanding their polysulfone production in Ohio. Ineos plans to build a new world scale acetic acid plant in India. Elkem is trying to figure out how to recycle silicone waste. Celanese is going to sell its CO2-based vinyl acetate monomer to Henkel so they can make CO2-based adhesives. BASF and Vulcan are now working together just one week after Vulcan started up their geothermal lithium plant. Piedmont Lithium and Sayona Mining are going to merge.