🏭 It's basically battery glue

Good morning. One reader who used to work at a phosgene plant pointed out that if you're smelling the freshly mowed-grass-smell of phosgene it's already too late—apparently it's TLV is 0.1ppm, but we can't smell it until 0.4ppm.

From the condenser:

· Solvay's PVDF expansion progress

· The US DOE and DAC

· POTD: athletic shoes

Wood will build Solvay's PVDF expansion

Belgian chemical company, Solvay, has selected Wood to design and build out their polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) expansion in Tavaux, France.

What are they making?

PVDF is a fluoropolymer traditionally produced by polymerizing vinylidene fluoride—an HFO that can trace its roots to the combination of petroleum-based hydrocarbons and halogen gases. The polymer is most well-known for its use in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) as a cathode binder, anode binder, and as a separator coating.

One step downstream:

Just for clarity, the polymer is used as a binder by literally mixing it with cathode active materials or anode active materials. The resulting mixture is a slurry that battery manufacturers roll out into sheets and then coil into cylindrical cells. PVDF holds everything together. LG Chem made a little slide show that does a great job illustrating the process.

Zooming out:

Solvay announced this expansion a couple of months ago—today's update is basically just evidence that the project is progressing. Don't be surprised if you see more PVDF expansions soon. Solvay has been constantly expanding this site for the last couple of years and Arkema is up to the same thing. Remember, rapidly expanding demand for EVs means rapidly expanding demand for all of the molecules used to make them.

The US DOE wants us to have DAC

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced plans to fund a $3.5 billion program to incentivize the construction of direct air capture (DAC) hubs for large-scale CO2 removal.

Some context:

DAC refers to capturing already-emitted-CO2 from ambient air (like a robot tree). Critics of DAC preach that the low concentration of CO2 in air, roughly 0.04%, implies a higher cost of separation relative the concentration found in emission sources (10-60%). From a thermodynamic perspective this is true. So, if your goal is to capture as much CO2 as possible, you will get the best bang for your buck at an emission source. But that's not really the goal of DAC.

So, what's the goal?

People talk about DAC because even if we put an end to CO2 emissions we'd still be left with whatever accumulated in the atmosphere. It's like putting the cap back on a milk jug after you already dropped the milk jug and milk exploded everywhere—at some point the cap doesn't help. So, you can either plant trees or build DAC plants. At least with the latter you can pitch the promise of innovation and cost reduction. Maybe you could even use the CO2 to create a new market for premium CO2-based chemicals. Money will go where there's a chance that money will grow (sort of).

Looking forward:

This notice from the DOE is basically just a bat signal for DAC companies to apply. All projects require minimum capture and storage plans of 1 million metric tons of CO2 per year. That's roughly equivalent to the emissions produced by 250,000 cars annually. So, for example, Climeworks' 5,000 ton per year site wouldn't make the cut even if it was in the US and Occidental Petroleum and Carbon Engineering's proposed site in West Texas would.

Some more headlines:

• Rio Tinto and BP are going to trial marine biofuels

• Sumitomo's soybean fungicide just got the stamp of approval from Brazil

• Haldor Topsoe is planning to build the world's largest electrolyzer production facility

• It looks like Air Liquide will reach their 2035 CO2 goals

• Some Canadian activists want to bandecabromodiphenyl ethane without a proposed replacement

Product of The Day:

Today, we're breaking down athletic shoes:

When people buy athletic shoes they consider a bunch of different factors. Stuff like comfort, fit, durability, brand, and appearance are what determine the pair we walk out with. We owe it to the shoe companies for designing these things and to the shoe manufacturers for putting them together—but who is responsible for the materials they are made of?

You'll find that closed cell foam made of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) makes up most of the midsoles out there (thanks to its low density and high elasticity). But recently some polyurethane foams, most notably BASF's Infinergy, has gained popularity for its use inAdidas' Ultraboosts. Aside from those two main materials the rest of the shoe is mainly rubbers, adhesives (here's a good list, and polyester fabrics.

In case you're interested:

• Podcast: Check out this episode featuring a metallurgy and process development expert.

• Learn: The Column gets its name from the separation unit processes. Check out this course to learn why mass transfer operations are the core of the industry.*

• Tip: Interested in buying alternative assets? Use MoneyMade to get started in crypto, art, wine, and more.*

• Safety Moment: Chevron's Richmond Refinery caught fire in 2012—take a moment to learn why.

The bottoms: