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From the condenser:

· Visolis and Gingko's isoprene and SAF deal

· Agilyx and plastic-to-BTX

· POTD: submarine cables

SUSTAINBLE CHEMICALS

Visolis and Gingko are teaming up

Sustainable chemicals startup, Visolis, is partnering with Gingko Bioworks to optimize Visolis' molecule-making microbe.

A little history:

After BioAmber (a failed succinic acid startup) filed for bankruptcy in early 2018, Visolis and LCY Chemical acquired its assets for $4.8 million. While LCY is apparently operating the succinic acid site again today, it sounds like Visolis' initial plan was to bring other molecules to market by retrofitting the existing units on-site.

So, what's this partnership?

Visolis core technology seems to be based on a microbe that came out of a UC Berkeley lab; one that produces mevalonic acid from either plant-based sugars or cellulose. The company is looking to convert that stuff into isoprene and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), but it's not clear how they intend on doing so, other than their mention of strapping conventional oxidative chemical processes onto the end of their bio-based process (which sounds like what Solugen is doing).

Bigger picture:

The markets for isoprene and SAF are very large, which is exactly the opposite of what Visolis was initially looking to do: "[they are] entering the market with much higher-value products, produced at lower volumes but higher margins, compared to BioAmber’s approach, which focused on commodity chemicals." Why did this change? Maybe government incentives are playing a role, maybe strain engineering via Gingko has drastically improved over the last 5 years, or maybe isoprene and SAF paint a prettier picture for fundraising.

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MOLECULAR RECYCLING

Upgrading pyrolysis oil to BTX

Molecular plastic recycling startup, Agilyx, might combine its process with that of Netherlands-based process technology company, BioBTX.

A little background:

Molecular recycling refers to a bunch of different technologies that recycle plastic waste at a molecular level. That usually means depolymerization, and depolymerization is either done to specific plastic waste (like Eastman's methanolysis of PET), or it's done to mixed plastic waste (usually by pyrolysis). In the case of pyrolysis, you end up with some pyrolysis oil that is similar to naphtha, so it's eventually "recycled" by feeding it into a naphtha steam cracker (to make the monomers we use to make polymers).

So, what's this partnership?

Since mixed plastic waste contains a lot of different polymers, the resulting pyrolysis oil contains a lot of different molecules. Agilyx has a process that makes that pyrolysis oil. BioBTX has a process that converts vaporized pyrolysis oil into benzene, toluene, and xylene (that's BTX) with the help of a catalyst. It sounds like Agilyx wants to strap BioBTX's process onto its process and produce BTX instead of pyrolysis oil.

Zooming out:

Going from plastic waste to BTX is effectively what Encina is looking to do. If the BTX they produce is a more direct substitute for refinery-produced BTX, then maybe this is the path of least resistance for pyrolysis-based recycling to scale (especially if this BTX doesn't have as much contamination as normal pyrolysis oil). Keep the customers in mind here—not all petrochemical companies with steam crackers also have units that separately consume BTX.

Some more headlines

• Covestro is celebrating the 10year anniversary of its solar panel coatings plant

• DuPont's silicone elastomer can be used for single-use biopharma applications

• Viva Aerobus agreed to buy 1 million liters of sustainable aviation fuel from Neste

• Keppel and ExxonMobil are looking for low-carbon ammonia solutions in Singapore

• Indorama Ventures might not get into lithium-ion battery solvents anymore

Product of The Day

Today, we're breaking down submarine cables.

About 99% of the data crossing the oceans is carried by extremely long cables underwater. Today, some 436 of these cables (here's a map) enable the modern internet as we know it. They make the world wide web world wide.

As you might imagine, the kind of cable used to connect continents is a little different than the one that brings the internet to your router at home. The data itself is carried by optical fibers that have been coated with petroleum jelly (from refineries) as a buffer for bending stress (optical fibers can snap). The cable is then surrounded by a copper tube (to carry electricity), then a polycarbonate, some aluminum and stainless steel, then biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BoPET) with acrylic adhesive on one side, and finally cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) as the outermost layer of protection.

That BoPET acrylic adhesive tape is marketed as Mylar by DuPont and PEX is made from HDPE.

The reboiler

• Safety Moment: Read this article to learn more about static electricity, its effects within the workplace, and how to mitigate a fires from static electricity discharge.

• Written Interview: Give this conversation featuring the CEO of Olin on the epoxy, acetyl, and chlorovinyl chains a read.

• Book: How can you expect to understand the chemical industry without knowing its history? Start with Fred Aftalion's introduction.*

The bottoms

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