Scaling up the Isobutene process in the Leuna Demo plant
Global Bioenergies has succeeded in producing Isobutene by fermentation at the scale of the Leuna Demo plant, a 5,000 litre fermenter, with performances exceeding those performed on the pilot plant in Pomacle (a 500 litre fermenter).
Success in this phase of the process’ scale up was obtained five months after start-up of the fermentation unit at the Leuna Demo plant, in December 2016. This is a milestone on the path to large scale operation of the Isobutene process.
Ales Bulc, Managing Director of the German subsidiary of Global Bioenergies, says: “The direct production of gaseous Isobutene by fermentation is a novel field which we are pioneering. It was far from certain that we would be able to so quickly replicate at the scale of the demo plant the results achieved in smaller volumes.” Rick Bockrath, VP Chemical Engineering, added: “Today, the process is still below commercial metrics and our efforts over the coming months will focus on improving productivity.” Marc Delcourt, CEO of Global Bioenergies, concludes: “One of our major objectives for 2017 will be to come closer to commercial performances. We will then have a mature process, ready to be transferred to the future commercial plants.”
Source: Global Bioenergies
Read more