The Dow Chemical Company and OPX Biotechnologies, Inc. (OPXBIO) are collaborating to develop an industrial scale process for the production of bio-based acrylic acid from renewable feedstocks. (OPXBIO is also developing, with ARPA-E project funding, diesel fuel bio-processed from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Earlier post.)
Dow and OPXBIO recently signed a joint development agreement to prove the technical and economic viability of an industrial-scale process to produce acrylic acid using a fermentable sugar (such as corn and/or cane sugar) feedstock with equal performance qualities as petroleum-based acrylic acid, creating a direct replacement option for the market. If collaborative research is successful, the companies will discuss commercialization opportunities that could bring bio-based acrylic acid to market in three to five years.
Dow, a leading global producer of acrylic acid and esters, will provide its expertise in industrial chemistry, process optimization and product development. OPXBIO, a company that uses biotechnology to convert renewable raw materials into biochemicals and fuels, will contribute its expertise in strain development and bioprocessing utilizing its EDGE (Efficiency Directed Genome Engineering) technology.
Using EDGE, OPXBIO developed and piloted the microbe and bioprocess that will produce BioAcrylic in 18 months at lower cost than petro-acrylic with a 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
The global petroleum-based acrylic acid market is $8 billion and growing 3 to 4 percent per year. Acrylic acid is a key chemical building block used in a wide range of consumer goods including paints, adhesives, diapers and detergents.
Dow is interested in bio-based products that are economically competitive to petrochemical-based products with equal or advantaged performance qualities. Through the use of innovative technologies and sustainable raw materials, this project may enable Dow to diversify its product offerings for customers.
—Pat Gottschalk, business director and vice president, Dow Performance Monomers
During an 18-month pilot-scale program, OPXBIO demonstrated that its EDGE technology enables the manufacture of acrylic acid using renewable feedstock. A life cycle analysis conducted by Symbiotic Engineering, a greenhouse gas and sustainability consultant, concluded that OPXBIO’s production process can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 70% when compared to traditional petroleum-based acrylic acid production.