Developing wood biorefineries

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2009
• Weight: 68 KB
• Volume: 2009
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1351-4180
• DOI: 10.1016/s1351-4180(09)70480-5

✦ Synopsis

Shokubai will build and run a pilot plant in FY 2010 to validate a technology for producing acrylic acid using raw materials from plants. The manufacture of acrylic acid-based superabsorbent polymers for disposable diapers is one of Nippon Shokubai's major businesses, and the use of carbon-neutral acrylic acid would advance its aim of serving societal needs to protect the environment. Candidate sites for the facility include Nippon Shokubai's Himeji works and its acrylic acid manufacturing base at Hyogo Prefecture. Nippon Shokubai plans to start basic-design work for a full-scale facility in FY 2011, and is considering initiating commercial-scale production after FY 2012. Nippon Shokubai's technology involves the use of its newly developed catalyst to dehydrate high-purity glycerol to obtain acrolein as an intermediate, which is then converted into acrylic acid using its advanced oxidation-reaction technology.