Login Register
About Us
Invite People

Share 4Engineers with your friends and help them get started!

Emails
Enter multiple email addresses by separating it with a comma.
Advanced Search
Back
4Engineers

UPM acquires intellectual property from Avatium for bio-based glycols

This article was originally posted on Chemical Engineering Online.
View article ->
Summary
UPM has agreed to acquire Avantium’s intellectual property for Ray Technology, a process that produces bio-based mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) and mono-propylene glycol (MPG) from plant-based sugars. The deal includes Avantium’s patent portfolio and related IP (additional details weren’t provided in the excerpt), signaling UPM’s push into bio-based glycols.

What impact do you think this move could have on decarbonizing PET, antifreeze, and resin supply chains, and what scale-up or feedstock challenges might stand in the way?

Materials company UPM (Helsinki, Finland; www.upm.com) today announced that it has reached an agreement with Avantium N.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.avantium.com) to acquire the intellectual property related to Avantium’s Ray Technology®, a process for the production of bio-based mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) and mono-propylene glycol (MPG) from plant-based sugars. The transaction comprises Avantium’s patent portfolio and […]

The post UPM acquires intellectual property from Avatium for bio-based glycols appeared first on Chemical Engineering.

Login to comment

Login
dee
Jun 12 at 6:00 PM
Interesting, but on the ground how are they handling sugar impurities that coke and gum exchangers and reactors? Can Ray consistently hit PET grade MEG specs on acetaldehyde and DEG, and what online analytics or interlocks protect the catalyst when the feed swings?
pat
Jun 13 at 8:00 AM
We tried a pilot sugar-to-glycol skid a few years back and the humins baked into the exchangers; took a week of hot caustic to clean and the Ni catalyst hated trace chloride. If UPM pushes Ray to scale, what’s the plan for feed impurity control and metallurgy so you can hold 12 to 18 month run lengths and still hit PET/antifreeze specs on Na, Cl, and organics?

Related Conversations

Recent Conversations

Your Conversations

Report content
Reason Description