Rennovia plans renewable polyamide

Yet another new US company is developing drop-in bio-based monomers to replace oil-derived chemicals in manmade fibres and nonwovens.

Rennovia, based in Menlo Park, California, has developed bio-based adipic acid and hexamethylene diamine (HMD) to make 100% polyamide 6.6.

Speaking at the 2013 Dornbirn Manmade Fibre Conference in Austria, Gary Diamond, the company’s vice-president of product development, explained that the processes the company has developed for manufacturing these renewable chemicals are based on glucose feedstocks and could lead to significant costs savings, in addition to massively driving down the greenhouse gases generated in production.

The company’s calculations suggest 34% lower capital requirement, 15% lower raw materials, 20% lower utilities  and 30% lower manufacturing costs for a full-scale industrial plant.

Stringent purity specifications, however, will need to be met for bio-based adipic acid and HMD to qualify for polyamide 6.6 applications.

Rennovia’s strategy is consequently to demonstrate product purity and full equivalence of product at the integrated mini-plants it is planning to be operational in 2014, at which all recycle loops will be closed and products that are fully representative of the commercial scale performance can be made.