Sponsored By
Karen Laird

October 13, 2016

2 Min Read
Anellotech raises $1.5 million from new strategic investor

Anellotech has received an equity investment of $1.5 million from a new, undisclosed strategic investor. Previous investors in the company include Axens, IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), Johnson Matthey, Suntory and Toyota Tsusho. This latest investment underscores the strong interest in the market in the development of Anellotech’s proprietary thermal catalytic biomass conversion technology (“Bio-TCat”) for cost-competitively producing aromatics including paraxylene and benzene, from non-food biomass.

“When considering the current oil price environment, this is exceptional,” said David Sudolsky, President & CEO of Anellotech. “It signifies a bullish perspective on the cost competitiveness of the Bio-TCat technology, and a strong commitment by our new partner to support the development of bio-based aromatics.”

Anellotech said the funding will be used for the Bio-TCat R&D program, at the forefront of which is the TCat-8 development and testing facility, where commissioning activities began on September 1, 2016.  This 25-meter-tall unit is designed to confirm the viability and suitability of the Bio-TCat process for scale up, and generate the data needed to design commercial plants, planned for the end of this decade.

The TCat-8 unit was jointly designed by Anellotech and its R&D partner IFPEN, and will use a novel catalyst under joint development by Anellotech and Johnson Matthey.  Three technical experts from Anellotech partner IFPEN are now on site where they will be working side-by-side with Anellotech engineers for the next two years.

The Bio-TCat process efficiently and cost-competitively produces bio-based aromatics, including paraxylene, benzene, toluene and other xylenes (BTX), from non-food sources. BTX is used to make high volume plastics, such as polyester (polyethylene terephthalate or “PET”), polystyrene, nylons and also ABS. By using renewable and readily available low-cost feedstocks, such as wood, sawdust, corn stover and bagasse, the Bio-TCat process is less expensive compared to processes that use sugar-based feedstocks and avoids competition with the food chain.

Anellotech's competitive advantage is also derived from its use of a simple process – performing all process reactions in one fluid bed reactor where biomass is thermally broken down and then catalytically converted into aromatics. As a result, these bio-based aromatics can be sold profitably against their identical, petroleum-derived counterparts. “Despite strong industry demand, there is no commercially available, renewable-based paraxylene, a critical missing component required to make 100 percent bio-based PET products on the market today, nor other bio based aromatics needed for bio-nylon, polystyrene, ABS, or linear alkyl benzene,” Sudolsky said. “Partnerships – and the strong support from a growing number of highly knowledgeable strategic, brand owner investors – will enable us to fulfill this unmet demand.”

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