Myriant Technologies Bio-Based Succinic Acid Plant, United States of America
Key Data
Massachusetts-based Myriant Technologies is constructing the world's biggest bio-based succinic acid facility in Lake Providence, Louisiana, US. The new plant will produce 30 million lbs of bio-based succinic acid per year.
Construction of the plant is expected to commence in early 2011 and be complete by the end of 2012. An investment of $80m is expected to be made in the plant.
Lake Providence was chosen as the location for the plant as it provided a low-cost production environment. The region boasts efficient and low-cost transportation network with a combination of rail, highway and barge access. The incentives offered by the state were also a reason for choosing Lake Providence. The location also provides access to several types of feedstock. The project is expected to generate about 200 jobs in the region.
Design and construction
The new plant will be spread over a 55 acre site and have a built up area of 392,000ft². It will include a dry solids handling facility, a sorghum preparation building, fermentation facility, product separation and product recovery buildings.
A control room, administrative buildings, by-product storage building and other utilities will also be part of the plant.
Process technology
Myriant was established in June 2009 by BioEnergy International to focus on the development of bio-based chemicals. The production process of Succinic acid is based on BioEnergy's D(-) Lactic Acid technology. Developed in four years, the technology was successfully implemented for commercial production in June 2008.
The new plant will help Myriant to replicate the technology and scale up production of bio-based products including succinic acid. Myriant has already tested the technology at a pilot scale plant built with the assistance of Uhde.
The first step in the succinic acid production process includes storage and handling of sorghum grain. This step involves milling of the sorghum grains into grits for processing.
Hydrolysis and saccharification of the grits form the next steps. In these two steps, the sugars present in the grits are broken down into simple sugars. Hydrolysis includes mixing the grits with hot water and sulphuric acid to form slurry. The slurry is heated to hydrolyse the starches and then neutralised with an acid solution. Saccharification includes treating the hydrolysed starches with enzymes to produce sorghum syrup.
The next step in the process is fermentation in which the syrup is collected in a syrup tank and fermented using modified (non-GM) E.coli strains. When using lignocellulosic sugar hydrolysate as feedstock, it is directly fed into fermentation process.
Following fermentation, the solution is filtered into succinic acid and ammonium sulphate. The products are then pumped into an evaporation / crystallisation unit for product finishing.
Feedstock
The base feedstock for the plant will be sorghum grain and sorghum grits.
Lignocellulosic sugar hydrolysate derived from corn stover, sugarcane bagasse and wood chips will also be used as feedstock.
Financing
In January 2010, the US Department of Energy provided funding of $50m for construction of the plant. Myriant will receive an additional $10m from the Lake Providence Port Commission and the Louisiana Department of Transportation.
Contractors
AECOM carried out the environmental survey for the new plant. CH2MHill will build the plant with Uhde as the subcontractor. UCA is also expected to be involved in the project.
Market growth
Succinic acid is usually manufactured from petroleum-based feedstock. It can be used in a wide range of applications including polymers, fibres, solvents, pharmaceuticals, surfactants, food and pigments. Global demand for succinic acid is estimated at 40,000t/y-45,000t/y.
Myriant expects succinic acid to replace petroleum-based chemical intermediates. Bio-based succinic acid offers a renewable alternative for petroleum-based succinic acid. It can provide insulation from price volatility affecting petroleum-based chemicals. The technology used to produce bio-based succinic acid is more environmentally friendly as it uses less carbon and energy than petroleum-based succinic acid.
