Pyromaniax Update: Anellotech Raises $7M from Mystery Investor, Takes on Key Scale-Up Data Task
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Will fund 25M high unit, Operational in 2016, to confirm viability of confirm viability Bio-TCat process for scale-up
In New York, Anellotech revealed that it had raised $7M of its current $10M investment round from a single investor, described as a “new, multinational corporate strategic investor” but not otherwise identified. The remaining $3 million in this round is expected to come within the next few months, the company added, and from the same mystery investor. The investor joins existing partners Axens, IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), Johnson Matthey, and other industry leaders.
The use of the funds
The funding will be used for the development of the Bio-TCat process, including the installation of Anellotech’s new, fully-integrated development and testing facility which will be operational in 2016.
This 25 meter-tall unit will confirm the viability and suitability of the Bio-TCat process for scale up, and generate the data needed to design commercial plants using the technology, planned for the end of the 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.
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The Bio-TCat process produces bio-based aromatics, including paraxylene, benzene, toluene and other xylenes (BTX), from non-food sources. BTX is used to make significant plastics, such as polyester (polyethylene terephthalate or “PET”), polystyrene, polyurethane, and nylon.
And why is this interesting?
This is bio-based. Not made from fermenting sugars, but from basic agricultural and other residues biomass. “We don’t do experiments with pristine cellulose we buy from a supplier,” CEO David Sudolsky told The Digest. “We use ordinary biomass and plan for things that go wrong, such as if we are harvesting and things come in with dirt. We put that into the development unit. READ MORE
