The 40 Hottest Technologies of 2018 – as voting gets underway, the nominees in depth
Nitrilation: A Green Process to Manufacture Bio-Based Acrylonitrile
What does it do, how does it work, who is it aimed at?
NREL has developed a green, sustainable route to produce the commodity chemical acrylonitrile that can be polymerized to polyacrylonitrile (the primary building block in carbon fibers), via nitrilation chemistry. The hybrid biological/catalytic method achieves an unprecedented 98% yield of acrylonitrile from 3-hydroxypropionic acid, which can be biologically produced from biomass sugars, glycerol, syngas, and other low-cost renewable feedstocks. The nitrilation process stands in stark contrast to the current petroleum route to produce acrylonitrile, which requires much more expensive catalysts, produces hydrogen cyanide and other toxic side products, suffers from a much lower yield, employs highly exothermic hazardous chemistry, and uses a petroleum feedstock. Nitrilation, on the other hand, uses cheap, industrially relevant catalysts, produces only water and alcohol as byproducts, exhibits high yields, is endothermic (thus easy to control), and uses a bio-based feedstock.
Competitively, what gives this technology an edge?
NREL s bio-derived nitrilation process answers the escalating need for a cost-effective, eco-friendly method of producing acrylonitrile. All other bio-based routes to acrylonitrile still use ammoxidation and thus exhibit all the environmental disadvantages inherent in the petrochemical process and cannot compete in terms of cost and yield. Benefits include: –Unprecedented acrylonitrile yields of 98%, Cost-competitive acrylonitrile price of ~$0.79/lb, Cost-competitive production of other nitriles from biomass, Carbon fiber pricing <$5 per pound, saving manufacturers $13-$20 million/yr, Feedstock chemicals renewably sourced for lower carbon footprint, 88% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, No toxic waste, less expensive catalysts, Endothermic process, less energy required for cooling, Simple reactor configuration, no explosion hazards or runaway reactions, Decrease petroleum dependence; significant reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels
What stage of development is this technology at right now?
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