Acrylic Acid Green Makeover
Two chemical companies are on the race to make acrylic acid greener. Acrylic acid is used in the manufacture of various plastics, coatings, adhesives, elastomers as well as floor polishes and paints.
France-based Arkema said it has already concluded a successful collaboration with Germany-based hte (the high throughput experimentation company) on trying to convert glycerol to acrylic acid and acrolein by screening a variety of new suitable catalysts.
Arkema said hte's technology saved a vast amount of time and they were able to produce results in a matter of months that would normally have taken over two years using conventional testing equipment. No word yet on Arkema's next step with the project. A pilot plant perhaps?
Meanwhile, ICIS News reported (this link is subscription only) that US-based Novomer is working to produce a greener acrylic acid using ethylene and recycled carbon monoxide. The process, according to Novomer, would create higher yields, fewer byproducts and require less energy compared to the traditional propylene-based acrylic acid route.
