issue 05/2021

Green2Black
developing biobased acrylonitrile
By:
S. Schonauer, T. Röding & T. Gries
Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Due to the transition towards renewable resources as
well as politically set goals by 2030, the industry is facing
fundamental changes in energy supply and its raw
material base. This bears the risk of shortages, rising prices,
or incompatibility with established processes. It therefore
makes sense to develop processes with which fossil-based
basic materials can gradually be replaced by renewable ones.
The ITA of RWTH Aachen University is currently in the process
of developing such a drop-in solution for the basic chemical
acrylonitrile (ACN).
ACN is one of the most important basic chemicals or
monomers for the plastics industry worldwide. The demand in
the international context lies around 6 million tonnes per year
with a slight trend upwards [1, 2]. Currently, ACN is produced
within the petrochemical industry. This means that ACN is
produced on the basis of mineral oil. Its use as a raw material
entails not only various risks for society and nature but is also
not consistent with present ecological goals. Alternative initial
raw materials that result in a sustainable process chain are a
promising solution for tackling these problems. [3]
The materials made from ACN are classified as engineering
grade plastics and are used in mechanical, automotive, and
electrical engineering, as well as in consumer products. Their
range of application includes but is not limited to synthetic fibres
for household or clothing textiles, thermal as well as electrical
insulation, or implementation in high-performance materials.
Additionally, ACN derived polyacrylonitrile is the dominating
material in the production of precursors for carbon fibres. The
global market covers an annual demand of all these materials
of about 21.5 million tonnes. In fact, its usage in comparison to
other standard polymers such as polypropylene, has risen more
over the last years [4].
One of the objectives of the innovative project Green2Black is
the production of the basic chemical ACN based on renewable
resources, namely glycerine derived from biomass. The ultimate
goal of the project then being the production of biobased carbon
fibres. Providing a proof-of-concept on a technical scale of both
ACN production and its further processing into materials, would
open up part of the existing product tree (Fig. 1) to renewable
carbon sources, while using existing infrastructure.
The Rhenish mining region offers existing infrastructure with
established petrochemical and biotechnological industry plants.
Coal mining or related jobs in that field are historically significant
in the region but have been diminished in the last decades. A
change to a bio-economic industry could compensate those lost
jobs by creating new opportunities and labour in the future. The
feedstock used for biobased ACN is a by-product of regional
vegetable oil processing, and even significantly cheaper than
crude oil. Thus, this innovative approach has great potential
to create not only an economically competitive alternative to
the fossil-based production process of ACN, but one based on
renewable resources with a likely creation of new jobs. This
could in addition foster increased public acceptance which is of
paramount importance for overall success.
[1] N.N.: Markets & Profitability, Market Analytics: Acrylonitrile – 2018.
URL: www.NexantSubsriptions.com
[2] Baldwin, D.: 2018 Glycerine structural shift, Vantage Oleochemicals,
ICIS Pan American Confenrence, October 2018
[3] Karp, E.; Eaton, T.; Sanchez I Nogué, V. et al.: Reneable acrylonitrile
production, Science 08 Dec 2017, Vol. 358, Issue 6368, pp. 1307-1310
[4] Goyal, A.: WBS 2.3.1.200 Biomass conversion to acrylonitrile monomerprecursor
for the production of carbon fibers, U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) 2017 Project peer
Review, Biochemical conversion, March 8, 2017
www.ita.rwth-aachen.de
Fibres, Textiles textiles
Fig. 1: Product tree of
Acrylonitrile (ACN)
bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/21] Vol. 16 21