Decarbonisation Technology - August 2023 Issue

A bio-based solution for producing renewable ethylene Atol utilises a unique catalyst and an innovative energy recovery system to produce cost-effective bio-ethylene from renewable sources

Jorge Martinez-Gacio and Yvon Bernard Axens

E thylene is one of the world’s most important olefin intermediates in the petrochemical industry and is widely used in the production of plastics and other chemical derivatives. These are used in numerous applications and have countless practical uses in our society (AFPM, 2017). However, its production still relies essentially on fossil feedstocks and energy-intensive steam crackers. Atol, a technology developed in a collaboration between Axens, IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), and TotalEnergies, utilises a unique catalyst and energy recovery system to produce cost- effective bio-ethylene from renewable sources, bringing competitive prospects to decarbonise the industry.

Ethylene: an omnipresent molecule in modern life Used to produce everything from plastic bottles, packaging, and fibres to cleaning products, surfactants and cosmetics, ethylene is one of the most prevalent molecules in today’s industrial economy. As an intermediate chemical, it is the basis for many of the compounds that make up the products we use in our daily lives:  Polyethylene (PE), used to make packaging films and containers  Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), used to make various textile fibres and plastic bottles  Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), used to make piping and home fixtures  Ethylene oxide (EO), used to make

Packaging lms

Drugs bottles

Bio-PE

1G ethanol

Beverage bottles

Fibres

Bio-PET

Cellulosic ethanol

Piping

Bio- ethylene

Futurol

Atol

Bio-PVC

Home surfaces

Biochemical pathway

Catalytic pathway

PE-glycols Pharma, Cosmetics

Bio-EO

Ethoxylates Detergents

Ethanol from CO/CO/H sources

Polyurethanes Foams

Figure 1 Leveraging biomass for bio-ethylene-based applications