LEIPSIG-based Global Bioenergies is constructing its second industrial pilot on the site of the Leuna refinery in Germany. With grant of EUR5.7 million from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and including a three year study at the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes (CBP), the new isobutene plant will have a pre-commercial pilot production capacity of up to 100 tonnes per year. The isobutene produced here can be used for the fabrication of plastics, elastomers and fuels.
“After conducting a systematic assessment of available pilot facilities in North America and Europe, we have concluded that the Fraunhofer CBP platform in Leuna offers the unique combination of fermentation capabilities and olefin-oriented chemical engineering. Articulating our process with the recognised German knowledge in chemical engineering will be a key success factor,” says Marc Delcourt, CEO of Global Bioenergies SA.
This second pilot is the final step in Global Bioenergies’ development programme before the full scale exploitation of the isobutene process.