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Evonik starts construction of
RENEWABLE NEWS Evonik starts construction of rhamnolipid plant
Speciality chemical company Evonik started construction work on a new biosurfactant rhamnolipid plant in Slovakia on 29 June.
The new triple-digit millio-euro plant in Slovenská Ľupča was the world’s first commercial rhamnolipids production site and was scheduled to come on stream in two years, the company said.
Rhamnolipids are a class of biosurfactants which are manufactured via fermentation, with their foam-forming properties making them suitable for use in household cleaners and personal care products.
Evonik is using European corn sugar as the main raw material.
“This use of biogenic carbon requires no petrochemical feedstocks or tropical oils ... which means they are a sustainable alternative to conventional surfactants” said Evonik, which will supply consumer products giant Unilever in an exclusive partnership which began in 2019.
“When we started using [Evonik’s rhamnolipids] in Unilever’s Quix dishwashing brand in Chile in 2019, it was the first time the biosurfactant had been used in a household cleaning product anywhere in the world,” Unilever said in January. “Following this pilot and the biosurfactant’s introduction into our Sunlight hand dishwash in Vietnam, we were keen to roll it out across our global hand dishwashing portfolio.”
Unilever said its partnership with Evonik also opened the possibility of using rhamnolipids in other areas of home care.
Evonik said the new facility at its biotech hub would expand its biotechnology platform, part of the company’s Nutrition & Care life sciences division.
IN BRIEF
SOUTH KOREA: Chemical and life sciences company SK Chemicals announced on 9 May that it had started the mass production and supply of biopolyol (polyoxytrimethylene ether glycol or PO3G).
The company has built a mass production system to produce several thousand tonnes of the ECOTRION material, which was made from 100% plant-based raw materials and designed to replace petrochemical-based polyols, SK Chemicals said.
A type of alcohol, polyol is a raw material used to manufacture spandex, polyurethane (artificial leather, foam and other products) and urethane elastomer.
SK Chemicals said ECOTRON had been certified by the US Department of Agriculture and Belgian accredited inspection and certification organisation VINCOTTE, and was softer than existing materials when applied to textiles and artificial leather. US researchers have developed new oil-based or oleo gels to help children and adults who have problems swallowing pills to take medicine, Science Daily reported on 27 May.
The research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brigham and Women’s Hospital showed in animal studies that the gels could be used to deliver medication in the same doses compared with pills or tablets.
Several types of plant-derived oils – including sesame, cottonseed and flaxseed oils – were combined with edible gelling agents such as beeswax and rice bran wax, creating different textures, from a thickened drink to a yoghurt-like substance. Such gels are commonly used in the food industry to change the texture of oily foods and raise the melting point of chocolate and ice cream.
Although other methods were available to deliver medication to children and adults with difficulties swallowing, such as suspending drugs in water, they required clean water and the drugs needed to be refrigerated once mixed, and this approach was not possible for drugs that were not water-soluble, the report said.
As the new gels were stable without refrigeration, it could make it easier to deliver them to children in developing nations while helping adults, such as the elderly or people who have had a stroke.
The gels were tested with three water-insoluble drugs from the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines for children: praziquantel to treat parasitic infections; lumefantrine to treat malaria; and azithromycin to treat bacterial infections.
Oleo gels developed to aid pill swallowing
Some children and adults have problems swallowing pills
Indonesian construction engineering company Protech Mitra Perkasa, also known by its stock symbol OASA, has announced plans for a US$50M bio-propylene glycol plant in Indonesia, the Jakarta Globe writes.
Construction of the 30,000 tonnes/year facility on Java Island is due to begin next year, according to the 24 May report.
Protech Mitra Perkasa president-director Bobby Gafur Umar said the company’s entry into the chemical industry was in line with its commitment to the green industry.
As Indonesia did not currently produce propylene glycol domestically, it was dependant on imports of the chemical, he said. However, the country had “huge potential” as a bio-propylene glycol producer.
“Biodiesel is also an oleochemical industry that produces glycerol, [and it is] an industry that is growing at a rapid rate in Indonesia. So, there is an abundance of glycerol [as a feedstock] for bio-propylene glycol.”
OASA said it would be working in partnership with Japanese general trading company Sojitz, which would supply it with crude and refined glycerine, while also distributing the bio-propylene glycol.
