Danimer Scientific has expanded the capacity of its Rinnovo demonstration plant in Rochester, New York, United States. When operated continuously, the expanded demonstration plant can produce 20 tonnes annually, which represents a 20 times scale up from the previous production capacity.
Rinnovo polymers are a type of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthesised from lactones. The lactone monomers are produced using Novo22 catalyst technology, originally developed by Novomer, which Danimer acquired in 2021. The polymers are aliphatic polyesters that can be used as an alternative to polyolefins including PE, PP, and PET.
Rinnovo is synthesised using a thermocatalytic process, which Danimer believes can be produced at a lower cost than PHA produced via fermentation processes. One of the issues that has long hindered attempts to scale up PHA production is the cost of the carbon source metabolised by microorganisms in fermentation processes, which has made traditional methods for PHAs production extremely expensive. Danimer expects the capital cost to build a future commercial capacity of Rinnovo will be ‘significantly less’ than commercial plants using fermentation processes to produce other types of PHAs.
Key features of the expansion project include a larger carbonylation reactor, installation of three additional fractional distillation towers, a larger polymerisation reactor and a polymer drying unit. The demonstration plant also features enhanced controls and data collection that will support additional process condition testing and optimisation of the commercial plant design.
“We are thrilled to have the Rinnovo demonstration plant expansion completed, allowing us to accelerate our efforts to gain offtake commitments for this exciting polymer platform,” said Stephen E. Croskrey, CEO of Danimer. “Further, I would like to commend the entire Danimer team in Rochester for their efforts to bring the facility on line safely and within budget.”
In September 2023, Danimer and Chevron Philips Chemical joined forces to scale up Rinnovo production, in the hope to lower prices.