Butanediol (BDO) is an important industrial building-block chemical, which is incorporated in various commodity chains involving multiple intermediates and derivatives with versatile applications, including electronics, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and agrochemical industry, as well as production of engineering plastics, polyurethanes, biodegradable polyesters, spandex, specialty chemicals, solvents, paints, coatings, adhesives, wetting agents, textiles, paper, etc. JM Davy’s butanediol-manufacturing technology (one of the main BDO-producing methods competing with more outdated Reppe method) converts butane-derived maleic anhydride (MAH) to BDO, tetrahydrofuran (THF) and gamma butyrolactone (GBL) in a few stages, including esterification, hydrogenolysis and refining: 1) MAH + methanol ® dimethyl maleate (DMM); 2) DMM + hydrogen ® dimethyl succinate (DMS); 3) DMS ® gamma butyrolactone (GBL) ® BDO and THF.
Simplified JM Davy’s process for producing BDO/THF/GBL product mix via MAH (derived from butane)
Hence, BDO acts as a precursor or component (but also as a co-product) in a very complex manufacturing and commercial systems with intricate direct and indirect relationships between elements, environment, processes, inputs and outputs. The majority of BDO production is petrochemical-based. The recent trend in the industry is bio-based “green” BDO production from renewable feedstock. Myriant and JM Davy developed a process to produce commercial-grade biobased BDO and THF at JM Davy’s facility at Teesside (UK) with the help of bio-succinic acid supplied by Myriant and processed with the JM Davy BDO/THF production technology. This method is reportedly highly carbon-efficient and competitive from value-for-the-money perspective; it is also very flexible and market-sensitive with respect to choosing variable BDO-THF-GBL ratios subject to market, manufacturing and other conditions. Bio-based succinic acid used to replace maleic anhydride might become a step forward on the way to petroleum-free economy, especially in view of recent endeavors to reduce carbon footprint and diminish dependence on petroleum hydrocarbons.
In April 2015, BioAmber entered into a technology license agreement with JM Davy to construct and operate a plant that uses bio-succinic acid as the feedstock to produce 1,4-butanediol (BDO) and tetrahydrofuran (THF). BASF produced first commercial volumes of BDO from a renewable raw material, dextrose, based on a patented fermentation technology from Genomatica. According to BASF, “Since this is the first renewable BDO in the world which is manufactured by an industrial-scale process, it is difficult to estimate the growth and size of this product. The growth will depend on acceptance of renewable-based BDO along the value chain and of end-consumers as well as regulatory requirements. Furthermore, a formal lifecycle assessment is under development.” In general, substitution of petrochemical-derived feedstocks by chemically identical (or nearly identical) biomass-originated raw materials might become a very prospective trend of modern “green” chemistry, since it is not only adheres to Sustainable Development principles, but also has a potential to mitigate negative consequences of petroleum product price fluctuations.
More information on the BDO market can be found in in-demand market research report “Butanediol (BDO) 2015 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2019”.