www.praj.net

CARBOHYDRATES TO PLATFORM CHEMICALS

Challenges & Opportunities in developing

Sustainable Green Technologies

Pramod Kumbhar; Ph. D

Executive Vice-President

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Outline

• Praj and Praj Matrix

• Renewable chemicals : Perspective

• Conversion Technologies

• Levulinic acid/Ethyl levulinate

• Summary

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Praj Industries Limited - Background

• Established in 1984

• 1st Company to avail of VC funding in India through

ICICI

• Listed on Indian Stock Exchanges

• Business Lines

• BioEthanol

• Breweries

• Water and Wastewater

• Sugar and Ethanol Performance Enhancers

• Livestock Health and Nutrition

• Energy Crops Services

• Critical Process Equipment

• Over 500 references in 60 countries

• Over 275,000 sq ft of world class manufacturing

facilities meeting global standards

3 Praj Proprietary and Confidential Information

The largest resource base for the BioEthanol Industry with global

experience over diverse feedstock

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Praj Matrix – The Innovation Center

US$ 25+ Million investment

80,000 sq ft of Labs, Pilot Plants, and

Offices

115 technologists and growing

30 PhDs, 80 Masters

4 Technology COEs

Biology, Chemistry, Engineering

16 Well Equipped Labs

ISO-9001-2008 Analytical Labs

4 Praj Proprietary and Confidential Information

Bench and Pilot scale facilities enable validation of scientific assumptions

and rapid commercialization

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Praj Matrix – Infrastructure &

Capabilities

5 Praj Proprietary and Confidential Information

www.praj.net 6

Praj-Matrix : Focus areas

Downstream

Processing •Extraction

•Distillation

•Crystallization

•Membrane

separations

Conversion

Technologies • Bio-chemical Fungal, yeast, bacteria • Chemo-catalytic Homogeneous catalysis Heterogeneous catalysis

Products

•Fuels

Ethanol,

Advanced biofuels

•Chemicals

Furfural

Tetrahydrofuran

Xylitol

Ethyl levulinate

2,3 BDO/Butadiene/

Methyl ethyl ketone,

•Health and

Nutrition

Animal Probiotics,

Pre biotics,

Bacteriocins

Human

Phytosterol/tocopherol

EPA-DHA

Hyalurnoic acid

Renewable

Biomass

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Hydrocrabon Vs. Carbohydrates

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• No!!

• Mid to let 1800’s

• Methanol, acetic acid and acetone : Pyrolysis of pine wood

• Ethanol, butanol and acetone : Fermentation of sugar and starches

• Rayon, the first synthetic fabric, and celluloid, the earliest form of film

stock : partially derived from bio-based sources.

Carbohydrates to chemicals :

Is it new?

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Historical Perspective

As recently as the late

1940s, the world depended

on biomass to produce

many chemicals

Resurgence of renewable feedstock due to

environmental and economic reasons

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Challenge

Cost Effective

Scalable

“Green” conversion

Technologies

Renewable

Feedstock

Fuels,

Chemicals and

Plastics

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C H E M I C AL

P R O C E S S

AS P E R

G R E E N

C H E M I S T RY

P R I N C I P L E S

Atom Efficient

Zero Waste ROBUST

COST EFFECTIVE

CONTINUOUS FEED

FLEXIBLE

SCALABLE

Design for green sustainable

technology

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Options

• Highly selective

• Low T (< 70 C)

• Aqueous phase

• Primarily batch

processes

• Low productivity

• Highly Selective

• Moderate T (< 400 C)

• Various reaction

medias

• Batch & continuous

processes

• Non-selective

• High T (> 350 C)

Bio-catalysis Chemo-Catalysis Pyrolysis Gasification

• Decomposition

• Very high T

(>800 °C)

Bio and Chemo-Catalytic processes score high on atom

economy

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Carbohydrate chemistry & catalysis :

Challenges

ACTIVATION OF

ALKANES,

OLEFINS

MULTIPLE

FUNCTIONALITIES

COMPETING REACTIONS

– BY PRODUCTS

DOWN STREAM

PROCESS GAS PHASE

CARBOHYDRATES

NONVOLATILE

CONDENSED/LIQUID

PHASE

SURFACE CHEMISTRY

ADSORPTION

/DESORPTION SMALL

MOLECULES

LARGE COMPLEX

MOLECULES

MESOPOROUS

CATALYSTS ACTIVE SITE &

REACTION SPHERE

CHEMISTRY

NON AQUEOUS

CHEMISTRY

WATER INTEGRAL

PART

HYDROTHERMAL

STABILITY

SINGLE

FUNCTIONALITIES

CATALYST POROSITY

LIMITED SOLUBLITY

IN NON-AQUEOUS

SOLVENTS

Conventional Catalysis

Carbohydrate Catalysis

Challenges Solutions

END PRODUCT

SELECTION

REDESIGN

CATALYSTS

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Top 12 sugar based building blocks

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Levulinic acid : Platform chemical

Potential of 1MMTPA @ if made at low cost

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Reaction Chemistry

HUMINS

Polymerization

Etherification

Ref.: Rackeman D. W. , Doherty W.O.S, Biofpr. 5:198-214(2011) Complicated Chemistry

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Technology wrap - up

TECHNOLOGIES BASED ON MINERAL ACIDS

Ref.: Rackeman D. W. , Doherty W.O.S, Biofpr. 5:198-214(2011) Hazardous and highly corrosive systems

Capital intensive

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Technology wrap - up

Ref.: Rackeman D. W. , Doherty W.O.S, Biofpr. 5:198-214(2011)

TECHNOLOGIES BASED ON SOLID CATALYSTS

Lower yields

Catalyst reuse and recyclability??

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Highly capital intensive!

Low productrivity

Low yields

Ethyl Levulinate

Ethanol

Biofine process

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Praj Process for Ethyl Levulinate

Feed Pretreatment (Optional)

Reaction Downstream Processing

Proprietary catalyst and solvent formulation

PATENT FILED

LIQUID GLUCOSE

DEXTROSE SYRUP

DEXTROSE

POWDER

MALTO-DEXTRINS

STARCH

BIOMASS

Ethanol + Proprietary

Co-solvent and

catalyst package

ETHYL

LEVULINATE

ETHYL FORMATE

BIOCHAR

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Salient features of the Praj Process

Green

Non corrosive

Feed flexibility

High selectivity

Min. humin formation

More than 80% carbon converted to value added

products

Lower ether formation

www.praj.net 22

Mechanical and

Hydrothermal

pretreatment

C6 sugars

Enzymatic

hydrolysis

Step: I

Dehydration

Lignin and residues

Ligno-cellulosic biomass

Furfural

C5 stream

C6 stream

The Praj Biorefinery

Ethanol

Step : II

Catalytic

Conversion

Tetrahydorfuran

(THF) Xylitol Levulinic

acid/ Ethyl

Levulinate

Fermentation

Fermentation

Chemical

catalysis

Phenolics

/ BTX

Power

C5 sugars

2,3

Butanediol

Feasibility stage

Pre pilot stage

Commercial Demo stage

Bolt on to “PACE”

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• Renewable Chemicals : The Future is Now

• Efficient conversion technologies : key to the success

• Interdisciplinary (chemists, microbiologists and chemical

engineers) team approach essential to make it happen

• No such thing as “Green premium”

Summary

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24

Thank You