Circa, Valmet to optimise biochemical process

Circa and Valmet have agreed a long-term partnership to optimise Circa’s Furacell production process for biochemicals at scale through the ReSolute project and in future large-scale plants. Valmet, which has wide experience in fluidised bed boilers and biomass-to-energy systems, will be the main process technology and equipment supplier.

This follows six months of joint work, in which the ReSolute plant was upgraded to produce 1,100 tonnes/year of the biosolvent Cyrene, using energy supply from biochar created in the process. The plant will very closely resemble a small-scale version of the larger scale FC6 plant on which conceptual engineering should begin in 2H 2022, Circa stated.

The two companies’ long-term objective is to develop deployable 10,000-15,000 tonnes/year modules capable of operating separately or in multiples, depending on the local feedstock. Oslo-based Circa aims to be producing 80,000 tonnes/year of Cyrene, an alternative to traditional polar aprotic solvents, by 2030.