Ethyl acetate from biomass planned

CropEnergies, a specialist in biomass-based sustainable chemicals, has taken a licence to use Johnson Matthey’s (JM) DAVY ethyl acetate process technology in a new 50,000 tonnes/year plant at Zeitz, Germany, that will make renewable ethyl acetate from renewable ethanol feedstock using renewable energy. Ethyl acetate is widely used in cosmetics, flexible packaging and coatings, paints and adhesives, food, beverage and pharmaceutical applications.

JM will prepare the process design package, which is scheduled for completion mid-2022, after which Crop Energies will make the final investment decision. The plant, if it goes ahead, will also generate renewable hydrogen as a co-product. This, together with biogenic CO₂ from the fermentation process, will be used in the further conversion of renewable energy into power-to-X downstream routes, to produce e-fuels.