The first step to produce the isobutene precursor is performed using existing fermentation capacities on a toll basis to produce very large volumes, making the process more flexible and economically efficient. The second step, during which the precursor is converted into isobutene, must be carried out in a specific explosion-proof reactor, such as that built by Global Energies at its pilot plant in Pomacle, near Reims.

Global BioEnergies said it has successfully completed a first full-scale test of the first stage of the process. The test on the industrial fermenter at Pomacle was carried out by ARD, the company’s longstanding subcontractor and a leading developer of fermentation processes. The process’s second stage has also been successfully tested at pilot scale.

“We’ve just hit a historic milestone: just a few months ago, only one new plant housing special fermenters was capable of large-scale production. We can now use tollers for the upstream part of the fermentation process, as we do already for the downstream stage in which isobutene is converted into cosmetic-grade isododecane,” explained Global Bioenergies’ chief technical officer Frédéric Ollivier.

Following the successful tests, Global Bioenergies has decided to move key equipment from its demonstration plant at Leuna, Germany, where it built a small fermenter, to Pomacle. The company said the small 5m³ fermenter will be assigned to the second stage of the process in lockstep with the large ARD fermenter used for the first stage. This, the firm explained, would mean the entire new process can be run on a large scale at optimized cost at a single location.

“The equipment will be transferred and final technical adjustments made during the second half of 2021, at a cost of under €1.5 million,” said Bernard Chaud, head of industrial strategy at Global Bioenergies.

The company added that from the first half of 2022, it will be able to convert 10 million longwear make-up units to the bio-based ingredients. Mark Delcourt, co-founder and CEO of Global Bioenergies, said this equates to 1% of the global longwear cosmetics market with a retail value of about €200 million, which is more than its new cosmetics brand LAST, due to launch next month, can sell. The firm said it will therefore offer the renewable isododecane to other cosmetic companies so they can also increase the proportion of natural ingredients in their ranges.

“By 2023, we expect to be producing this ingredient in large enough volumes to make over 200 million make-up units more natural, by continuing to work with manufacturers for the first stage of production while incurring limited capital expenditure on the second stage and downstream conversion chain. This scale-up will also allow us to investigate related skincare and haircare markets, as well as other non-cosmetic markets,” Delcourt said.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist