SBIR Phase I: A New Bio-based Monomer for the Coatings Industry

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力在于更换涂料和涂料行业中使用的关键石油化学品，这意味着一个价值70亿美元的行业正以每年7%的速度增长。总的潜在市场包括3个类似的二醇：1，4-丁二醇(1，4-BDO)、1，5-戊二醇(1，5-PDO)和1，6-己二醇(1，6-HDO)。在这个项目中，1，5-PDO是从呋喃甲醛中生产出来的，呋喃甲醛是一种从玉米芯和木片等可再生农业残渣中提取的化学品。生物基1，5-PDO与1，4-BDO具有相似的分子结构，在许多应用中可以替代1，6-HDO，在某些应用中可以替代1，4-BDO。严格的技术经济分析表明，这种“绿色”1，5-PDO的生产成本比油基1，5-PDO低3倍，为其作为涂料、涂料、胶粘剂和塑料的可再生单体开辟了新的机会。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将允许使用商用固定床颗粒催化剂开发该技术，为扩大规模做好技术准备。到目前为止，该技术已经在带有粉末催化剂的小型固定床反应器中得到了验证。工业规模的过程需要使用颗粒催化剂，因为在工业规模的反应器中，粉末催化剂的压力降是不可操作的。较大规模的反应器固有的较高流量不能流过紧密堆积的粉末催化剂，从而造成催化剂床层上游的很大程度的背压；因此，造粒催化剂必须从商业供应商处获得，并在结垢之前对其活性和稳定性进行测试。技术开发的下一个阶段是将该过程扩大100倍，使潜在客户的产品线中能够测试和验证更多的基于生物的1，5-PDO产品。这个SBIR第一阶段项目还将允许完成评估商业规模经济所需的流程设计工作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project lies in the replacement of key petroleum-based chemicals used in the paints and coatings industry, representing a $7B industry that is growing at 7% per year. The total addressable market includes 3 similar diols: 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BDO), 1,5-pentanediol (1,5-PDO), and 1,6-hexanediol (1,6-HDO). In this project, 1,5-PDO is produced from furfural, a chemical made from renewable agricultural residues such as corn cobs and wood chips. Bio-based 1,5-PDO can be readily substituted for 1,6-HDO in many applications due to its analogous molecular structure and is similar enough to 1,4-BDO that it can be substituted for it in some applications. Rigorous technoeconomic analysis shows that this "green" 1,5-PDO can be made at 3x lower costs than oil-derived 1,5-PDO, opening new opportunities for its use as a renewable monomer for paints, coatings, adhesives and plastics.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 project will allow the technology to be developed with commercially available fixed bed pellet catalysts to prepare the technology for scale-up. Thus far, the technology has been demonstrated in small scale fixed bed reactors with powder catalysts. A commercial scale process requires the use of pelletized catalysts due to inoperable pressure drops over powder catalysts in commercial-scale reactors. The higher flowrates inherent with larger scale reactors cannot flow through the tightly packed powder catalysts and cause a large degree of backpressure upstream of the catalyst bed; thus, pelletized catalysts must be sourced from commercial vendors and tested for activity and stability prior to scaling. The next phase in technology development is to scale up the process by 100x, enabling testing and validation of larger amounts of the bio-based 1,5-PDO product in potential customers' product lines. This SBIR Phase I project will also allow completion of the process design work needed to estimate the economics at commercial scale.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.