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

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于取代油漆和涂料行业中使用的主要石油基化学品，这代表了一个70亿美元的行业，每年以7%的速度增长。总的潜在市场包括三种类似的二醇：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是由糠醛生产的，糠醛是一种由可再生农业残留物（如玉米芯和木屑）制成的化学物质。生物基1,5- pdo由于其类似的分子结构，在许多应用中可以很容易地取代1,6- hdo，并且与1,4- bdo足够相似，在某些应用中可以取代它。严格的技术经济分析表明，这种“绿色”1,5- pdo的生产成本比石油衍生的1,5- pdo低3倍，为其作为油漆、涂料、粘合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该技术与商业上可用的固定床颗粒催化剂一起开发，为扩大规模做准备。到目前为止，该技术已经在小型固定床反应器中使用粉末催化剂进行了验证。商业规模的工艺需要使用颗粒催化剂，因为在商业规模的反应器中，与粉末催化剂相比，压力下降是不可操作的。较大反应器所固有的高流量不能通过密实的粉末催化剂，并在催化剂床床上游造成较大程度的背压；因此，颗粒化催化剂必须从商业供应商处采购，并在结垢前测试其活性和稳定性。技术开发的下一阶段是将工艺规模扩大100倍，以便在潜在客户的产品线中测试和验证更大量的生物基1,5- pdo产品。SBIR第一阶段项目还将完成评估商业规模经济所需的工艺设计工作。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.