Written on 04.12.2010 - Industry
You have these options:

Evonik to build first Aveneer MMA production plant

After successfully operating an Aveneer pilot plant for the production of methyl methacrylate (MMA) at Evonik Industries’ site in Worms, the company now plans to build a first Aveneer MMA production plant with a nominal capacity of 150 – 200 kt/y. Work on clarifying the location of the plant is currently underway. A decision will be reached in 2011 and the commissioning will follow by 2014.

Like the traditional ACH sulfo process, Aveneer is based on the starting materials ammonia, methane, acetone, and methanol. It dispenses, however, with the sulfuric acid that is normally used. According to Evonik, in contrast to other MMA manufacturing processes Aveneer offers advantages in terms of resource efficiency, capital investment requirements, and choice of location. In the future, the new process will allow renewable resources to be used as feed, an area in which a lot of work is currently being done, says the company. An internal study also showed that, in contrast to established processes, CO2 emissions from the new process are lower than 1,000 kg CO2/t MMA, virtually half of the previous figure.