Rennovia, Inc. (Rennovia), a privately held company that develops novel catalysts and processes for the cost advantaged production of chemical products from renewable feedstocks, announced that it has produced, and shipped to a prospective partner, samples of what it believes to be the world’s first 100% bio-based nylon-6,6 polymer, under Rennovia’s RENNLON brand, made from Rennovia’s renewable monomers, RENNLON adipic acid (AA) and RENNLON hexamethylenediamine (HMD).
Rennovia previously announced the production of bio-based adipic acid (AA) and bio-based hexamethylenediamine (HMD) from widely available, renewable feedstocks, using its proprietary chemical catalytic process technology. Rennovia’s AA and HMD processes employ proprietary catalyst technology developed using its advanced high-throughput catalyst discovery and development platform.
“Practicing our AA and HMD processes at demonstration scale is the next important milestone for the company,” said Robert Wedinger, President and CEO of Rennovia. Production costs for Rennovia’s bio- based AA and HMD are projected to be 20-25% below that of conventional petroleum-based AA and HMD, with a significantly lower per-pound capital cost.
Additional projected benefits include an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to conventional petroleum-derived AA, and a 50% reduction in GHG emissions compared to conventional petroleum-derived HMD.
“The production of 100% bio-based nylon-6,6 further validates Rennovia’s unique ability to create technological breakthroughs in the production of bio-based chemicals and materials, with projected significant cost advantages and environmental benefits vs. products produced from petroleum-based feedstocks” added Wedinger.
Over 6 billion pounds of nylon-6,6 (also known as polyamide-6,6 or PA66) is currently produced per year from petroleum-derived adipic acid (AA) and hexamethylenediamine (HMD), representing a global market of more than $6 billion. Nylon-6,6 is a widely used high-performance engineering resin, used especially in the automotive market for its strength, light weight, and performance at high temperatures. Nylon-6,6 is also used in a wide range of fiber applications, including textiles, carpets, technical fibers and tire-cord.