The development of a full scale plant for the production of sustainable medium chain fatty acids

Project Information

CircularChain

Grant agreement ID: 101145326

DOI

10.3030/101145326

Project closed

EC signature date 2 February 2024

Start date 1 October 2023

End date 30 September 2025

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

€ 3 681 502,50

EU contribution

€ 2 499 999,00

Coordinated by

CHAINCRAFT BV
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CircularChain (The development of a full scale plant for the production of sustainable medium chain fatty acids)

Reporting period: 2024-10-01 to 2025-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

At ChainCraft bio- based chemicals are developed and produced which have a significantly lower carbon footprint than traditional petrochemical or palm oil derived chemicals. The fatty acids (MCFA) which we produce are natural molecules, present in various plants, animals and humans. The acids are not harmful for the environment and are degraded easily in soil and water, being a safe substance to use in many applications. In the chemical and agri-feed-food industries these MCFA can replace the unsustainable ingredients and precursors and also are perfect replacers for various harmful ingredients in e.g. plasticizers (phthalates), animal nutrition (antibiotics) and agricultural herbicides (glyphosates). MCFA are also used as a precursor in the chemical industry in the production of alcohols and surfactants which in turn are used by FMCG-producers for the production of detergents and personal care products. Examples are cleaning fluids, shampoos, cosmetics and air fresheners. Also, MCFA are used in the production of performance materials such paints, coatings and solvents. This will lead to better products which improve our daily lives. The world will run out of oil and the use of palm oil is destructive in various ways. We prove that using food waste as a resource for chemical production is feasible, already on a small scale. By further upscaling the technology and roll out of plants we will go towards a fully circular chemical industry, replacing all palm and petrochemical based alternatives. The industry will be more spread out over the globe and is less dependent on oilrich countries or countries in which oil palms can grow. Biotech processes can be implemented where food is produced or consumed, which makes global application possible leading to less vulnerable supply chains. The type of fermentation technology we possess will significantly contribute, together with other biotech/chemical processes which are able to process non-food feedstocks into circular chemicals.
Within this project ChainCraft aims to fully develop its technology first to TRL 8, where it will be applied on a wet residual stream coming from the potato industry. The further development of the fermentation (upstream) and recovery & purification (downstream) sections is the main technological development which is needed to come to a final design for the foreseen full scale factory. After which the Basic Engineering of the factory will take place. Next to this, product and application development with partners and further market development are key milestones to achieve. After attracting the needed funding, in which the investment component of EIC will ideally be part, we bring the technology to TRL 9 by realizing the full scale factory.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In line with work packages within the project ChainCraft has been optimising all its process technologies involved in the conversion of potato residues into pure fractionated MCFA (C4, C6) in preparation of the construction of the full-scale plant. Pilot tests have been performed on the fermentation and majority of the downstream processing steps, leading to a feasible technological concept. Based on the retrieved parameters from all pilot and lab trials, a conceptual design for the full scale factory has almost been finalized.
In the current demo plant further production testing and optimization is ongoing. At relevant scale (TRL 7) large batches of product are being made to supply to potential customers for product and market development purposes. Also these results are taken into account for the conceptual engineering of the full scale factory.
The basic engineering has started after finalization of the conceptual engineering phase. In the meanwhile the permitting process has been started, with positive meetings with the province, municipality and competent authority. All parties expressed a positive attitude towards the company and project due to its sustainable nature and bringing significant employment opportunities to the region. As well the municipality as the province have provided ChainCraft with support/comfort letters.
ChainCraft is furthermore building its organisation. The most important to state is the appointment of our new CEO Marc den Hartog. Marc joins from Renewi, the leading waste-to-product company, where he was a member of the executive committee and Managing director of the Renewi Netherlands.
Further market implementation is being executed at high pace. An updated Life Cycle Assessment has been delivered, which still shows the enormous carbon footprint reduction as compared to palm and petrochemical fatty acids. The Regulatory roadmap for all core products has been developed and the REACH registrations have been realized, for the main product, the C6 acid. Pilot production for/at customers for market development purposes has been realized for various key launching customers. based on material produced in ChainCraft’s demo plant, which is being further refined at a toll manufacturer to create fractionated pure acids. At the end of Q4 2024 and in Q1 2025 larger batches of product have been supplied.
On the feedstock side a legally binding Heads of Agreement with Avebe has been signed and final contracts are finalized, which is a major milestone for the project. This secures feedstock supply, location and various utilities for 25 years.
Commercial offtake contracts have been signed in the form of firm agreements, LOI's and MoU's. The expectation is that more take or pay offtake agreements with customers will be signed in the coming period.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

On the technological, engineering and organizational side the obtained results are generally in line with the planning and expectations.
Momentarily, the key need is finalization of the permitting process, which would bring us to FID. Furthermore more commercial contracts are desired, the ones signed right now seem sufficient to realize the equity funding.