As 2021, the ChemPET project faced several contingencies directly and indirectly related with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and international markets turmoil.
The market fluctuations concerning energy, oil, and access to raw materials, including the PET rich wastes, imposed Garbo to review the previously accomplished engineering for the ChemPET plant.
This implied the update of the previous plant engineering in order to reach the target performances in terms of process volumes, sizes, and yields. These are the necessary goals for ensuring an adequate process economy. The review allowed then to update the plant layout configuration, equipment specifications and technical schemes including adjusted designs and process diagrams.
The main review concerned the plant-resizing moving to 66 ton per day as BHET production target. More precisely, the scale of the plant was redefined and engineered in modules of 66 tpd capacity each.
The license is now composed by 2 modules in order to achieve a daily output of 132 tpd of BHET in total, a size that can match with a fraction of the most common polycondensation technology facility all over the globe.
The under-scale of the first industrial plant to 66 tpd:
i. is more coherent with raw material availability, technical achievements, and expected market demand,
ii. better complies with the risks assessment because a smaller and less-complex plant is easier to build and operate,
iii. gives the opportunity to license the process in a lean way, because the modules are easily standardized and customized.
Since also the initial CAPEX foreseen for Pilot plant construction, commissioning and acceptance, adapted to today’s reality, appeared totally underestimated, the erection of large-scale pilot plant at GARBO premises in Cerano could not be completed within ChemPET Project duration.
Instead, the existing pilot plant has been improved representing a remarkable technological achievement for the following reasons:
a) Technology design revised to operate in modules;
b) Technology design from batch to continuous flow;
c) Continuous feedstock waste alimentation to process quickly and lowering waste warehouses;
d) Capacity upgrade to 6 tpd of BHET produced – making the plant ready to market some niche application such as textile and high-tech fibre sector, that require lower quantity but extremely high quality;
e) Development of new proprietary equipment machinery (Glycolisys reactor & final crystallization section) tested on the upgraded pilot plant.
Garbo is pursuing a series of engagement activities aimed at reaching the key stakeholders within the value chain and continuing the contacts with future clients to pursue the future marketing accession plan for BHET sales.
Several leading chemical groups, brand owners and technology & engineering companies are interested in the Technology and its industrial potential.
On 01/03/2023, Ghirba, Garbo, CHEMPET and a “new 3rd investor” signed a binding investment Agreement for the construction of a first industrial plant at Cerano to produce RBHET and cRPET and the development and worldwide commercialization of the Technology.
Already 2 contracts have been signed with leading counterparties for Licensing of the Technology.
Furthermore, to ensure the highest protection of the R&D outcomes, GARBO/CHEMPET detain currently #6 national and international patents concerning the most relevant steps involved in the ChemPET process.
