April 2022
BioBTX has finished the construction of the in-house developed and constructed mini plant. This setup is able to process 100 gram per hour on a continuous basis and has received some important improvements, relative to the BioBTX pilot plant. This setup will allow BioBTX to do faster and more research because the mini plant was designed for flexibility.
December 2021
TransitionHero has finished the Basic Engineering phase of the PETRA plant. TransitionHero and BioBTX will continue with the detailed engineering phase to facilitate the start of construction in 2022 and commissioning of the PETRA plant in 2024.
October 2021
BioBTX has started the in-house construction of a more flexible alternative for their 10-kilogram scale pilot plant: the miniplant. This setup will be able to process between 50 and 500 gram per hour of feedstock and will be used to supplement the research done on the BioBTX pilot plant. The mini plant will be ready in Q1/Q2 2022.
September 2021
BioBTX participates in the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme Circular Foam. The project consortium consists of 21 participating organisations, coordinated by multinational Covestro.
July 2021
The PETRA plant team has gotten the confirmation for the future location of the PETRA plant. The PETRA plant is planned to be constructed at the Chemicalpark in Delfzijl.
May 2021
An LCA study has been performed for the PETRA plant, which supports the benefits of making BTX from waste plastics. It shows that it results in a substantial CO2-emmision reduction.
April 2021
BioBTX participates in the RVO backed MOOI project, the Integrated approach towards Recycling of Plastics (InReP). Together with, amongst others, the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen BioBTX will contribute towards the goal of making plastics circular. This project will allow BioBTX to perform further research into the optimisation of its technology.
April 2021
The PETRA plant team has started the permit application required for the construction of the PETRA plant.
December 2020
TransitionHero has finished the conceptual design of the PETRA plant. BioBTX and TransitionHero will continue with the Basic Engineering of the PETRA plant. Basic engineering is expected to be finished in 2021. This will facilitate the construction of the PETRA plant and commissioning of the plant in 2024.
December 2020
BioBTX has successfully produced substantial amounts of BTX product from the unpretreated mixed plastic waste feedstock. This feedstock is being characterised as the leftovers of the mechanical recycling and the majority is being incinerated at the moment. BioBTX will continue to do research regarding this feedstock.
November 2020
The production of a 100% biobased Twaron aramid fibre was demonstrated by Teijin Aramid, by using drop-in aromatcs produced by BioBTX. BioBTX used glycerol, a by-product from the biodiesel production, to produce the necessary biobased benzene and xylenes. The project was a collaboration between Teijin Aramid, Symeres and BioBTX.
March 2020
The EFRO Valorisatie subsidy project, applied for by BioBTX and the University of Groningen, was granted. Within this project, BioBTX will do further research on their pilot plant regarding the sustainable production of platform chemicals. This will allow BioBTX to scale-up their technology towards demonstration and commercial scale.
February 2020
BioBTX has successfully debottlenecked their solid-feed-pyrolysis reactor, which is able to feed (waste) plastics and solid biomass. BioBTX has managed to obtain reproducible and representative results from the pilot plant and will start their research, to facilitate the scale-up of the BioBTX ICCP technology to commercial scale.
January 2020
The solid feed pyrolysis reactor, which allows for the feeding of (waste) plastics and solid biomass, has arrived at the BioBTX location. It will be installed by replacing the liquid feeding part of the BioBTX pilot plant. BioBTX will begin commissioning and debottlenecking shortly.
December 2019
Two new investors have joined BioBTX: NOM and Groeifonds. The funds will be used to start the construction of the solid feed pyrolysis reactor for the BioBTX pilot plant and scale up the technology towards u. This solid feed pyrolysis reactor will replace the solid feed pyrolysis reactor part of the BioBTX pilot plant. It will be used to feed (waste) plastics and solid biomass.
November 2018
After successfully debottlenecking the BioBTX pilot plant with pure glycerol, BioBTX has started the feeding of crude glycerol. The crude glycerol is more challenging due to the high impurity content. BioBTX will perform research on the crude glycerol to optimise the BTX production and in the end scale up the technology.
September 2018
BioBTX has successfully ended the commissioning of the BioBTX pilot plant with pure glycerol. The BioBTX pilot plant will be debottlenecked in the coming time-period and will be assessed regarding reproducibility and reliability.
July 2018
The BioBTX pilot plant has arrived at the BioBTX location at the Zernike campus in Groningen. The pilot plant was successfully installed, and commissioning will be done by BioBTX.
October 2017
BioBTX has received a Series A investment from Carduso Capital. This investment will be used to grow the company and construct the first kilogram scale pilot plant, which will convert crude glycerol to BTX.
May 2016
BioBTX has been awarded the 2016 Biobased Innovation Award in the category of biobased chemical innovation. The award was granted for the research into the production of terephthalic acid from crude glycerol.
March 2015
A consortium of Dutch companies, including BioBTX, has successfully synthesized 100% biobased PET from the BTX produced from the catalytic pyrolysis of crude glycerol by BioBTX. Other companies in the consortium are: Syncom, Cumapol, API, and Aarts Plastic. The PET was used to produce several make-up boxes, which are used as showcases.
September 2014
BioBTX has submitted its first IP application. It concerns an IP application regarding the ICCP technology, which is the core of the BioBTX technology.
September 2014
The title of Northern Enlightenment has been awarded to BioBTX. This title is awarded yearly to an innovative initiative of the energy and chemical industry in the Netherlands’ northern provinces.
December 2012
BioBTX and the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen have successfully demonstrated the fundamental basis of the BioBTX technology, by producing BTX from the pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading of wood, on the lab-scale.
March 2012
There once was a desire to make an impact in the transition towards a sustainable society, in the head of KNN consultancy CEO Cor Kamminga. He consulted one of his employees: Niels Schenk. Together they realised that sustainable BTX was not being investigated…yet. An assessment of technologies was performed to come to a technology which could produce sustainable BTX. Here the ICCP concept was born.
