Rennovia of the United States announced on April 25 that it will develop new catalysts and processes that can be used to produce hexamethylene diamine at low cost from renewable raw materials. The company has previously launched renewable adipic acid, which will be able to produce nylon 66 with 100% bio-material in the future.
　　Rennovia developed this technology using a proprietary catalyst technology using its advanced high-throughput catalyst development platform. The cost of bio-based hexamethylene diamine produced by this technology is expected to be 20% to 25% lower than that of petroleum-based hexamethylenediamine, and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by half. According to the IHS report, Rennovia's biobased adipic acid production also has a cost advantage over the cyclohexane-based oil route and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 85%. The company’s goal is to verify the feasibility of the scale production of bio-based adipic acid in 2014 and to achieve commercial production in 2018.
　　At present, the annual global production of petroleum-based hexamethylene diamine is 3 billion pounds, and the market value is more than 4 billion US dollars; the annual output of petroleum-based adipic acid is 6 billion pounds, and the market value is more than 6 billion US dollars. With successful technology, Rennovia is expected to produce nylon 66 at a lower cost and in a more environmentally friendly manner.