AVANTIUM CHEMICALS BV (AVT)

Avantium is a leading chemical technology company and a forerunner in renewable chemistry. Together with its partners around the world, Avantium develops efficient processes and sustainable products made from bio based materials. Avantium offers a breeding ground for revolutionary renewable chemistry solutions. From invention to commercially viable production processes.

Avantium’s offices and headquarters are based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After the formal establishment of the Synvina joint venture between Avantium and BASF, AVT now has over 100 employees and employs a team of 50+ highly educated professionals (>35 PhD’s) who are experts in electrochemistry, biomass pretreatment and conversion, polymer science, organic chemistry, catalysis, engineering of robotic systems, process engineering, statistics, analytics, cheminformatics and software development.

Renewable Chemistries Department

Avantium’s Renewable Chemistries business unit focuses on developing and commercializing innovative products and processes in the renewable & sustainable chemistries space. Our track record in this area is exemplified by Avantium’s YXY Technology, our flagship process innovation program, which is now preparing for the construction of a first commercial plant. Following on from this, we have an “incubator lab” packed with innovative programs to deliver cost competitive renewable products and processes; addressing the challenges of sustainability for future generations.

Team role and expertise in the project

Avantium has been developing an equipment platform to investigate electro catalytic reactions and will lead WP5 activities. The combination of this platform with the already present high throughput technologies and extensive knowledge on catalysis is very powerful in the development of electro catalytic processes. In addition, Avantium has recently acquired the assets from Liquid Light, a US based company that developed an advanced technology platform to reduce carbon dioxide. Their patent portfolio includes filings on producing multiple chemical building blocks used in large existing markets, including oxalic acid, glycolic acid, ethylene glycol, propylene, isopropanol, methyl-methacrylate and acetic acid for the production of polymers, coatings and cosmetics. The technology and patent portfolio of Liquid Light will be integrated in AVT’s Renewable Chemistry business unit and its existing R&D program in electrochemistry. The combination of Liquid Light’s expertise in electrochemistry with AVT’s expertise in catalysis and process engineering will be the basis of an unrivaled technology platform to develop novel production technologies for converting CO2 to chemicals and materials.

People

Dr Klaas Jan Schouten

Program Manager Electrochemistry