Trillium selects Ineos facility for sustainable acrylonitrile production demonstration plant

Trillium Renewable Chemicals has selected Ineos Nitriles’ Green Lake facility in Port Lavaca, Texas, to establish a demonstration plant for converting plant-based glycerol into acrylonitrile. The demonstration plant is named “Project Falcon.”

Knoxville, Tennessee-based Trillium says it has developed a technology for producing sustainable acrylonitrile, a key raw material in industries including toys, auto parts, aerospace components, medical supplies and apparel. The company says selecting a global manufacturer of petrochemicals in Ineos underscores its ambition to scale up its technology in an industrial environment to accelerate progress.

“Trillium is thrilled that Ineos Nitriles Green Lake, home to America’s largest acrylonitrile production plant, will serve as the home for Project Falcon,” Trillium CEO Corey Tyree says. “This milestone is a significant step forwards in bringing our technology to market and producing sustainable bio-based acrylonitrile at scale.”

Following a $10.6 million Series A financing round in December 2022 and a $2.5 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office in June of that year, Trillium constructed a pilot plant that it says successfully produced acrylonitrile from glycerol. The company adds that its sustainable acrylonitrile offers a lower carbon footprint than standard acrylonitrile based on the Sohio propylene process, addressing growing customer demand for greener bio-based raw materials.

The company continues to operate a pilot plant and says it has successfully provided samples to customers, adding that its operations have contributed valuable insights for the design of the Project Falcon plant. The plant is expected to begin operations in early 2025 and run through early 2026.

“Ineos Nitriles is very pleased to be working with Trillium to advance technology for the production of sustainable bio-based acrylonitrile,” Ineos Nitriles CEO Hans Casier says. “Our support of this project, which is part of our wider sustainability strategy, emphasizes our commitment as the world’s largest producer of acrylonitrile, to reducing the carbon footprint of the industry. We look forward to working closely with Trillium to help achieve this objective.”

Trillium says the operation of Project Falcon will help to validate commercial-scale economics and produce carbon footprint at scale. Emphasis will be placed on achieving process performance criteria such as plant uptime, demonstrating key equipment in its final form and securing qualification as a supplier of bio-based acrylonitrile.

The company’s aim is to replace oil and gas with plant-based feedstocks in the manufacturing of green, drop-in molecules. Acrylonitrile is used to manufacture a wide range of materials, such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) plastic, carbon fiber, acrylic fiber, nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), acrylamide and specialty amines, among others.