Global Bioenergies selected The Linde Group’s engineering division to deliver the basic engineering study upstream of the construction of its demo plant in February 2014.
Linde engineering division biotechnology plants vice-president Markus Wolperdinger said: "We are proud to deliver to Global Bioenergies a complete basic engineering package for its process to convert sugars into isobutene, a gaseous hydrocarbon.
"This one-of-a-kind demo plant will be an important milestone on the way to the commercialization of Global Bioenergies’ innovative biotechnological processes."
The pilot plant will focus on the production of isobutene, a molecule that cannot be accessed through the cheap C2 fraction of shale gas and natural gas.
Global Bioenergies chemical engineering vice-president Rick Bockrath said: "We are now ready to move on to the next phase of the project, dedicated to the construction and exploitation of the demo plant."
The German Federal Ministry of Research (BMBF) has awarded a €5.7m grant for the demo plant, which is expected to be installed in the Fraunhofer CBP building at the Leuna complex.
