Under a joint development agreement, both the companies have been conducting research on bio-based succinic acid since 2009.
Techniques such as fermentation and downstream processing led to the development of a manufacturing process which combines high efficiency with use of renewable substrates and the fixation of the greenhouse gas CO2 during the production.
The employed microorganism, Basfia succiniciproducens, is a natural producer of succinic acid and can process a wide variety of C3, C5 and C6 renewable feedstocks, including biomass sources.
Bio-based succinic acid can be utilized for the production of bioplastics, chemical intermediates, solvents, polyurethanes and plasticizers.
CSM CEO Gerard Hoetmer said the company aims to be the first commercial producer in the market with a fermentation production capacity of 25,000 tons and we are already planning a world-scale plant with a capacity of 50,000 tons to account for the expected demand growth.
The plant is expected to be in operation by 2013.
