Matrica, a 50-50 joint venture between Eni subsidiary Versalis and Novamont, welcomed European stakeholders on Friday to its newly-built Italian biorefinery complex, which converts vegetable oils into various carboxylic acids used in lubricant and grease production.
The joint venture hosted an open house at the facility in Porto Torres for stakeholders attending the third Bioeconomy Conference held in Turin.
The projects key plants include a bio-monomer unit, an esterification plant, and a polymers and rubbers additives plant. The latter two plants are expected to go on stream over the next few weeks.
Representing an investment of about 180 million (U.S. $228 million), the three plants will have total capacity of about 70,000 metric tons per year, according to a Matrica news release.
According to a fact sheet on the project, Matrica today has about 120 employees, and expects to reach 145 employees by years end.
Eni and Novara, Italy-based Novamont formed the joint venture in 2011 to invest 500 million in new facilities in Porto Torres, using Novamonts technologies and renewable raw materials. The companies said they would design, build and manage the new biorefinery at the existing petrochemical plant owned by Eni subsidiaries Polimeri Europa and Syndial.
Matrica opened its research center in 2012. It includes an analytical laboratory and seven pilot plants, together covering an area of 3,500 square meters.
The company said its bio-nomer unit has been up and running since June this year, converting vegetable oils into monomers and intermediates – such as azelaic acid and pelargonic acid.
According to Matrica, azelaic acid is a dicarboxylic C9 acid used as a thickener in the production of lithium complex greases, in a variety of corrosion inhibitor formulations and constitutes a base for esters. Pelargonic acid is a C9 monocarboxylic acid that is considered an ideal raw material for esters production in numerous applications, including biobased lubricants.
In addition to azelaic and pelargonic acids, the joint venture said a mixture of C5-C9 linear monocarboxylic acids is used mainly in the production of synthetic esters for lubricants that maintain excellent fluidity at extreme temperatures.
The company said the most important products from the esterification plant are bio extender oils, which serve as bases for biobased lubricants and plasticizers.
The first Matrica-branded renewable source products will be used for a variety of applications, including in biobased lubricants such as hydraulic and engine oils, and as additives for rubber and polymers, including extender oils and plasticizers.