- Production process uses a 100% renewable vegetable glycerol
- Patented technology
- Winner of JEC Asia Innovation Award, Category: Raw Materials
The companies Solvay, Belgium, and Advanced Biochemical, Thailand, have been awarded with the JEC Asia Innovation Award for a process to produce bio-based ECH (epichlorohydrin) resins. The production process uses an existing byproduct, a 100% renewable vegetable glycerol, to create a bio-based raw material for use in composite materials.
Epicerol-based epoxy systems were developed by Cardolite and SHD Composites to increase bio-content of composites for the Punch Powertrain Solar Team entry in the 2015 World Solar Challenge
Patented technology
The bio-based ECH resin (brand name: Epicerol) is produced using a patented technology of Solvay. It provides a sustainable ECH in terms of CO 2 emissions and environmental performance, with no loss of quality, according to the company.
57% reduction of non-renewable energy consumption
Solvay performed a life cycle analysis (LCA) in order to benchmark Epicerol with traditional ECH produced by state-of-the-art petroleum-based processes. This cradle-to-gate environmental assessment was audited and validated by DEKRA. It demonstrated that Epicerol’s overall environmental benefits , in comparison with propylene-based ECH, are a 57% reduction of non-renewable energy consumption and 61% reduction of the global warming potential (GWP). GWP is defined as the sum of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and biogenic CO2 capture.
