MOSCOW (MRC) -- Technip and METabolic EXplorer have signed an agreement to assess the feasibility of offering a combined technology package consisting of the companies’ respective PDO(1) and PTT(2) technologies, said the company on its site.
The evaluation will include a technical and commercial review with a goal of bringing the bundled technology package to the market for licensing.
PTT is used for the production of high quality textile fibers, packaging films and engineered plastics. The growth potential of the PTT market is currently hampered by limited quantities of PDO, a feedstock used to produce PTT.
METabolic Explorer has developed a patented, efficient technology to produce PDO through the fermentation of crude glycerins from either vegetable oils (first generation) or recycled oils (second generation).
Technip’ s operating center in Frankfurt, Germany, which operates as Technip Zimmer Process Technology(3), licenses the PTT technology, which was developed in the 1990s in their research center in Frankfurt, Germany, and commercialized in the early 2000. Technip’s center in Lyon, France, which has provided engineering services for Metex’s PDO technology, will support this new evaluation effort.
By combining these complementary technologies, METabolic EXplorer and Technip Zimmer seek to offer a complete industrial solution for the production of biosourced PTT to the market.
Benjamin Gonzalez, founder and CEO of METabolic EXplorer, declared: "I am glad about this partnership with Technip Zimmer which will accelerate the deployment of the PDO technology for the PTT applications, with a market mainly located in Asia. This partnership with a company as strong as Technip is a real opportunity to open up this PTT market, which is currently limited by the lack of PDO, by offering an innovative and sustainable solution while creating value for our shareholders. It is also one more confirmation of the competitiveness and the maturity of our bioprocess as well as a confirmation of the growth potential of the PTT textile fiber."
As MRC informed earlier, in May 2016, Technip announced an all-stock merger with U.S. rival FMC Technologies to create an oil services group with combined revenue of USD20 billion. The transaction is expected to deliver annual pretax savings of at least USD400 million as of 2019 and boost earnings per share significantly.
MRC