The Overview
Kraton wanted to develop a stable, specialty polymer that could cater to the highly evolving energy sector where green energy is used as fuel instead of conventional energy sources. The company had built a breakthrough technology platform to develop the molecule but encountered stability issues midway. Our team not only resolved all development issues with the molecule but also enabled the commercial launch of the specialty polymer for use in green energy generation. With the molecule showing immense performance potential, Kraton is now in the process of setting up a multi-megawatt plant to generate green energy for use in energy applications.
The Challenge
Kraton (a subsidiary of DL Chemical) is a global producer of specialty polymers and high-value performance products derived from renewable resources. The company wanted to diversify its existing product portfolio to include energy applications. The endeavor was to develop a stable, specialty polymer that could cater to the highly evolving energy sector where green energy is used as fuel instead of conventional energy sources. The company had built a breakthrough technology platform to develop the molecule. However, challenges surfaced due to stability issues with the molecule. Since they were already associated with Syngene for an ongoing project, they decided to partner with us for this project as well. They were confident we would resolve their problems and successfully advance their molecule to commercial.
The Solution
Our Performance and Specialty Materials (PSM) team was enlisted for the project. As a first step, the team undertook a root cause analysis to understand the reasons behind the instability of the existing molecule. We found that the primary cause of the molecule’s instability was the design of the functionalization agent.
Our team collaborated with the Kraton team to rework the design of the functionalization agent and finalize a structure that could balance the molecule’s stability and conductivity. The next step was synthesizing the functionalizing agent. Initially, we worked on the proposed synthesis route. When that did not yield the desired results, our team of experts proposed an alternative route and successfully synthesized the molecule in-house.
However, a further challenge awaited us. We were required to use an obnoxious chemical typically used in functionalization chemistry. While this chemical can be managed in a lab environment, using it during scale-up operations was nearly impossible. Our team meticulously converted the chemistry into a single-pot reaction step. The client analyzed the prototype polymers made from this newly designed molecule. Application studies confirmed the consistent performance of the molecule for more than 10,000 hours – a new industry benchmark.
This was an important milestone for Kraton as it now opened the doors for scaling up the production of the molecule to commercial levels. Syngene was the obvious choice with its world-class, FDA-approved facility and high success rate with regulatory agencies. Here, too, we encountered challenges related to scale-up. We mitigated these challenges by undertaking process engineering and scale-down studies. This helped us find solutions to scale up operations faster. Furthermore, our product development capabilities enabled the client to convert the specialty polymer into multi-feet rolls, which is essential for the final application.
Our efforts resulted in the following customer benefits:
- Launch of a stable specialty polymer that could be utilized for green energy generation
- Diversification of the existing product portfolio
- Building a supply chain for a steady supply of the polymer molecule to meet market demand
- Gain the prime-mover advantage by manufacturing a specialty polymer film in multi feet rolls – the first of its kind in the market
Conclusion
Kraton appreciated our team’s capability and expertise in providing the right solution for a complex problem. The impact of this project was so far-reaching that the technology platform developed for this molecule evolved into a separate entity within Kraton. Further, with the molecule showing immense performance potential, Kraton is setting up a multi-megawatt plant for green energy generation.
Following the product launch, Kraton released a large order to Syngene to supply the molecule based on market demand. Currently, discussions are on to manufacture multi-ton supplies of the molecule on a yearly basis.
To know more about our services and capability in performance and specialty materials, contact our experts.
