CROSS LIFE - CROtonic acid from Sewage Sludge
Life
Programme for Environmental and Climate Action (LIFE)
Funding Agency: Co-funded by European Union
Grant Agrement Number: LIFE21-ENV-IT-CROSS-LIFE,
Grant Agreement n. 101074164
Sludge produced in the EU by treatment of urban and industrial wastewater (WWTS) is 6 and 4 Mt/y on a dry basis.
The organic matter contained in WWTS is enormous and the introduction of novel strategies that can valorise WWTS as feedstock for the synthesis of bio-based chemicals is win-win approach in terms of circular economy and fossil resource exploitation.
The CROSS-LIFE project will play a novel role in the “WWTS-tochemicals” panorama by converting the C atoms in WWTS into a specific drop-in chemical (crotonic acid, CA) without consuming new resources, and simultaneously decreasing the volume of WWTS to manage at the End-of-Life.
Crotonic acid, currently 100% fossil-based, finds application in coating, paint, textile, adhesives, ceramics, and agrochemical industries, with a global production of 60000 t/y and a selling price of 7-10 €/kg.
Unigrà, a food company specialized in edible oils and fats, will participate in the project as an industrial WWTS supplier, while AqA, a company in the field of integrated water services, will be involved as a supplier of urban WWTS.
Two DEMO plants (1000 t/y of WWTS) will be realized during the project at both companies‘ sites. Unigrà and AqA will benefit from a significant reduction of the volume of WWTS (about 70-80%) and will produce 1.5 t/y of bio-based crotonic acid with a carbon footprint of 4.8 kgCO2eq/kg CA (almost 3-times lower than the carbon footprint of fossilbased crotonic acid, 13.5 kgCO2eq/kg CA).
A supplementary credit of 280 kgCO2/t dry WWTS will come from the avoided impacts of producing fossil-based crotonic acid, WWTS dewatering, and transporting a higher amount of WWTS to the final disposal site.
Vinavil, one of the main Italian end-user of crotonic acid, will exploit bio-based crotonic acid to produce poly(vinyl acetate-co-crotonic acid) during (and after) the project.
From a close to market perspective, Vinavil will benefit from the introduction of a novel bio-based monomer into its polymer portfolio.
Project partners:
- Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna (Coordinator - Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician"; Department of Management - DiSA)
- B-Plas sbrl,
- Unigrà srl,
- Aqa srl,
- Università degli Studi di Pavia,
- Vinavil spa
DiSA Team Leader: Matteo Mura, Mariolina Longo
DISA Team members: Matteo Mura, Mariolina Longo, Leticia Canal Vieira
Total contribution: 4,909,481 euro
Start date: 01 September 2022 - End date: 31 August 2027
Project web site: https://www.b-plas.it/progetto-cross-life/
Major information: web site of the European Commission
This project has received funding from the European Union under grant agreement no. LIFE21-ENV-IT-CROSS-LIFE/101074164