Washington-based Mercurius Biorefining announced late last month that it will develop a first-of-its-kind technology for the production of low-cost furan 2,5 dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) in collaboration with University of California Davis. The process will reportedly use raw biomass instead of fructose being used by current FDCA developers.

Mercurius Biorefining has been developing its own proprietary REACH (Renewable Acid Hydrolysis Condensation Hydrotreating) technology in a pilot facility in Maine, which converts cellulosic waste feedstock such as municipal solid waste, agriculture and forestry waste into a wide range of products like renewable diesel and aviation fuel.  The development of the REACH technology has been partly funded by the US Department of Energy in collaboration with the University of Maine and the Purdue University.

I have heard about Mercurius Biorefining in the past as well as UC Davis’ research on FDCA. I am definitely looking forward to learning more and will write my analysis on this process technology at Tecnon OrbiChem’s Biomaterials newsletter.