Process Technologies

DMX™

The DMX™ process, a patented process stemming from IFPEN’s Research and marketed by Axens, is a second-generation process using a solvent that reduces the energy intensity for carbon capture by nearly 30% as compared to the MEA (Mono ethanol amine) reference process.

The DMX™ process is a CO₂ post-combustion capture process based on absorption by a demixing solvent, the DMX™ solvent.

The DMX™ process has been developed for CO₂ capture on coal power stations flue gases and steel gas. It can also be used for capturing CO₂ from other type of emitters such as waste incinerator, cement plant, district heating as well as production of electricity from biomass. This process is well adapted for CO₂ capture on industrial smoke or industrial gas when the CO₂ partial pressures are low to medium.

The DMX™ solvent is a specifically designed solvent that is demixing under specific temperature and CO₂ partial pressure’s conditions. When in contact with CO2, the formation of two phases can be observed, which effectively capture the CO₂.

The demixing principle

Currently, one of the main challenge of the industry is to significantly increase the energy performances of CO₂ capture solutions. They represent the costliest part of the CCS process. The DMX™ solvent tackles this issue. It has a high cyclic capacity (4 times higher as compared with the MEA reference) and only the CO₂ rich phase needs to be regenerated. As it is very stable, it may be regenerated at higher temperature than amine solvents such as MEA, which allows producing the CO₂ in pressure.

DMX™ solvent is also less corrosive and carbon steel may be used as principal material thus reducing also the CAPEX compared to other first-generation solvents.

BioTCat™ Project

IFPEN and Axens joined forces with the American company Anellotech to develop BioTCat™, a bio-aromatic production technology (BTX for Benzene, Toluene and Xylene) based on renewable raw materials.

By combining Anellotech’s process for the thermocatalytic conversion of non-food lignocellulosic biomass with Axens’ hydrotreatment process, the objective is to achieve 100% bio-based BTX in few steps, while minimizing costs, energy consumption and CO2 emissions. These bio-aromatics will find numerous applications, particularly in polyesters for bottles and textile fibers. BioTCat™ will also enable the production of a very high-quality gasoline base.

BioButterfly™ Project

BioButterfly™ pools the strengths and skills of three key research and industry players covering the whole value chain: R&D and pilot tests, catalyst screening and formulation, process development and scale-up and petrochemicals expertise.

Once ready for commercialization, BioButterfly™ will bring a solution for:

• Producing economically competitive bio-butadiene
• Manufacturing high-performance synthetic rubber and adapting the process to all uses of bio-butadiene.
• Reducing environmental impacts, especially greenhouse gas emissions, across the entire life cycle compared with fossil fuels.

Atol®

Atol® technology is the result of a solid partnership bringing together the best experts in their fields:

• Modelling & Extrapolation to Industrial Scale
• Catalyst Development and Industrialization
• Process Development
• Ethanol Expertise and Pilot Testing

Atol® technology takes the production of bio-ethylene to an outstanding level of performance with a maximum profitability to get the business case in full fly. This is a simple & reliable process scheme featuring a variety of fully proven technology solutions.

Futurol®

Futurol^® Technology aims at producing advanced bioethanol and biobased monomers from lignocellulosic biomass (forest and agricultural residues, energy crops).

As the outcome of a 10 years R&D project, with extensive operation of our pre-commercial and industrial scale plants, Futurol^® offers a unique and reliable 4-step conversion process: Biomass Pretreatment, Biocatalysts production, Hydrolysis & Fermentation and Products Recovery.

Gasel®

Axens’ Gasel® Technology aims at producing ultra-clean liquid products, notably SAF, diesel and petrochemicals feedstock (naphtha, waxes), through the conversion of synthesis gas.

The synthesis gas (also called syngas) shall be obtained from several sources such as for instance biomass, wastes, etc.

This Fischer-Tropsch (FT) route is commonly accepted as one of the most promising mid-term solutions for the production of alternative fuels and petrochemicals, including Biomass-To-Liquids (BTL), Wastes-To-Liquids (WTL) and Power-To-Liquids (PTL) pathways.

BioTfueL®

BioTfueL® technology suite is a flexible solution for producing advanced biofuels (renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel) as well as valuable coproducts (renewable naphtha, biolubes basis, biogas, bioLPG, green power & heat etc.) through a thermochemical pathway. This technology is the result of more than 10 years of R&D including the operation of two demonstration plants, which allowed to develop and validate a complete and fully integrated 4-step Biomass To Liquids (BTL) chain: pretreatment, gasification, syngas conditioning, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and upgrading.

Vegan®

Vegan® technology is a flexible solution for producing SAF and renewable diesel through the hydrotreatment of a wide range of lipid feedstocks from vegetable oil to waste based oils.

Standalone, integrated or revamped units: Vegan® technology fits perfectly both in standalone and integrated refinery environment. Axens’ experience and customized approach help to evaluate the potential of the project.

Vegan® can be easily tuned to match the required boiling range and cold flow properties of the desired product. Producers can thus balance production from 0 to 100% between diesel or jet fuel to meet market demand.

Sulfrex™

The extractive Sulfrex™ process eliminates mercaptans and reduces the total sulfur concentration.

With its mild operating conditions of pressure and ambient temperature, this continuous process is ideal for C₃, C₄, LPG, light gasoline and NGL feeds.

The light mercaptans are extracted (Extractor) by caustic solution forming water and sodium mercaptide salts (NaSR).

These salts are oxidized (Oxidizer) by air injection in the presence of Axens' LCPS 30 catalyst, producing an organic disulfide (RSSR) phase that separates by gravity (separator) from the aqueous solution.