Bio4PURConti
Bio-Based Continuous Production for Sustainable Polyurethane Industry
Project details
- Type of project
- Innovation Action - Demonstration
- Project period
- 1 June 2026 - 30 November 2029
- Status
- Upcoming
- CBE JU Contribution
- € 6 998 845,00
- Call identifier
- HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025
Summary
With the EU committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, the chemical industry faces mounting pressure to reduce emissions. Petrol-based aniline production alone generates approximately 20 million tonnes of CO₂ annually worldwide, presenting both a significant challenge and an opportunity for transformation.
Aniline is a key platform chemical used in the chemical industry, with approximately seven million tonnes produced annually and approximately 4% compound annual growth rate, representing a market opportunity for Europe.
Bio4PURConti aims to develop the world’s first continuous production process of bio-based aniline derived from second-generation sugars from lignocellulosic streams, replacing its petrol-based counterpart.
By overcoming technical challenges, including contamination risks, genetic stability, process control and monitoring, as well as downstream integration, Bio4PURConti establishes the foundation for European biotechnology leadership while delivering industrial-grade, high-purity bio-based aniline that meets stringent market requirements.
- Develop and demonstrate continuous fermentation technology for the production of the intermediate aminobenzoic acid at semi-industrial scale, improving stability, productivity, and yield compared to the conventional fed-batch process.
- Establish and demonstrate a continuous downstream process integrating filtration, crystallisation, decarboxylation, and distillation to convert aminobenzoic acid into bio-based aniline with high purity and minimal waste, while recycling streams to improve carbon use and process efficiency.
- Maximise resource efficiency and circularity by valorising residual biomass.
- Test different types of sugars, such as lignocellulosic sugars.
- Develop a scalable, robust process control and optimisation from laboratory to industrial scale via advanced digital control, optimisation and monitoring, which will boost the potential of continuous bio-based aniline production.
- Validate industrial scalability and sustainability to establish the commercial deployment pathway for the world's first continuous bio-based aniline production process.
- Significantly reduce the product carbon footprint (compared with petrol-based aniline, with the potential to achieve climate-neutral bio-aniline in the future.
- Enable sustainable production of today’s global production volume of approximately 7 million tonnes of bio-based aniline.
- Adopt continuous bioprocessing in the chemical industry, significantly reducing capital and operating expenditure for a potential industrial world-scale site.
- Establish a crucial technical foundation for commercial deployment, enabling bio-based aniline production at 100,000-300,000 tonnes per year.
- Generate 25-30 direct positions across the 10-partner consortium during project execution, and 100-200 direct high-skilled jobs at a potential industrial-scale facility.
- Contribute to the circular economy transition through renewable resource utilisation, boosting EU industrial sovereignty and strategic autonomy in chemical production.
- Contribute to advancing biotechnology regulatory frameworks and industry standards.
Consortium map
Project coordination
- COVESTRO DEUTSCHLAND AG LEVERKUSEN, Germany
Consortium
- AXEL'ONE Solaize, France
- TEKNOLOGIAN TUTKIMUSKESKUS VTT OY Espoo, Finland
- BIO BASE EUROPE PILOT PLANT VZW DESTELDONK GENT, Belgium
- ZEDO-ZENTRUM FUR BERATUNGSSYSTEME IN DER TECHNIK DORTMUND EV DORTMUND, Germany
- FIBENOL IMAVERE OU TALLINN, Estonia
- UNIVERSITY OF STUTTGART Stuttgart, Germany
- CLUSTER INDUSTRIELLE BIOTECHNOLOGIE EV DUSSELDORF, Germany
- NORGES TEKNISK-NATURVITENSKAPELIGE UNIVERSITET NTNU TRONDHEIM, Norway
- ASOCIACION ESPAÑOLA DE LA INNOVACIÓN EN EL MARKETING Y LA INVERSIÓN SOSTENIBLE Madrid, Spain