Clariant supporting Pertamina in exploring feasibility of sunliquid plant

In Germany, Clariant, a focused, sustainable, and innovative specialty chemical company, is working with Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas corporation, Pertamina, since 2018 to evaluate and test the feasibility of Clariant’s sunliquid technology to process available regional feedstocks in Indonesia into the advanced biofuel, cellulosic ethanol.

Indonesia has a vast potential of untapped biomass, from empty fruit bunches to palm leaves, that could be converted into cellulosic ethanol. Their present-day utilization is negligible and, until now, both feedstocks are frequently burnt, causing air pollution.

In Indonesia, ethanol demand is expected to increase dramatically, spurred primarily by a nationwide E10 ethanol blending mandate. Advanced fuel technology solutions, such as Clariant’s sunliquid process, are vital to match the feedstock potential with the increasing ethanol demand in the country.

Since 2018, Pertamina and Clariant have been assessing how to bridge this gap. The collaboration first focused on techno-economic performance analysis, and the testing of empty fruit bunches and palm leaves. The final results of the assessments proved that the sunliquid® technology can successfully convert both feedstocks into cellulosic ethanol while achieving a good conversion yield.

Further, a recently conducted conceptual engineering study quantified process balance, facility specification, and process economics in detail. This lays the groundwork for Pertamina’s continued consideration of investing in commercial-scale advanced biofuel production plants.