A new electrochemical process developed by French-American startup firm Dioxycle (Paris, France; Menlo Park, Calif.; www.dioxycle.com) produces critical chemicals from industrial by-products and electricity, independent from fossil-fuel imports. Recently, the company announced the deployment of their platform for the conversion of captured CO2 into formic acid in a single step using low-carbon electricity. “Most routes to CO2-based chemicals are indirect. They first produce an intermediate, such as hydrogen, through separate process steps, and then combine the hydrogen with CO2 to produce the final product thermochemically through high-temperature processes. Our approach for formic acid production is a direct electrochemical process. CO2 is converted into formic acid in one low-temperature electrochemical step. This makes the process simpler, independent from H2 production and amenable to running on intermittent renewable electricity,” explains Sarah Lamaison, Dioxycle co-founder and CEO.
A distinguishing characteristic of Dioxycle’s process is that the electrochemical reactor directly produces concentrated formic acid, which minimizes downstream concentration steps. “The conventional fossil-based route to formic acid involves around seven process steps and goes through an intermediate; ours collapses that into two to three with no intermediate production. This reduces capital expenditure and allows us to produce formic acid that is not only cleaner, but is also cost-competitive with, or cheaper than, its fossil counterpart,” notes Lamaison. “In addition, the ability to run the reactor on intermittent cheap or sometimes even negatively priced renewable electricity offers further cash-cost reduction opportunities.” Formic acid and its derivatives are important raw materials used in the textile, agriculture, rubber and pharmaceuticals industries.
The company has demonstrated its technology at a pilot facility in France, and future plans involve commercial plants with 10,000–30,000 tons/yr of capacity. Dioxycle recently announced a partnership with major industrial conglomerate Adani Enterprises Ltd. (Ahmedabad, India; www.adanienterprises.com) to develop a pilot facility in India and explore the expansion of the technology to a broader range of chemicals. “Our electrochemical platform can address a portfolio of essential chemicals beyond formic acid, serving sectors such as energy, critical minerals processing and manufacturing. These processes take as input different industrial waste streams and byproducts, including CO2, but also waste salts, increasing manufacturing circularity and reducing reagent costs while reshoring those key reagent production to where they are needed and reduce exposure to supply-chain chokepoints,” adds Lamaison.