Joint Research And Development On Glycine Production Utilizing Emitted CO₂ By Resonac, Nippon Steel, Nippon Steel Engineering, And The University Of Toyama Selected By NEDO

Aiming for direct production of glycine from methanol derived from CO₂ emitted by steel plants etc.

Resonac Corporation (President and CEO: Hidehito Takahashi, hereinafter "Resonac"), Nippon Steel Corporation (President and COO: Tadashi Imai, hereinafter "Nippon Steel"), Nippon Steel Engineering Co., Ltd. (President: Yukito Ishiwa, hereinafter "Nippon Steel Engineering"), and the University of Toyama (President: Shigeru Saito, hereinafter "the University of Toyama") have proposed the project "Research and Development on Glycine Production via Methanol Derived from CO₂" (hereinafter "the Project") in response to the call for proposals by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (hereinafter "NEDO") for "Carbon Recycling and Next-Generation Thermal Power Generation Technology Development / CO₂ Emission Reduction and Utilization Technology Development." The Project was selected on May 1.

The research and development period for the Project is planned to be from FY2025 to FY2027.

Background and Objectives of the Research
As a response to climate change, reducing CO₂ emissions has become a critical issue, and technologies that utilize CO₂ as a resource are gaining attention. Glycine is an important chemical used in agrochemicals, health foods, food products, and electronic materials. Currently, it is mainly produced from intermediates derived from propylene sourced from naphtha, and methanol sourced from natural gas. However, if glycine can be produced from methanol derived from CO₂ emitted by steel plants, thermal power plants, etc., rather than from fossil fuels, it will promote carbon recycling and significantly reduce CO₂ emissions.

The four parties aim to promote carbon recycling by converting the production of glycine, which is expected to see increasing demand, from fossil fuel-derived sources to CO₂-derived sources emitted by steel plants, thermal power plants, etc.

Overview of the Joint Research
The Project aims to establish technology for the integrated production of glycine from CO₂ emitted by steel plants, thermal power plants, etc.

Specifically, it will develop a practical catalytic process for synthesizing methanol at low temperatures, utilizing the results obtained from the "Carbon Recycling and Next-Generation Thermal Power Generation Technology Development / CO₂ Emission Reduction and Utilization Technology Development / CO₂ Utilization Technology Development for Chemical Products / Technology Development for Para-xylene Production from CO₂"^*1 conducted by Nippon Steel, Nippon Steel Engineering, and the University of Toyama from FY2020 to FY2024.

Meanwhile, Resonac, which has a plant at its Kawasaki Plant for producing acrylonitrile from propylene via ammoxidation reaction, possesses the technology and know-how for the stable and high-quality integrated production of high-value-added glycine from intermediates obtained by simultaneously inputting high-purity methanol derived from natural gas.

Although CO₂-derived methanol is expected to contain different types and amounts of impurities compared to fossil fuel-derived methanol, the four parties will develop and optimize a new catalytic process for ammoxidation reaction based on Resonac’s proprietary manufacturing technology to utilize these impurities on an industrial scale. The goal of the Project is to develop technology that maintains the current quality of glycine while significantly reducing CO₂ emissions from an LCA^*2 perspective and to achieve early social implementation.

The anticipated research and development tasks and the roles of the four parties are as follows:

1. Improvement of catalysts for synthesis of CO₂-derived methanol (Nippon Steel, Resonac, University of Toyama (Joint research partner))
2. Mass production of catalysts for synthesis of CO₂-derived methanol (Nippon Steel, Nippon Steel Engineering, Resonac)
3. Development of intermediate and glycine production processes from methanol (Resonac)
4. Development of an integrated optimal process for glycine production from CO₂-derived methanol
   1. Examination of CO₂-derived methanol synthesis processes suitable for intermediate and glycine production (Nippon Steel, Nippon Steel Engineering)
   2. Optimization of intermediate and glycine production processes using CO₂-derived methanol (Resonac)

^*1 July 14, 2020, NEDO "Commencement of Technology Development for Chemical Products (Para-xylene) Production from CO₂" (Japanese)

^*2 Abbreviation for Life Cycle Assessment. It evaluates and assesses the environmental impact of a product throughout its lifecycle, from raw material extraction to manufacturing, consumption, disposal, and recycling.