Quick source of innovation ideas

Keeping up with my fellow bloggers on innovation, I came across this useful list of articles that had generated plenty of traffic on innovation strategy in April. It's on the Blogging Innovation site, which I have referred to previously and find has good articles on general innovation if not always chemical.

Also featuring here this week is another look at open innovation - and the main road blocks that have to be addressed to make it work.

It's by Paul Hobcraft, who runs an advisory business that stimulates sound innovation practice, researches topics that relate to innovation for the future, as well as aligning innovation to organizations' core capabilities

Microreactors gain interest

This blog has already commented on the attraction of microreactors for greener chemical production, noting recently that one of the winners of the ICIS Innovation Awards - Oxford Catalysts - won it for microreactor developments.  Now market research firm Frost & Sullivan has released a fascinating study into the uptake of this technology.

Oxford Catalysts' microreactor

Says Frost & Sullivan: "The advent of microreactors makes it easier to conduct one-step reactions. Hence, the conventional chemical reactions that produce by-products and waste products can easily be utilized in microreactors to eliminate these alternate reactions, thereby preparing high-quality products.

"Moreover, the fast reaction rates ensure higher yields of up to 100% with high quality and no side reactions. Product quality is enhanced through the accurate control of operation parameters such as pressure, temperature and space velocities."

Oxford Catalysts' raising of a further £21m for future development bodes well for its efforts in biofuels and Fischer-Tropsch reactions in microreactors. Many other players are looking at the technology, which, says the report, has high potential. It points out though that there are risks in implementation:

"The scope for microreactors in fuel and chemical processing is high. However, the non-availability of any commercial demonstration unit that can be retrofitted to an existing facility prevents manufacturers from taking a huge financial risk in their facilities."

ICIS Innovation Awards 2011 launch nears

As well as my role as Chemicals and Innovation blogger at ICIS, I also run the ICIS Innovation Awards each year. March is always a busy time as I prepare to launch the Awards, now in their 7th year, on 18 April. The call for entries will appear in ICIS Chemical Business and on the icis.com website from that day, with a deadline for entries of 4 July.

Dow Corning has worked with ICIS over these years to sponsor the competition, designed to celebrate the best in innovation in the chemical sector. This year again they will take the lead sponsor role.

This year, we have a new category focusing on sustainability and a new sponsor to go with it, in the form of DSM. Sponsors from last year - CRA (Best Products) and U.S.Chemicals (Innovation with Best Environmental Benefit) - are also supporting the Awards again this year.

For full details of previous winners and the sponsors, you can go to www.icis.com/awards. I encourage all of you in companies to take a look and enter this year.

Thai group goes green

Innovation involving green chemistry is getting plenty of investment and coverage these days, but it's not so usual to see non-Western companies making big commitments. But just the other day Thailand's PTT Chemical, a major producer of petrochemicals, made a $60m investment in US-based Myriant Technologies, which specialises in enzymatic production of speciality chemicals from low-cost cellulosic feedstocks.

Source: PTT Chemical

PTT Chemical, which was shortlisted last year in the ICIS Innovation Awards, for its development of green ABS polymer using natural rubber rather than synthetic, has a stated agenda of sustainable growth. It will form a joint venture with Myriant to drive the development of more green chemicals using the abundant bio-based materials available in Thailand. Myriant will in 2012 start up a 14,000 tonnes/year bio-succinic acid plant in Louisiana, US.

You can read more on my colleague Doris de Guzman's ICIS Green Chemicals blog.