Evonik Industries has commenced operating a pilot plant for ω-amino lauric acid (ALS) in Slovenska Lupca, Slovakia. The biobased ω-amino-lauric acid is an alternative to petroleum-based laurin lactam (LL). ALS replaces the monomer LL in the manufacture of sustainable high-performance plastics and yields an identical compound polyamide 12 (PA 12). The pilot plant is the result of intensive research and advances the process development effort to an industrial scale.

Development of the process was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Promotion No. 0315205). The biotechnological process relies on renewable resources and is unique the world over. Palm oil, which Evonik has already been using as a base for various other chemical products, is the starting material. Over the long run, the entirely new process has the potential to complement the butadiene-based production of PA12.

"In the long term, this new, alternative raw material makes us less dependent on limited fossil resources and provides our back-integrated production a second pillar to stand on," says Gregor Hetzke, head of Evonik’s Performance Polymers Business Unit.

Whether in automobiles, sports, crude oil production or photovoltaics, Evonik produces a complete range of polyamide products with customised properties that have been continuously adapted for more than 40 years in close cooperation with its customers to meet the requirements of innovative, premium applications. Vestamid is Evonik’s trade name for the construction material polyamide 12.