Rivertop Renewables (Missoula, Mont.; www.rivertop.com) has begun construction of its first commercial plant, located at DanChem Technologies, Inc.’s (DTI, www.danchemtechnology.com) facility in Danville, Virginia. DTI, a custom manufacturer of fine and specialty chemical products, is expected to begin production of Rivertop’s sustainable, high performing, cost-competitive, glucaric-acid-derived products beginning in the summer of 2015. At full capacity, the plant will produce up to 10 million pounds of product per year.
“Partnering with DTI for contract manufacturing both lowers the cost and speeds time-to-market for our novel performance chemicals,” said Mike Knauf, Rivertop’s CEO. “The volumes produced will enable us to not only meet the needs of our existing customers, but also enable us to unlock new markets with ample supply for testing and co-development with partners.”
Among the products to be produced will be Rivertop’s Riose detergent builder. Designed for the consumer segment of the automatic dishwashing detergent market, the sugar-derived product is an effective detergent builder and enables a lower total cost of formulation. Detergent builders have several functions in detergents, the most visible of which is improving detergent performance by solubilizing hard water chemicals, thus preventing spotting on glassware.
DTI will also produce Headwaters-brand corrosion inhibitor that states, municipalities and snow-removal contractors blend with salt brine to help reduce the corrosive impacts of deicers on roads, bridges and vehicles. Derived from renewable sugars, the Headwaters inhibitor is biodegradable, cost-effective and consistently performs at high levels.