Chinese investors are to spend $30 million on a plant in the country’s northeast that will use cutting-edge technology devised by Risilica, a resident of the Skolkovo Foundation, to turn by-products of rice farming into amorphous silica.
An estimated 100 million tons of rice husks and straw are produced annually as a by-product of rice farming. Photo: Flickr.
Risilica, a resident of Skolkovo’s energy efficiency cluster, has developed a system for the ecologically friendly production of amorphous silica – which is used in the manufacturing of various kinds of rubber, sealants and lubricants, as well as in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and paints – from rice husks and rice straw, which are currently produced as waste in rice farming.
Risilica’s technology makes producing amorphous silica 20 times cheaper than other methods, Russian Venture Company’s Seed Fund, a state investment vehicle whose portfolio includes Risilica, said in a press release.
“The technology used by Risilica is classified as green chemistry [alternative sustainable technologies] and makes it possible to produce [amorphous silica] in an ecologically pure way from previously unused agricultural waste: rice husks and rice straw with high added value,” said Alexei Teleshev, head of the RVC Seed Fund, via the press release.
“Furthermore, Risilica’s product can be modified according to the requirements of the customer, meaning the company is capable of securing a significant place on the global market,” he added.
Users of amorphous silica include the multinational tyre manufacturer Pirelli, which was acquired by ChemChina, a Chinese state-owned company, in 2015.
Risilica and the Chinese nanotechnology company Shenlin have agreed on two rounds of investment in the project, to be put up by the Chinese side, RVC Seed Fund said. In the first round, $8.6 million will be spent in 2016-2018 on the construction of a plant in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, with a capacity of 5,000 tons of amorphous silica a year. In the second round, $21.4 million will be invested in 2018-2019 on increasing production to 23,000 tons and building similar production facilities in the region.
Currently, 100 million tons a year of rice husks and straw are produced as an unused by-product of rice farming, RBK Seed Fund said, citing UN figures.