Cargill Inc.

Matthew L Iwan

Jeffrey John Kolstad

Patrick R Gruber

Eric Stanley Hall

Richard Douglas Benson

Ronald L Borchardt

A process for the continuous production of polylactide polymers from lactic acid which incorporates removal of water or a solvent carrier to concentrate the lactic acid feed followed by polymerization to a low-molecular-weight prepolymer. This prepolymer is fed to a reactor in which a catalyst is added to facilitate generation of lactide, the depolymerization product of polylactic acid. The lactide generated is continuously fed to a distillation system as a liquid or vapor wherein water and other impurities are removed. The resultant purified liquid lactide is fed directly to a polymerization process.

Growing community of inventors

Minneapolis, MN, United States of America

Matthew L Iwan