INVISTA, an industry leader in the nylon 6,6 value chain, is licensing its nitrous oxide (N₂O) abatement technology at three adipic acid production facilities in China; those licenses will help companies in the automotive industry achieve material supply chain emissions reductions.

INVISTA—which produces its own adipic acid, along with a strong portfolio of other products—invented a proprietary catalyst and developed an abatement technology that the company believes operates at high N₂O conversion efficiency, high reliability and uptime, low maintenance, low operating temperatures, and with no petroleum fuel consumption to carry out the reaction chemistry. INVISTA will license this catalytic N₂O abatement technology to other producers.

Abatement of the N₂O emitted in the production of adipic acid (AA)—a key ingredient for the nylon 6,6 used in vehicles and vehicle parts—at the three facilities in China is estimated to achieve emissions reductions of approximately 30 million tons of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) per year, following deployments expected over the next few years.

This approximation includes estimated CO₂e emissions reductions from existing AA assets in addition to the avoidance of potential CO₂e emissions from new construction. This calculation is based on data in the Climate Action Reserve’s China Adipic Acid Production Protocol Draft.

The reductions referenced represent CO₂ equivalent emissions reductions up to a minimum threshold for N₂O abatement efficiency of 90% (above which, voluntary offsets may be sold).

INVISTA has been a global leader in the development of N₂O abatement technology for more than two decades, having deployed and improved abatement capabilities at multiple AA facilities—both former and existing—since the late 1990s. That technology will now be built into the design of three facilities in China.

Due to its balance of mechanical, chemical resistance and thermal material properties, nylon 6,6 is an ideal thermoplastic to replace metal in automotive applications. The production of the ingredient AA can result in nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions unless modern techniques to abate N₂O emissions are deployed.

As automotive production increases in China, including AA production for nylon 6,6, INVISTA’s abatement technology licensing represents an opportunity to make significant progress on global emissions reduction.