March/April 2012 Biorefining Magazine by BBI International

INSIDE: THE CHEMICAL PROCESS CONSULTANTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ROLE MARCH/APRIL 2012

Co-location & Retrofits Experts Discuss the Need-to-Knows of Biorefi ning Project Integration B iorefining Pages 14

Plus

Exploring the World of Bioinformatics Pages 18

www.biorefiningmagazine.com

CONTENTS |

Ad Index 12

2012 Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo

2012 International Biomass Conference & Expo

2012 International Biorefining Conference & Trade Show

Algae Biomass Summit

Algal Biomass Organization

Burns & McDonnell

GEA Westfalia Separator

GENENCOR - A Danisco Division

Nalco Company

Novasep Process

Vecoplan LLC

West Salem Machinery Co.

MARCH/APRIL ISSUE 2012 VOL. 3 ISSUE 2

FEATURES

CONSTRUCTION Navigating the Nuances of Integration

Building a co-located or retrofitted biorefinery BY BRYAN SIMS

LABORATORY Expediting Results

Enter the high-tech world of bioinformatics BY ERIN VOEGELE

CONTENTS

DEPARTMENTS 4

Editor’s Note

Project Integration BY RON KOTRBA

Industry Events

Upcoming Conferences & Trade Shows

Advanced Advocacy

Talking Point

Keeping Our Eye on the Ball BY MICHAEL MCADAMS

Legal Perspectives

Are Your Communications Privileged? BY MATTHEW H. MCKINNEY

Business Briefs

People, Partnerships & Deals

Startup

Biorefining News & Trends

The Chemical Process Consultant’s Role BY ROMAN WOLFF

MARCH/APRIL 2012 | Biorefining Magazine | 3

EDITOR’S NOTE

EDITORIAL

Project Integration

EDITOR Ron Kotrba rkotrba@bbiinternational.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS Erin Voegele evoegele@bbiinternational.com Bryan Sims bsims@bbiinternational.com COPY EDITOR Jan Tellmann jtellmann@bbiinternational.com

RON KOTRBA, EDITOR RKOTRBA@BBIINTERNATIONAL.COM

ART ART DIRECTOR Jaci Satterlund jsatterlund@bbiinternational.com

It’s something we’ve seen and heard a lot in the past few years. A corn ethanol plant hosts new,

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Burslie bburslie@bbiinternational.com

demonstration-scale cellulosic technology or algae propagation systems. A biodiesel plant integrates biobased chemical production. A pilot algae project works out a deal with a utility company to use the plethora of carbon dioxide from the combustion of coal on which the algae can feed to grow. These sorts of integrative projects, largely pilot or demo units today, almost always involve two or more companies, various patented intellectual properties, trade secrets, EPC firms, contract negotiations and terms, and—you guessed it—lawyers. But there’s something else the project needs: a host that is willing to accept the risk. Associate Editor Bryan Sims talks to several EPC contractors in his feature article, “Navigating the Nuances of Integration.” Doug Dudgeon, vice president of process industries for Harris Group Inc., tells Sims that a challenging aspect every EPC firm confronts during a project—whether an “inside the fence” retrofit or an “outside the fence” co-location approach is taken—is that the host facility is being asked to do something that’s not core to what it already does. Dudgeon continues, telling Sims, “They don’t know the market, they don’t know the process and it’s pretty hard to come up with a good reason for them to say, ‘Yeah, I’ll take the risk.’” Check out the full story on page 14 of this issue.

PUBLISHING CHAIRMAN Mike Bryan mbryan@bbiinternational.com CEO Joe Bryan jbryan@bbiinternational.com VICE PRESIDENT Tom Bryan tbryan@bbiinternational.com

SALES VICE PRESIDENT, SALES & MARKETING Matthew Spoor mspoor@bbiinternational.com EXECUTIVE ACCOUNT MANAGER Howard Brockhouse hbrockhouse@bbiinternational.com SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Jeremy Hanson jhanson@bbiinternational.com ACCOUNT MANAGERS Chip Shereck cshereck@bbiinternational.com Marty Steen msteen@bbiinternational.com Bob Brown bbrown@bbiinternational.com Andrea Anderson aanderson@bbiinternational.com Dave Austin daustin@bbiinternational.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Jessica Beaudry jbeaudry@bbiinternational.com ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Marla DeFoe mdefoe@bbiinternational.com SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER John Nelson jnelson@bbiinternational.com

FOR MORE NEWS, INFORMATION AND PERSPECTIVE, VISIT BIOREFININGMAGAZINE.COM/BLOG/READ/BIOREFINING

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Erin Voegele authors “Expediting Results,” a featured article on page 18 that profiles CLC bio’s bioinformatics software solution to vastly speed up genetic sequencing and analysis of organisms in the biorefining sector. Bryan Sims writes “Strengthening the Ties” on page 10, a Startup piece that details progress made in the Reverdia joint venture between DSM and Roquette Freres just recently approved by the European Commission.

Customer Service Please call 1-866-746-8385 or email us at service@bbiinternational.com. Subscriptions to Biorefining Magazine are free of charge to everyone with the exception of a shipping and handling charge of $49.95 for any country outside the United States, Canada or Mexico. To subscribe, visit www.biorefiningmagazine.com or you can send your mailing address and payment (checks made out to BBI International) to: Biorefining Magazine Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You can also fax a subscription form to (701) 746-5367. Back Issues, Reprints and Permissions Select back issues are available for $3.95 each, plus shipping. Article reprints are also available for a fee. For more information, contact us at (701) 746-8385 or service@bbiinternational.com. Advertising Biorefining Magazine provides a specific topic delivered to a highly targeted audience. We are committed to editorial excellence and high-quality print production. To find out more about Biorefining Magazine advertising opportunities, please contact us at (701) 746-8385 or service@bbiinternational.com. Letters to the Editor We welcome letters to the editor. Send to Biorefining Magazine Letters to the Editor, 308 2nd Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203 or e-mail to rkotrba@bbiinternational.com. Please include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity and/or space.

Please recycle this magazine and remove inserts or samples before recycling 4 | Biorefining Magazine | MARCH/APRIL 2012

EVENTS CALENDAR |

International Biomass Conference & Expo

April 16-19, 2012

Colorado Convention Center Denver, Colorado A New Era in Energy: The Future is Growing Organized by BBI International and coproduced by Biomass Power & Thermal and Biorefining Magazine, this event brings current and future producers of bioenergy and biobased products together with waste generators, energy crop growers, municipal leaders, utility executives, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, project developers, investors and policy makers. It’s a true one-stop shop—the world’s premier educational and networking junction for all biomass industries. Early bird registration rates expire March 5. (866) 746-8385 www.biomassconference.com

Unlocking the Treasure in Cellulose

International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo

June 4-7, 2012

Minneapolis Convention Center Minneapolis, Minnesota Evolution Through Innovation Now in its 28th year, the FEW provides the ethanol industry with cutting-edge content and unparalleled networking opportunities in a dynamic business-tobusiness environment. The largest, longest running ethanol conference in the world, the FEW is renowned for its superb programming, and is powered by Ethanol Producer Magazine. (866) 746-8385 www.fuelethanolworkshop.com

Algae Biomass Summit

September 24-27, 2012

Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel Denver, Colorado Advancing Technologies and Markets Derived from Algae Organized by the Algal Biomass Organization and coproduced by BBI International, this event brings current and future producers of biobased products and energy together with algae crop growers, municipal leaders, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, project developers, investors and policy makers. Register today for the world’s premier educational and networking junction for the algae industry. (866) 746-8385 www.algaebiomasssummit.org

International Biorefining Conference & Trade Show

It’s a fact. Cellulosic feedstocks allow biofuel producers to turn what was once considered waste into treasure. The key: processing techniques that maximize fuel yield from every ton of feedstock. For more than 30 years, decanters and separators from GEA Westfalia Separator have been used to produce ethanol and biodiesel. Our process know-how, combined with a complete range of machines, allows us to develop solutions for the toughest separation challenges. So whether you are considering processing wood chips, grasses, corn stalks, corn cobs, corn stover or other cellulosic feedstocks, talk to Keith Funsch at 201-784-4322 or email Keith.Funsch@geagroup.com to learn more.

November 27-29, 2012

Liquids to Value GEA Mechanical Equipment US, Inc.

GEA Westfalia Separator Division 100 Fairway Court · Northvale, NJ 07647 Phone: 201-767-3900 · Fax: 201-767-3901 Toll-Free: 800-722-6622 24-Hour Technical Help: 800-509-9299 www.wsus.com

1511

Hilton Americas - Houston Houston, Texas Organized by BBI International and produced by Biorefining Magazine, the International Biorefining Conference & Trade Show brings together agricultural, forestry, waste, and petrochemical professionals to explore the value-added opportunities awaiting them and their organizations within the quickly maturing biorefining industry. Contact a knowledgeable account representative to reserve booth space now. (866) 746-8385 www.biorefiningconference.com

ADVANCED ADVOCACY

Keeping Our Eye on the Ball RFS2 detractors must be ignored, even though the program is not perfect BY MICHAEL McADAMS

s Washing Washington reawakens, let me begin by suggesting that a little common sense would go a long way right about now. It has been four years since Congress passed the revised RFS2 legislation creating a 36 billion gallon mandate for conventional and advanced biofuels. For all you partisans out there, don’t forget this was negotiated and signed by President George W. Bush, not Barrack Obama. So politically lumping in the RFS2 with the Obama renewable energy policy as reason enough to walk away from a promising and growing industry does not hold water. Let’s first ask ourselves, what was the purpose and reason the Congress passed the RFS2 in the first place? Well, as I remember, it was to “break the addiction to foreign oil.” Is that not still an issue today? For many on the Democratic side of the aisle, in 2007, the issue was also to reduce the carbon footprint of our transportation fuels. That is why the RFS2 is the only federal statute that mandates some kind of greenhouse gas reduction component (i.e. the 20 percent, 50 percent and 60 percent requirements for the fuels’ respective categories). For whatever the reason, in the end the House of Representatives voted a whopping 314 to 100 and the Senate 86 to 8 in favor of passing the Energy Independence and Security Act that created the RFS2. We have not seen a bipartisan vote like that on a major piece of legislation in a very long time. But today, I find myself answering numerous questions from reporters about the

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EPA’s recent announcement of the mandated gallons for 2012. Oddly enough, I always have to remind them that it took 20 years to deliver the first 2 billion gallons of ethanol after having support dating back to 1978. So far, we are not doing a bad job in terms of meeting the advanced and biomass-based diesel pool numbers. But the shortsightedness of our 24/7 news cycle has most media pronouncing the RFS a failure solely because the cellulosic numbers were not met. This is simply not the case. We are moving technologies along at an encouraging pace in all the various categories of technology platforms, some are just closer to producing barrels than others. It would be nice if Congress could mandate desired scientific accomplishment and market development deployment, but it simply does not work that way. We must stay the course and the RFS2 is the most important, powerful mechanism to achieve the goals that Congress intended four years ago. Those who are erroneously calling the RFS2 a failure and calling for a repeal of the statute must be ignored. This misleading rhetoric demands that our industry work together to make our case as to why the RFS should remain a fundamental piece of U.S. energy policy. Don’t get me wrong, the statute is not perfect. Sure, it could use changes to ensure certainty of feedstocks, process technologies and molecules, and it would be nice if the process of certifying fuels were a little more streamlined and expeditious. We should have a presumption that fuels that replace foreign oil and foreign products be covered under RFS2 for RINs. Instead, we now have a program that requires those who are attempting to

meet the overarching goals prove a neverending list of convoluted requirements. We have gotten so smart and complicated that we are now standing in the way of commonsense decisions. Whether it is a woody biomass that complies as a nonregenerative wood, slash or thinning, or whether it is a “waste,” these determinations should not be such complicated decisions as to stand in the way of developing a wide range of technology platforms including cellulosic gallons. Yes, I know, the statute limits the ability of the agency to make commonsense decisions. Well, maybe so, but the entire country and the policymakers who had a vision for producing biofuels, as a component piece of America’s energy strategy, did not intend the process to create the confusion and uncertainty that it ultimately created. It is hard to argue against our success and milestones met since the bill was passed. But we can, and must, do more. It will clearly take the support of Capitol Hill and the White House, together, to agree that biofuels are essential to America’s long-term energy policy for us to deliver on the promise of the original intent of RFS2. Let’s get it right, not focus on the shortcomings, and by all means let’s make it easier to call a duck a duck, and a renewable fuel a renewable fuel. Author: Michael McAdams President, Advanced Biofuels Association (202) 469-5140 Michael.McAdams@hklaw.com

TALKING POINT

The Chemical Process Consultant’s Role An A n experienced consultant can save your project p r money and increase performance BY ROMAN WOLFF

hether improving an existing plant or building a new biorefinery, the chemical process consultant should be your first stop. In existing plants, yield improvements, energy efficiency and solvent recovery are the most common projects. When properly scoped and executed, these projects tend to have immediate impact on efficiency and economics. The consultant identifies the opportunity and scopes, and often manages the project. A couple of typical projects are outlined below. Methanol Recovery: A biodiesel facility was losing 150 pounds of methanol an hour to the vent operated at a slight vacuum, and the originally designed cooling water condenser was only partially effective. Enhanced Biofuels used a combination of process simulation and analytical data to confirm the magnitude of the losses and recommended a chilled water condenser. Given space limitations, a low-footprint condenser with small pressure drop was recommended and installed. Methanol losses were minimized and the project had a payout of a few months. Heat Recovery, Additional Capacity: A plant needed additional capacity and one of the distillation columns was identified as the bottleneck. One of our engineers tackled the problem by performing an energy balance and hydraulic review to uncover that the bottleneck was two-fold. The product pump was undersized and the heat requirement could not be met by the existing heater. Heater replacement was prohibitively expensive. Process simulation was used to show that product heat recovery could be used to cost-effectively add the

required heat to increase capacity. A feed bottoms heat exchanger was recommended and installed with new bottom pumps. At the completion of the project, the distillation operated at higher capacity and lower energy consumption per pound of product. Technology improvements are a special type of project where the plant is expected to perform better than it was originally designed for. Examples include using a different feedstock, changes in product specification, changes in equipment design, and large increases in capacity. An important role of the chemical process consultant in this type of project is technology review and selection. Dryer Specification, Throughput: In a newly built plant, a fluidized bed dryer was not meeting design throughput or moisture specifications. We used a bench-scale dryer and worked closely with the plant to collect operating data. As a result, addition and modification of the dryer internal baffles was recommended to increase dryer throughput and achieve moisture specification. The dryer now operates at 20 percent higher throughput. When facing the challenge of a new biorefinery, one should consider bringing on board a chemical process consultant to act as an “owner’s representative,” a technology- and business-savvy project manager who will help manage the project development process. Feasibility Study, Alternative Review: This provides preliminary capital cost and pro forma, and vets the business model, identifies major risks and reviews alternative technologies, sites, feedstock choices, utility types. The owner’s representative may undertake or oversee the feasibility study. Front-End Engineering, Design: FEED defines and freezes the project scope, and process equipment. Long lead items will

be specified as ready to purchase. The cost estimate might be refined to plus or minus 10 percent. The owner’s representative will help to choose and supervise the engineering company. Detailed Engineering: This refines the project documents to “ready for construction” with detailed design of equipment, foundations, structures, electrical and piping routing, instruments, etc. The owner’s representative will facilitate communications and manage scope, cost and schedule. Procurement: Typically led by the engineering company and the general contractor. Long delivery and special technology items may be procured by the owner’s representative. Construction: Led by the engineering company and the general contractor. The owner’s representative is least involved in the construction of the project. Startup, Performance: This phase starts by ensuring that operating and maintenance manuals are ready and operators are properly trained. Once mechanically complete, the unit will go through a shakedown period until it reaches nameplate capacity and product specification. At this point, a third party will usually be brought in to certify performance. The owner’s representative is intimately involved in this stage of the project. Optimization: This is adjustments as a result of changes in market conditions, utility prices, product specifications, and feedstock changes. The owner’s representative may stay involved with optimization efforts given the expertise developed during the project. Author: Roman Wolff President, Enhanced Biofuels (713) 301-8660 rwolff@enhancedbiofuels.com

MARCH/APRIL 2012 | Biorefining Magazine | 7

LEGAL PERSPECTIVE

Are Your Communications Privileged? The digital age opens new questions about attorney-client privilege BY MATTHEW H. MCKINNEY

ommunications between a client and their attorney(s) are generally protected by the well-recognized attorneyclient privilege. Importantly, however, the attorney-client privilege, along with other recognized privileges, are only as strong as the confidentialities (or expectations of privacy) associated with the communications. For instance, courts generally recognize that if a third party is present while an exchange of privileged, confidential information is made with an attorney and the third party is not an agent of the attorney, any privilege that may have existed is waived. In other words, a court will likely find that a privilege does not exist if a third party is either present or has access to the privileged information. While advances in technology have streamlined the ability for clients and their attorneys to communicate worldwide 24/7 with the simple click of a button, the same technology has opened the door to new challenges regarding the scope and applicability of the attorney-client privilege. For example, when an employee uses work email, as opposed to a personal, password protected email, to communicate otherwise privileged information with their personal attorney, is that email communication privileged? What about if the employee’s work computer and email system are monitored by the employer, is the communication still privileged? Further complicating matters, what if the employer has a policy that bans personal use of the company computer and information technology (IT) systems? What if IT

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staff and others are granted access to the employee’s email account as a matter of company policy? Under which of these scenarios, if any, will the employee’s email communication remain privileged? Conversely, under which scenario may the employee have opened the door for their adversary—in a litigation setting—to obtain the employer’s records as well as copies of the employee’s emails despite the fact they may have been sent to the employee’s personal attorney? These same questions and issues can also apply to disputing business owners. For example, suppose that A and B are the sole owners in ABC business entity and that A is suing B for breach of fiduciary duty. Further suppose that before and during the litigation A and B use their business’s email account to communicate with their respective personal attorneys regarding the dispute. Suppose also that A is responsible for keeping up ABC’s IT systems and has complete access to the business’ email, which B knew or should have known. Are B’s emails to his attorney privileged or has the privilege been waived? What if A has reviewed B’s emails while maintaining ABC’s IT system, are B’s emails still privileged? What about A’s emails? These and other unique questions are being litigated more and more in courts across the U.S. And not surprisingly, a bright-line rule has yet to surface. Even so, several courts have applied what have become known as the Asia Global factors to determine whether a privilege exists in some of the unique scenarios described above. Generally, the four Asia Global factors are: Does the employer or business maintain a

policy banning personal use of emails? Does the employer or business monitor the use of its computer or email? Does the employer or business have access to the computer or emails? Did the employer or business notify the employee about these policies? In addition to these four factors, some courts have applied a fifth factor, which is: How did the employer or business interpret its computer usage policy? According to certain courts and the opinion cited above, these factors are used to determine whether an employee or person has a reasonable, subjective expectation of privacy in their communication that society is willing to accept as objectively reasonable. If, upon applying these factors, they have a subjective expectation of privacy that is objectively reasonable, then certain courts have found email communications should remain privileged. Conversely, if the expectation of privacy is not reasonable, or it is something that society does not accept as objectively reasonable, then the email communications will not be protected by the privilege. While this area of the law is continually changing and remains unsettled, a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction versed in this area of the law should be able to provide guidance on this and other similarly related privilege issues. Author: Matthew H. McKinney Attorney, BrownWinick Law Firm (515) 242-2468 mckinney@brownwinick.com

BUSINESS BRIEFS People, Partnerships & Deals

Solazyme Inc. announced the hiring of Mark Warner as senior vice president of engineering. Warner joins Solazyme from Harris Group where he was senior vice presWarner ident of process industries. In his new role with Solazyme, Warner is responsible for the design and construction of Solazyme’s renewable oil and bioproducts production facilities worldwide. Before Harris Group, Warner was responsible for the design and construction of one of the largest biodiesel production facilities in the U.S., Imperium Renewables’ Grays Harbor facility, as vice president of engineering for Imperium. Warner is a professional engineer with 26 years of broad-ranging business, technical, and management experience in the building and development of renewable energy projects and chemical plant operations. OPW Engineered Systems, a division of OPW Fluid Transfer Group, offers its trademarked Endura Series Dual Split Flange Swivel Joint specifically designed to transfer acids, solvents, petrochemicals and other toxic fluids. With no ball bearings to remove, Endura Swivel Joints feature reduced maintenance time and costs— simply unbolt the sealing flanges to access the seals. The Endura’s bearing module also allows for easy replacement and rebuild

options. Because of its easy maintenance, Endura Swivel Joints feature a longer life and lower total cost of ownership when compared with other available swivel joints. One of the most distinctive design features of the Endura Swivel Joint is its redundant sealing, meaning that it incorporates a main seal, back-up seal and an environmental seal. If the main product seal ever leaks due to normal wear, the back-up seal contains the fluid. OPW Endura Swivel Joints are available in 2, 3 and 4-inch sizes. Standard seal materials include Buna-N, fluorocarbon, PTFE, EPDM and Neoprene. BBI International and NEAtech announced in January a joint venture to develop a new international consulting service called BBI Consulting Services. Utilizing existing resources, the service will allow BBI International and NEAtech to deliver additional expertise to customers who are conceptualizing, developing or refining their bioenergy projects. By combining their experience and BBI International’s broadcast spectrum, the new venture will have the ability to offer a breadth of bioenergy consulting to thousands of companies and organizations worldwide, as well as state and federal departments in the U.S. Leading the consulting group are two experienced bioenergy consultants, Rafael Nieves and Mark Yancey of NEAtech. Nieves has worked in the bioenergy sector for more than 28 years and has experience managing international bioenergy projects. Yancey has 35 years of experience in the fields of bioenergy and environmental engineering. Elm Street Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in New Haven, Conn., has provided financing for the formation of a new company, P2 Science,

which aims to usher in a new class of highperformance surfactants, called C-glycosides (CGs), derived from renewable feedstocks. P2 Science will utilize a patent-pending technology developed by Patrick Foley at Yale University’s Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering. Foley joined P2 Science as the company’s chief scientific officer. The biobased CGs will be positioned primarily as co-surfactants to enhance the performance properties of primary surfactants that exist in the market today, such as linear alkybenzene sulfonic acid, sodium alkyl sulfates, alcohol ethoxylates and other similar products. Bradley J. Bell has joined Virent’s board of directors. As part of his responsibilities, Bell will chair Virent’s audit committee and serve as a member of its compensation committee. Bell served as executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) of Nalco Co. from October 2003 through 2010. For six years prior to joining Nalco, Bell was senior vice president and CFO of Rohm and Haas Co., now part of Dow Chemical. His previous experience included executive roles at both Whirlpool Corp. and Bundy Corp. Earning a bachelor’s degree in finance, Bell graduated with high honors from the University of Illinois. He holds a master’s degree in business administration, conferred with distinction, from Harvard University Graduate School of Business. SHARE YOUR INDUSTRY BRIEFS To be included in Business Briefs, send information (including photos and logos if available) to: Industry Briefs, Biorefining, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You may also fax information to (701) 746-8385, or e-mail it to rkotrba@bbiinternational.com. Please include your name and telephone number in all correspondence.

MARCH/APRIL 2012 | Biorefining Magazine | 9

PHOTO: REVERDIA VOF

STARTUP

Biorefining News & Trends

Building Out Through their joint venture, DSM and Roquette are co-locating a 10 kiloton biosuccinic acid facility in Cassano, Italy, with Roquette’s starch processing facility.

Strengthening the Ties

Why DSM, Roquette are closer to bringing biosuccinic acid to market The demand for biobased materials for a range of products derived from their chemical building blocks is seemingly reaching an alltime peak. Clearly, momentum is on the side of biorefining companies such as Netherlandsbased DSM N.V. and France-based starch and polyols producer Roquette Freres, which are currently targeting production of biobased succinic acid, a prized chemical building block for the production of polyurethanes, resins, polybutylene succinate and plasticizers, as well as a precursor for other chemicals such as 1,4 butanediol. Since 2007, DSM and Roquette have been developing a novel conversion route to biosuccinic acid—trademarked Biosuccinium—derived from nongenetically modified corn as today’s feedstock. Now, through the formation of their joint venture entity Rever-

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dia VOF, both are making significant progress on the construction of a 10 kiloton per year commercial-scale biosuccinic acid production facility located at the Roquette starch manufacturing site in Cassano, Italy. It is expected to come online by the second half this year. In 2010, the two companies brought online a demonstration-scale biosuccinic acid production unit in France. The Reverdia joint venture was approved by the European Commission in December. According to Will van den Tweel, general manager of Reverdia, the potential for biobased succinic acid is huge. The alignment of DSM’s strength in yeast, enzymes and biotechnology alongside Roquette’s expertise in feedstock sourcing and established market presence are what van den Tweel says prompted both companies to unite and create Reverdia.

“Both companies have a strong sustainability strategy with DSM having the No. 1 position in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Roquette being a member of the United Nations Global Compact,” he says. The commercialization of biosuccinic acid via the Reverdia joint venture, according to James Iademarco, vice president of biobased chemicals and materials for DSM, will broaden the company’s product portfolio offering while strengthening its experience securing strategic partnerships that complement core competencies. “Biosuccinium is the front-runner for our biobased chemical and material portfolio and therefore adds to our experience base to know what it takes to successfully bring a biobased product to commercial scale in an integrated biorefinery,” Iademarco says. “Companies invest a lot in technology, but one also needs to invest in collaborative relationships along these new value chains.” Based on this strong pact, according to van den Tweel, the companies employ a proprietary yeast-based fermentation pathway to produce biosuccinic acid, which, he adds, operates at a low pH in contrast to other competing processes, allowing the use of other feedstocks such as sugarcane. Reverdia intends to eventually utilize lignocellulosic feedstocks. “We evaluated bacteria and yeast options and concluded the low pH yeast option to be the most cost- and energy-effective way to produce biobased succinic acid,” van den Tweel says, adding that the process sequesters carbon dioxide throughout the production cycle. “The technology requires fewer steps than, for example, bacterial technology. Bacteria-based processes produce intermediate succinic salts, which require extra processing, additional equipment and additional energy to convert salts into succinic acid.” Reverdia is scoping the landscape for the best option of a second commercialscale biosuccinic facility, “which we plan to have in place by 2015,” van den Tweel, says. —Bryan Sims

STARTUP |

Enabling Expansion

Project finance, scale-up hot topics at California biomass event In January, more than 300 members of the biomass industry met in San Francisco to network, conduct business and learn about new achievements in regional biobased economy. The 2012 Pacific West Biomass Conference & Tradeshow attracted a wide variety of professionals representing the biofuel, biochemical and biopower sectors. Project finance and investment were strong themes at this year’s event. Bill Lemon, senior vice president of investment banking at Source Capital Group Inc., spoke to attendees about the importance of seeking out the right type of investor at each phase of a company’s development. For example, he said that debt investors are not going to want to invest in a risky project, even if the technology has the potential to be hugely successful. This is because the potential payoff is not big enough to offset the potential risk as the debt inventor will only recoup principle and interest no matter how successful the project becomes. Technology risk is not the only risk investors in the biorefining industry must face. John May, managing director at Stern Brothers and Co., pointed out that feedstock related risks are also huge. Biomass feedstock is the bane of investment bankers, he said, because volatile or rising feedstock prices can severely impact the margins of a developer. Financial investors are not the only mechanism available, however, to support the scale-up of biorefining projects. Strategic investors can offer many advantages above and beyond financial support. During a breakout session at the conference, Eric Darmstaedter, president of ClearFuels Technologies Inc., spoke to attendees about the partnership his company formed with Rentech to scale-up its unique gasification process. ClearFuels was ready to scale-up to demonstration-scale production in 2009, but lacked the capital to do so, Darmstaedter said. Rentech, which is now the majority owner of ClearFuels, signed on as a strategic investor, allowing the project to move forward. Darmstaedter said it turned out to be a great match. “Being able to co-locate at an existing facility saved us a lot of time and money,” he added. “They have a strong balance sheet, which is helpful. They had experience operating and had scientists, engineers and technicians who understood what we were doing.” As a result, a 20 ton per day demonstration plant was completed in November. —Erin Voegele MARCH/APRIL 2012 | Biorefining Magazine | 11

STARTUP

PHOTO: CHUCK KIMMERLE, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA PHOTOGRAPHER

Patently Making Progress

Innovator Jana Stavova co-invented the technology developed at UND to produce short-chain carboxylic acids and esters from biomass.

How one university is poised to introduce revolutionary biorefining technology A unique noncatalytic thermal-cracking technology developed under the Sustainable Energy Research Initiative and Supporting Education supercluster program at the University of North Dakota is poised for commercialization. UND has received patent approval for the invention titled “Methods to Produce Short Chain Carboxylic Acids and Esters from Biomass.” Wayne Seames, professor of chemical engineering and director of the SUNRISE program, says the technology “cracks” triacylglyceride (TG) oils that are inherently found in a variety of oilseed crops as well as other high oil-bearing organic materials like algae, microbes and waste cooking oils, into longand short-chain fatty acids. These fatty acids can then be extracted from the reactor using water or a base and then purified into a range of commercial-grade biobased chemicals.

“There are a lot of uses for these chemicals and a lot of it depends on how long the fatty acid chain is,” Seames tells Biorefining Magazine. “The very short ones are really good for polymers because they form lots of repeating units, which you want in polymers.” The smallest of the short-chain fatty acids is acetic acid, the primary acid in vinegar. “Some plants, algae and bacteria naturally store excess energy in TG oils,” Seames says. Additional uses of the TG oils include transforming them into a class of fatty acid esters, many of which are naturally synthesized in nature. The technology is also capable of making advanced hydrocarbon distillate fuels and cuts of naphtha. “If you take say a gallon of your inlet TG oil and crack it, it will make 50 to 60 percent of that inlet oil into fuel and 20 to 30 percent into these acids,” Seames says. “The short-chain fatty acids have higher sales prices than the fuel products, so by recovering and purifying the acids, you now have a more economical facility. It’s truly a biorefinery, as it has multiple products that you’re making.” Seames says a number of outside entities have expressed interest in licensing the technology. “We’re looking for that one great partner that has the vision, the financial backing and a good business team in place that can take these technologies big time,” he says. —Bryan Sims

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RNA devices could lead to cheaper advance biofuels Computer aided design (CAD) tools have long been used by architects, engineers and others to design buildings, circuits and a wide range of additional products. Now researchers at the U.S. DOE’s Joint BioEnergy Institute are using CAD-type models and simulations of Ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules to engineer biological components that control gene expression in microbes. The researchers refer to these components as RNA devices. According to the DOE, this type of device could allow scientists to develop new strains of E. coli that can better digest cellulosic biomass, which could bring down the cost to produce advanced drop-in biofuels, such as biobased gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The research team focused on the RNA sequences that can fold into complicated three-dimensional shapes called ribozymes and aptazymes. According to the research team, these RNA sequences can catalyze reactions and control gene expression in bacteria,

yeast, and other cells. Using the models and simulations, the researchers were able to create complex RNA-based control systems that are able to program a large number of genes. The DOE further notes that the “commands” that are sent into the cell of a microorganism are processed by these RNA control systems, which RNA Machines Joint BioEnergy Institute researchers develop a tool to enable the production of de- control genetic expression in microbes. sired products. “This is a perfect example The work could also have important impliof how our investments in basic science innocations in the biochemical field. “In addition to vations can pave the way for future industries advanced biofuels, we’re also looking into engiand solutions to our nation’s most important neering microbes to produce chemicals from rechallenges,” says Energy Secretary Steven Chu. newable feedstocks that are difficult to produce “This breakthrough at the Joint BioEnergy cheaply and in high yield using traditional organInstitute holds enormous potential for the susic chemistry technology,” says JBEI bioengineer tainable production of advanced biofuels and James Carothers. —Erin Voegele countless other valuable goods.”

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PHOTO: LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY

Genetic Advancement

CONSTRUCTION

Sun and Good Neighbors Solix Biosystemsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; demo algae facility in Durango, Colo., is co-located with an amine natural gas scrubbing plant. A pipe carries carbon dioxide from the scrubbing plant to the algae for feeding. PHOTO: SOLIX BIOSYSTEMS

14 | Biorefining Magazine | MARCH/APRIL 2012

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Navigating the Nuances of Integration Experts discuss important considerations in co-location and retrofit projects BY BRYAN SIMS

Whether it’s co-locating a stand-alone biorefinery at an existing industrial asset to bolster supply chain dynamics, or retrofitting an existing industrial facility with new process technology to improve operational efficiency, each approach strengthens the host operations and mutually benefits all parties involved. Today, the advantages of colocating or retrofitting are realized at a number of industrial facilities, including corn ethanol plants, biodiesel facilities and pulp and paper mills, and more assets are being targeted as potential biorefineries to produce advanced biofuels, biochemicals and green power. For the EPC firms facilitating these critical project activities, each respective approach may appear simple, but establishing this sort of project can be complex, says Ron Jones, director of biofuels development at Burns & McDonnell. “There are a whole host of business and legal issues that have to be worked through, such as if the bolt-on or the co-located unit is going to be owned by somebody else or if it’s some form of a joint venture,” Jones tells Biorefining Magazine. “Even if it’s a third-party technology, there are acceptance issues in addition to liability concerns, ownership and the framework of the commercial deal have to be taken into consideration.” Since June, Burns & McDonnell has been working with Colorado-based ZeaChem Inc. on the engineering, design and build of its 250,000 gallon per year integrated biorefinery located near Boardman, Ore. In January,

Burns & McDonnell completed ZeaChem’s core technology on time and under budget. ZeaChem’s future commercial-scale facility, which will be co-located onsite of its demonstration plant in Boardman, is expected to have an annual production rate of about 25 MMgy. According to Jones, Burns & McDonnell is working on similar projects in the U.S., Asia and Europe, with even more in the queue. “We’re pretty bullish on this business,” Jones says. A challenging aspect that every EPC firm confronts during a project—whether an “inside the fence” retrofit or an “outside the fence” co-location approach is taken—is that the host facility is being asked to do something that’s not core to what it already does, says Doug Dudgeon, vice president of process industries for Harris Group Inc. “They don’t know the market, they don’t know the process and it’s pretty hard to come up with a good reason for them to say, ‘Yeah, I’ll take the risk,’” Dudgeon says. Harris Group has a respected reputation in the pulp and paper industry with successful integration of combined heat-and-power (CHP) technologies, but the company is also actively engaged in helping emerging biorefining companies, such as cellulosic ethanol and biochemical technology developer Coskata Inc., scale-up process technology for potential co-location or retrofitting. “Even though [pulp and paper mills] have embraced CHP, that was a big deal to them,” Dudgeon says. “A lot of them know it now, MARCH/APRIL 2012 | Biorefining Magazine | 15

CONSTRUCTION

but they didn’t at first. It’s the same thing if you try to bring in cellulosic ethanol into a pulp mill, for example. We can show people things on paper that make this look great, but they have a tendency to stick to doing what they were originally designed and built to do.” While these types of projects have their risks and rewards, a successful co-location or retrofit understands the size and scope of the footprint considered for integration, says Chris Scott-Kerr, vice president of projects for global engineering and design firm Poyry Inc. With expertise in upgrading pulp mills by outfitting them with heat and power technologies, the company is also targeting existing corn ethanol plants to integrate cellulosic ethanol production technology. Poyry is providing design and engineering services for Canadian biorefining firm Lignol Energy Corp., which intends to co-locate or bolt on its novel cellulosic ethanol and biochemical conversion technology with existing industrial assets, when commercially ready. “You want to start off with something that’s manageable and quite small at the demonstration scale,” Scott-Kerr says. “Some are

16 | Biorefining Magazine | MARCH/APRIL 2012

coming in and what they’re doing has a massive impact on the host plant. You need to find a way to come in at a scale that allows them to integrate without completely disrupting everything.” If a host facility is not receptive to the idea of a co-location or retrofit project, the interface between the EPC firm and host site is critical in order to communicate to host staff what should be done and how the EPC firm can complete the project as smoothly as possible, without disrupting ongoing operations. “Our people work very closely with the host site,” Jones says. “They understand what the particulars of that operation are and what the client is looking for in terms of performance. Similar to the design itself, it’s an integrated approach with the existing staff on site to make sure everybody is on the same page, and so everyone knows what to expect during the development of the project.”

Things to Keep in Mind As mentioned, several key business issues must be communicated between the EPC

firm and host management staff before such a project can even begin. One item is to carefully examine contractual agreements between the licensee and the licensor of existing process technology at a host site when a retrofit activity, in particular, is considered, says Alan Propp, business development manager for Merrick & Co. In 1996, Merrick designed and built an ethanol production unit on the property of Coors Brewing Co.’s brewery in Golden, Colo. The plant recovers off-spec brewery residuals and, at an annual maximum production rate of 3 MMgy, serves as the prototype for Merrick & Co. to replicate similar projects at existing breweries, or at other first-generation biofuel assets. Propp says he’s aware of contracts that have specific clauses in them that allow licensors of corn ethanol process technology, if a particular piece of equipment or process technology is installed, to have direct access to the technology for use anywhere they desire. “This is a complete nonstarter for most technology providers that want to integrate with an ethanol plant,” Propp says, adding that he’s aware of five or six existing corn ethanol technology

CONSTRUCTION |

“We say the strength of a company like Technip is in customization to match the project drivers from the client side,” Sharma says. A good co-location or retrofit project cannot be accomplished without outside partnerships. “In all of these projects there are multiple entities involved,” Jones says, “and being able to manage that is a little bit different compared to traditional capital projects with a large owner where it’s basically the EPC contractor and the owner. In this case, you’ve got technology suppliers, module vendors and a whole host of

Author: Bryan Sims Associate Editor, Biorefining Magazine (701) 738-4974 bsims@bbiinternational.com

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different parties that come to play, so it’s really a team-based activity and one that requires a different mindset and a different approach to managing the effort.” “The trick,” he adds, “is how to manage that to stay focused on a path, as opposed to letting it become a diversion. As long as you have good folks running the effort, it will happen.”

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providers that have clauses like these in their contracts. “In this case, it’s a requirement that you do it outside the fence. By doing that, the technology provider doesn’t incur any liability to their intellectual property.” Additionally, Propp says it’s important to be on the lookout for provisions in a licensor contract that may prohibit certain engineering firms to partake in the project. “If you’ve got your favorite engineering firm that you want to work with, you want to make sure before you go too far down the road that you’re not contractually prohibited from doing so,” Propp says. When it comes to a retrofit, Dudgeon says it’s important to consider available space that might be required to install incoming biorefining equipment. “If you’re trying to fit in an existing facility, you may have some long piping runs, for example. Whatever you do, it’s going to be suboptimal and you just have to accept that.” Finally, according to Propp, it’s important to involve EPC firms like Merrick early in the front-end engineering and design (FEED) of a proposed co-location or retrofit project because they’re more likely to be corrected if they’re caught ahead of time, rather than later. “Doing proper FEED is key in these projects because that’s when engineers can have the greatest positive impact on the cost, schedule and performance of the system,” Propp says.

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MARCH/APRIL 2012 | Biorefining Magazine | 17

LABORATORY

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Expediting Results Bioinformatics can offer efficient, automated, accelerated analysis of genetic data BY ERIN VOEGELE

Many biorefining companies engineer more than equipment and mechanical processes in technology development. They also engineer, design or breed microorganisms, whether algae, yeast or bacteria. To design the most efficient, cost-effective process technology possible, these companies must ensure that the microorganisms they employ are highly effective at performing whatever conversion necessary. This often involves extensive work with gene sequencing and analysis. These operations can result in a huge amount of raw data that needs to be organized and analyzed. A variety of software solutions—on the market and in open-source formats—are available to aid researchers in analyzing genetic data sets. However, a unique software solution offered by Denmark-based CLC bio is proving to be the best software solution for a variety of biorefining companies, including Sapphire Energy Inc., BioGasol ApS, and Synthetic Genomics Inc. One common way CLC bio’s bioinformatics solutions is used by industry, says Cecilie Boysen, the company’s senior consulting manager of the Americas, is that scientists identify a gene they want to optimize to make a particular organism perform better under industrial conditions. A company working with algae might want to optimize its ability to produce oil or grow under very specific conditions. Similarly, a company developing a cellulosic fermentation production technology may need to optimize its yeast or bacteria to produce under certain temperature variables. The technologies and processes to perform this type of selection activity generally result in an overwhelming amount of data. Many companies have traditionally

spent days or weeks analyzing it in a semiautomated fashion using several stand-alone software packages. In some cases, fully manual work is also completed using Excel spreadsheets. According to Boysen, the bioinformatics solution offered by CLC bio essentially serves as a pipeline that automates all of these activities. The result is an analysis process that is significantly less time-intensive, and less prone to human error. CLC bio has been offering bioinformatics solutions since its founding in January 2005. According to Lasse Görlitz, the company’s director of communications, CLC bio was established by two brothers in Denmark. “The original idea was to make some powerful analysis tools and put them into the hands of scientists who can interpret the resulting data,” he says. In the past, molecular biologists and other researchers had to collaborate with programmers to analyze genetic data. This is because the algorithms used were not in the form of a graphical interface. Rather, they needed to be scripted and programmed, not only in the beginning, but throughout the analysis process assuming that the algorithms had to be tweaked to better perform. “You had to be able to script and program to actually run these analyses,” Görlitz said. “We wanted to be able to put the tools in the hands of those who actually had the knowledge to interpret the data.” In the first three years of the company’s existence, approximately 1 million users downloaded the program. Considering the relatively small size of the scientific community needing this type of analysis tool, Görlitz calls the reach of the program outstanding and formerly unheard of in the sector. When next-generation gene sequencing became available in 2007, CLC bio decided to also serve that need in the scientific comMARCH/APRIL 2012 | Biorefining Magazine | 19

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munity. Next-gen sequencing is vastly less expensive than traditional methods and results in even greater amounts of data. CLC bio’s decision to service that need has paid off, says Görlitz, as the company’s software sales grew more than 30 percent last year, with profits growing by more than 50 percent. Traditionally, the bioinformatics solution has been widely used by those in several sectors, including plant research, but interest from the biorefining community is relatively new. Görlitz stresses that his company is confident its presence in the sector will continue to grow dramatically.

Capabilities Görlitz says CLC bio’s bioinformatics solution is organism-agnostic. Any living organism with a DNA code has genes that can be sequenced. If the genes can be sequenced, CLC bio’s product can analyze and assemble the data. “One of the key strengths of our platform is that it caters to the agricultural sector, specifically plant genomes,” Görlitz adds. “While it might sound strange, plant genomes are typically a lot bigger than those of mam-

mals. So, some of these plant species actually require some very sophisticated lab-scale setups to handle and analyze all of these large genomes, and to interpret that data.” The system is an open platform, Görlitz says, which means that a customer can integrate almost any system into it. This includes open-source algorithms that some researchers may be using to analyze data. It could also be third-party solutions that are already installed in a lab. The bioinformatics solution essentially integrates the flow of data between all of these systems. “Our architecture is extremely flexible in that way,” he adds. “We can go into virtually any organization, look at what they already have, look at what their needs are, and then add our platform and tailor it so everything is strung together” into a pipeline the organization can tweak on its own. Our system focuses on sequence analysis, Görlitz says. “You used to have to use a lot of different software packages to do different types of analyses. That is what we have actually integrated into our platform. Once you are doing sequence analysis, you are pretty much staying within our software platform…If a

customer has developed its own specific tool, we can just integrate that with the platform. You are still using the same framework and you don’t have to import/export or convert data, which are tedious tasks. You can actually focus on the science and being productive.”

Benefits, Industry Feedback The platform not only increases the accuracy of analysis, it also vastly speeds up the process. Görlitz points out that whenever people have to perform repetitive manual tasks, errors occur. If those tasks are completed by a computer, the potential for inconsistencies is reduced. The benefits of speed are even more pronounced. “The speed is actually something that is very unique about our software,” Görlitz says. A good example of this is with the human genome. A common open-source algorithm used to analyze the human genome is called ABYSS. “If you want to use that to assemble a human genome, you would have to have it running on 20 computers for seven days. If you use our algorithm, you can do it on a single computer in about seven hours.” And these are not super

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20 | Biorefining Magazine | MARCH/APRIL 2012

LABORATORY |

computers, he stresses, just relatively standard computers already installed in most laboratory operations. The speed is “a tremendous advantage” for biofuel companies that are “in pipeline mode,” Görlitz says, “where you simply have a lot of data all the time, and you keep procuring data and you want to analyze it. Time is money.” In December, CLC bio announced that Sapphire Energy installed its bioinformatics solution. “At the core of our science operations and biology operations here, we institute a high throughput of biology capabilities, meaning we look at thousands and thousands of different traits simultaneously,” says Tim Zenk, Sapphire Energy’s vice president of corporate affairs. “Our objective in working with CLC bio was to bring the biotechnology informatics capability in-house so we can categorize and speed up the process of identifying traits and genes that we are looking for.” According to Zenk, the solution implemented at Sapphire Energy required minimal customization and allowed Sapphire Energy employees to immediately go to work on a relatively standard platform they were already used to. While some customization was required to accommodate the specific genes his company is looking for, Zenk says implementation of the solution required very little work on the side of Sapphire Energy. “We implemented our internal intrascience intranet that enables our scientists to access it through the enterprise network,” he says. “CLC bio customized the software to meet our particular high-throughput biology needs, focused in on the algae genomes that we are looking for.” BioGasol also recently installed a bioinformatics solution. The cellulosic ethanol company is working to develop a thermophilic strain of bacteria. According to Torbjørn Jensen, BioGasol research scientist, his company looked into other competing solutions, but found CLC bio’s to be the best package for its needs. “When we do this bioinformatic work, we use a lot of different functions and all of these functions are integrated into the same program,” he says. “That was one of our main focuses.” Jensen says his company began using the product last year and is very satisfied with its performance because it’s an affordable, robust solution. “The team behind it has been really open and eager to help.”

Görlitz says his company is continually working to update and improve its bioinformatics solution, and there are always new protocols and new technologies being introduced in genome sequencing. CLC bio spends a great deal of time and energy ensuring that its platform can integrate with new improvements in the sequencing space. “One of the really new, promising things that scientists are excited about is our new feature, coming out later this year, that allows you to compare and visualize differences

between different genomes and different genome databases,” he explains. “It may sound trivial, but it is extremely complicated when you take into account the quantity of data you have to crunch to do this. It’s nothing anyone else has demonstrated they can do, so this is something that is unique to our software.” Author: Erin Voegele Associate Editor, Biorefining Magazine (701) 540-6986 evoegele@bbiinternational.com

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