May/June 2017 Issue 3 • Volume 11
international
From Hollywood to biofuels A film-maker leaves Tinseltown to tackle climate change
On the right track The sustainability agenda shows no sign of abating
Regional focus: biofuels in southeasxxxxxralasia Regional focus: Ethanol in North America
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Volume 11
May/June 2017 Woodcote Media Limited Marshall House 124 Middleton Road, Morden, Surrey SM4 6RW, UK www.biofuels-news.com MANAGING DIRECTOR Peter Patterson Tel: +44 (0)208 648 7082 peter@woodcotemedia.com EDITOR Liz Gyekye Tel: +44 (0)208 687 4183 liz@woodcotemedia.com DEPUTY EDITOR Daryl Worthington Tel: +44 (0)208 687 4126 daryl@woodcotemedia.com INTERNATIONAL SALES MANAGER Matthew Clifton +44 (0)203 551 5751 matthew@biofuels-news.com US SALES MANAGER Matt Weidner +1 610 486 6525 mtw@weidcom.com PRODUCTION Alison Balmer Tel: +44 (0)1673 876143 alisonbalmer@btconnect.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES £160/$270/€225 for 6 issues per year Contact: Lisa Lee Tel: +44 (0)208 687 4160 Fax: +44 (0)208 687 4130 marketing@woodcotemedia.com
No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in any form by any mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or other means without the prior written consent of the publisher. Whilst the information and articles in Biofuels International are published in good faith and every effort is made to check accuracy, readers should verify facts and statements direct with official sources before acting on them as the publisher can accept no responsibility in this respect. Any opinions expressed in this magazine should not be construed as those of the publisher. ISSN 1754-2170
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c ntents 3 News 18 Incident report 20 Plant update 22 Market analysis 24 Current price index 25 All eyes on Trump Creating jobs, returning economic prosperity to rural communities and making good on electoral promises top Trump’s list of challenges 26 From Hollywood to sustainable energy A mechano-catalytic process is causing waves in the industry 29 The green team The sustainability agenda shows no sign of abating
30 All things biofuel Air pollution, marine opportunities and ‘broken’ EU policies drive World Bio Markets’ biofuels debate 34 Pellets on the right track Optimising a rail car for the use of transporting biomass energy 36 A preprocessing system for cellulosic ethanol production An innovative technique is helping to produce bioethanol from corn dust to broken corn 39 A green convention 2015 Paris Convention – driving the need for development in analytical science for renewable biofuels 40 In the fast lane There are many options for fast-tracking clean technology patent applications 43 Developments in dehydration processing The history and progress of dryer capacity in the biofuels industry 44 Ethanol dryers: Where we were yesterday and where we are today A look at ICM’s beginnings, past, present and future 46 How can I get a good night’s sleep? Carefully planning a pilot plant scale-up will help operators avoid sleepless nights 48 Home and dry Skid-mounted system for recovery of ethanol from brewery waste streams 50 Nuts about green fuels Oil-rich nuts are the latest material to be converted into biofuels and biochemicals
international
May/June 2017 Issue 3 • Volume 11
From Hollywood to biofuels A film-maker leaves Tinseltown to tackle climate change
On the right track The sustainability agenda shows no sign of abating
54 The heat is on Heat exchangers can help to bring great savings to ethanol producers 56 Plant automation How to save time and costs
Regional focus: biofuels in southeasxxxxxralasia Regional focus: Ethanol in North America FC_Biofuels_may-june_2017.indd 1
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Powering progress
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Liz Gyekye Editor
ine billion. That is the number of people our planet may hold by mid-century. That is up from seven billion today – with three out of four of us living in cities. Demand for energy could be 75% higher in fifty years from now. At the same time, the world’s remaining supplies of oil and natural gas are increasingly difficult to find, unlock and produce. Challenges include remote environments, complex geologies, or the deepest depths of the oceans. If we are going to meet rising demand, we will need energy from all sources. Undoubtedly some of that energy will come from renewable sources such as the wind and the sun. Things will have to be done differently than they have been done before. Electricity is a great future energy source for new cars. However, the size and capacity of batteries is a problem for heavy-duty, long-haul road vehicles, marine vessels, and airplanes. For these problems, the answer is not just more efficient combustion engines, but biofuels.
I must admit that electric car producers have done a good job at making the electric car appear sleek, glamorous and cool. Nevertheless, for all the talk of electric cars, fuel will not be going away. The debate should not be about electric cars versus biofuels or sun power duelling with wind. Let’s acknowledge that all these renewable sources have a part to play in a decarbonised-based future. On the subject of glamour, Daniel de Liege, chairman of Alliance Bio-Products, speaks about his former life as a Hollywood film-
maker and how he made the sustainable energy career switch on page 26. Don’t forget to register your interest for our 10th Biofuels International Conference (more details on pages 4-5). This year the event will be bigger and better than ever and will take place in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Did I mention the preconference whisky distillery tour? Don’t worry this fuel will not be going into the car. Best wishes, Liz
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bioethanol news US and Indonesia team up on bioethanol project
The first US-Indonesia municipal waste-to-bioproducts project, known as JababECO, is officially underway after US Vice President Mike Pence participated in a ceremony in Jakarta celebrating the signing of multiple Memorandums of Understanding. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Greenbelt Resources CEO Darren Eng and Jababeka Infrastruktur director Tjahjadi Rahardja were also in attendance at the ceremony, part of an event showcasing $10 billion (€9.3 billion) of trade deals between the US and Indonesia. The municipal waste-to-bioproducts plant will process food waste into bioproducts such as bioethanol, animal feed, fertiliser and distilled water. Over five years, the plant will have a cumulative product sales value of
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US Vice President Mike Pence opened the JababECO in Indonesia in April
$6 billion using local waste resources to make locally sold bioproducts. “Our technology was specifically developed to address local municipal waste needs, a tremendous challenge in growing cities like Jakarta,” said Darren Eng in a statement. “We’re excited for this
opportunity and believe that out of this project, we can create a new model of municipal waste management for cities across the country and around the world.” When complete, JababECO will produce approximately 500,000 gallons (2.3 million litres) of bioethanol as well as protein concentrate to be used as liquid fertiliser and animal feed. Setyono Djuandi Darmono, chairman and founder of Jababeka & Co believes his company is breaking new ground in dealing with Indonesia and Jakarta’s waste management challenges. “We’re building cities of the future that create interconnected communities through the latest and most promising technologies from wastewater management to fibre optics to sustainable energy,” Darmono explained. “New cities need new and innovative approaches to growth challenges and we believe Greenbelt Resource’s JababECO technology will prove to be an ideal local waste solution for our cities’ local needs.” l
may/june 2017 3
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bioethanol news India’s ‘first’ second generation bio-refinery goes official India’s first integrated biorefinery for renewable fuels and chemicals has been inaugurated by the country’s minister for road transport, highways and shipping, Nitin Gadkari. Implemented by Indian process and project engineering company Praj Industries, the new facility will play a vital role in accelerating the country’s ethanol blending programme. The new advanced bio-refinery boasts integrated production capability of one million litres a year of ethanol from a variety of biomass. The plant, located in Pune, India, is built on Praj’s proprietary platform technology, enfinity, which allows the manufacture
of ethanol from a range of agri-waste. “Our country is paving its way toward greater energy self-reliance,” said Gadkari at the inauguration ceremony. He stressed the Indian government’s dedication to fostering the biofuel industry. “It is heartening to see indigenous innovation emerging from Praj Industries yet again. Today I witnessed India’s first 2nd generation bio-refinery demonstration plant and my belief in India’s capability in technology development as compared to the Western countries, has strengthened manifold.” Gadkari enthused. “Biofuel is not only cost-effective, but also a pollution-free import substitute of Rs 7 lakh crore. Our government has initiated dialogues between my ministry, Petroleum Ministry and Renewable Energy ministry to present a comprehensive blueprint and it is now with the Prime Minister for consideration. There are multiple benefits
that can accrue to the government, farmers, industries and consumers.” Gadkari continued: “Agricultural diversification is the need of the hour, wherein agri-waste will generate additional revenues to the farming community. Waste to wealth is the new mantra that emerges from Praj’s innovative world-class 2nd generation ethanol technology.” Meanwhile, Pramod Chaudhari, executive chairman of Praj Industries, said at the inauguration: “We are honoured that Praj’s second generation bio-refinery demonstration plant is inaugurated by Mr Nitin Gadkari, who has been strongly supporting renewable fuels for transportation. We have been working on 2nd generation ethanol technology for over 7 years and this plant is a testament of our technology leadership in the bio-energy space.” l
D3MAX helps ACE Ethanol to press ahead with cellulosic ethanol production US technology company D3MAX has announced that its cellulosic ethanol technology is helping ACE Ethanol to produce “higher yields from corn fibre at lower costs”. In February, D3MAX announced the completion and shipment of its pilot plant employing the patented D3MAX cellulosic ethanol technology. Installed at ACE Ethanol in Stanley, Wisconsin, the testing of the patented
D3MAX corn fibre-to-ethanol process and technology is underway with testing to be complete by June of 2017. After analysing pilot test data, the D3MAX process has demonstrated better than expected results. Based on the latest information, the pilot test results indicate that the yield of xylose sugar from the xylan in corn fibre routinely exceeds 90% of the theoretical maximum yield, and overall sugar production in the pilot plant is better than the target yields.
“We’ve always been excited about developing the D3MAX technology based on our original projections,” said Mark Yancey, chief technology officer for D3MAX. He added: “Now that we’ve seen the actual pilot facility begin to exceed our expectations, we’ve become even more confident that the D3MAX process can produce higher yields from corn fibre at lower costs.” “I am very encouraged by preliminary results of the pilot test,” said Neal Kemmet,
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president and general manager at ACE Ethanol. He added: “Based upon the testing we have done to date, D3MAX may very well be the best option available for dry mill ethanol plants and will be able to be installed without significant downtime or interruption of ethanol production.” In a statement, D3MAX said it plans to begin designing the first commercial-scale D3MAX plant this summer because the pilot test results have been so positive to date. l Twitter @Biofuelsmag LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/groups/2549636 E-news http://biofuels-news.com/ Subscribe http://biofuels-news.com/shop/
6 may/june 2017 biofuels international
bioethanol news China creates world’s ‘first’ coal-to-ethanol production line The facility in Xingping, Shaanxi province, which went into service in January, was developed by the academy’s Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and the stateowned Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group. The project could yield more than 100,000 tonnes of pure ethanol a year, according to Liu Zhongmin, deputy director of the institute. China produces 7 million tonnes of ethanol a year, “but
that doesn’t satisfy the country’s industrial and energy needs”, he said, adding there are plans to open another coal-to-ethanol production line making one million tonnes a year by 2020. “Most countries produce ethanol using foods like corn or sugar cane, but this is not a viable option for China because of its massive population,” Liu said. “By turning our abundant coal resources into ethanol, the technology will help safeguard energy and food security.” Moreover, ethanol is versatile and produces only water and carbon dioxide when burned, he said, adding, “Utilising it
could reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and make our industrial production and energy structure more environmentally friendly.” Zhu Fang, deputy director of information and marketing for the China Petroleum Chemical Industry Federation, has raised doubts about whether ethanol can help reshape the nation’s energy structure. For ethanol to make an impact, it must be widely used in vehicle fuels, Zhu told
China Coal Chemical Industry Magazine last year. However, oil prices have dropped so much that ethanol fuel is no longer cost-effective compared with crude oil. Zhu Wenliang, a researcher at the Dalian institute, said while ethanol fuel’s cost advantage has dropped, it is still profitable. “Oil prices can fluctuate, but the cost of making ethanol with our new technology is manageable, making the ethanol fuel market less volatile,” he said. l
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bioethanol news History-making US town introduces its first E15 station One of the first Iowa cities to offer E10 is now offering its first E15 station, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. Clarence made history in 1978 when the first gallons of E10 in the US were sold commercially. It was one of five towns to introduce the
new fuel at a local gas station. Nearly 40 years later, that same town is getting its first E15 refueling site. Sundstop, located at 902 Lombard in Clarence, is Iowa’s 102nd E15 site. The station also offers E85, E30, and biodiesel blends. “As a retailer in a heavy corn-producing state, we see renewable fuels as a way to give back to the
community for supporting our business,” said Joshua Sundstrom, Sundstop owner Last year, Iowa’s biofuels tax credits were thoroughly reviewed by the Iowa Legislature and renewed for seven years. The certainty that seven-year extension created enabled retailers like Sundstop to invest in the necessary infrastructure to offer higher blends of ethanol
and biodiesel and make it possible for retailers to pass savings on to consumers. “Today Iowa is leading the nation in the number of E15 stations and Iowa’s innovative biofuels tax credits have leveraged millions in private investment to make it possible for more than 100 retailers and counting to offer E15 to 2001 and newer vehicles,” Shaw said. l
British Columbia’s government US advanced biofuels gives Enerkem’s secondcompany REG to generation ethanol its lowest purchase Geismar land US advanced biofuels producer Renewable carbon intensity rating ever Enerkem, a Canadian waste-to-biofuels and renewable chemicals producer, has received the lowest carbon intensity value ever issued by the British Colombia Ministry of Energy and Mines. The award was given for Enerkem’s second generation ethanol product, under the Renewable and Low Carbon Fuel Requirements Regulation. The carbon intensity of Enerkem’s waste-based ethanol has been set at -55 gCO2e/MJ. By comparison, gasoline has a carbon intensity of +88 gCO2E/MJ. The approval from the British Colombia Ministry of Energy and Mines means Enerkem can now start to sell its advanced ethanol in the Canadian province, as well as in Alberta where the company’s production facility is located. “We are thrilled to be recognised for having the lowest carbon transportation fuel solution ever approved by British Columbia under its Low Carbon Fuel Regulation,” said Vincent Chornet, president and CEO of Enerkem. “This clearly demonstrates Enerkem’s clean technology and advanced biofuels provide significant greenhouse gas emission reductions. With the worldwide adoption of Renewable and Low Carbon Fuel Standards and the move toward a lowcarbon global economy, we look forward to working with other jurisdictions in helping them meet their greenhouse gas targets”. British Columbia introduced its Renewable and Low Carbon Fuel Requirements Regulation to reduce dependency on non-renewable fuels and improve the environmental impact of transportation fuels. The regulation obliges suppliers to progressively decrease the average carbon intensity of their fuels by 10% by 2020. Enerkem produces low-carbon fuels that displace the amount of gasoline needed to fuel cars. Its biofuels are produced from nonrecyclable, non-compostable household waste, lowering the amount of waste sent to landfill and in turn lowering methane emissions. l
Energy Group announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire approximately 82 acres of land at its Geismar, Louisiana biorefinery from Lion Copolymer.
REG has agreed to purchase the land it has leased for its Geismar operations, as well as more than 61 adjacent acres, which the company plans to improve and utilise to support existing production capacity and future expansion opportunities. REG Geismar will pay Lion Copolymer $20 million for the acquisition. The lease will be terminated at closing. The transaction is expected to reduce REG’s operating costs and create opportunities for expansion at Geismar, a 75-million gallon annual nameplate capacity renewable hydrocarbon diesel biorefinery that also produces renewable naphtha and renewable liquefied petroleum gas. “This acquisition is consistent with REG’s tactic of expanding the footprint of its biorefineries in preparation for complementary activities,” said Daniel J. Oh, president and CEO. “With the recent increase in production at REG’s Geismar site and the growing market demand for renewable hydrocarbon diesel, we believe now is the right time to evaluate capacity expansion opportunities.” REG is evaluating a number of other sites for expansion of the company’s renewable hydrocarbon diesel production capacity, including REG’s plants in Seneca, Illinois and Grays Harbor, Washington, in addition to other West Coast locations. “We expect the evaluation process for renewable hydrocarbon diesel expansion to proceed according to our strategic decision-making process,” said Brad Albin, REG Vice President, Manufacturing. “This includes an analysis of economic viability, logistics, feedstock availability, market demand, financing options and state and local support.” l
8 may/june 2017 biofuels international
bioethanol news Investigation into biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia gains momentum The US International Trade Commission has voted to continue the US Commerce Department’s investigation into biodiesel fuels imported from Argentina and Indonesia.
the ITC in April, as part of the National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition. In 2016, the US imported
916 million gallons (3.5 billion litres) of biodiesel, accounting for almost half of the country’s biodiesel demand. Imports
ICM_Qtr3_BFI.pdf 1 4/26/2017 3:43:48 PM
from Argentina accounted for around two thirds of that amount, followed closely by Indonesia and Canada. l
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In April 2017, the Commerce Department launched a probe into biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia following claims from domestic producers that dumping and unfair subsidies had allowed imported biofuels to flood the US market. The International Trade Commission has now voted 5-0 to proceed with the trade petition brought by a coalition of US biodiesel producers. The next step is for the Commerce Department to decide whether to impose preliminary countervailing duties and anti-dumping duties. A decision on the former is expected around 16 June, the latter around 30 August. Renewable Energy Group (REG), the largest producer of advanced biofuel in the US, welcomed the unanimous decision. “Today’s unanimous vote by the ITC is a key step in stopping unfair biodiesel trade practices that significantly harm US biodiesel producers and Americanjobs”saidChadStone, REG’s chief financial officer. “While we welcome healthy and fair competition, we cannot ignore unfair trade practices that threaten the domestic biodiesel industry that supports tens of thousands of American jobs, promotes energy security and improves our environment.” Stone testified before
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biodiesel news Australia’s biofuels market in Iowa’s biodiesel producing capacity ‘freefall’, says new report A major new report on Motorists shunning the use of ‘green’ to increase to 400 fuel grade ethanol is regarded as a key biofuels in Australia paints a behind the six-year slump. Total million gallons a year bleak picture for the industry, factor annual fuel-grade ethanol consumption The Iowa Biodiesel Board (IBB) has announced that the state’s capacity to produce biodiesel is rising by 20%, from 334 million gallons (1.5 billion litres) a year to close to 400 million gallons (1.8 billion litres) a year. Proactive state policies have played a pivotal role in the growth, as well as expansion projects either recently completed or currently in progress, the IBB announced at its recent ‘Biodiesel Day on the Hill.’ Since 2006, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program has resulted in 261 new biodiesel retail pumps and 55 new terminal locations throughout the state, improving access for Iowans to the renewable fuel. l
describing a six-year slump.
Compiled and published by APAC, an independent consultancy to the Australian biofuels industry, the latest annual client report is entitled: Australian Biofuels 2017. APAC have been preparing client reports on the biofuels industry since 2006. Key findings of the report include the observation that fuel grade ethanol consumption is at a six year low and bio-based diesel consumption is plummeting, in turn causing the industry to collapse. On the positive side, the report notes that Australian innovators continue to invest in advanced biofuels.
dropped more than 95 megalitres (ML) in 2016, reaching its lowest level since its 319ML peak in 2010-11. Overall demand for biofuels fell by 63% in 2015-16, primarily driven by Australia’s sharp decline in biodiesel consumption. “Australian motorists have been shunning ethanol blended fuel by switching to other grade fuels or seem unconvinced of the benefits of E10 (10% ethanol blended with petrol).” Australian Biofuels 2017 coauthor and APAC Biofuel Consultants joint CEO, Mike Cochran, said. “But more startling, the report reveals the Australian biodiesel market is in freefall,” he said. l
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biodiesel news Production of biofuels in Mozambique ‘something to forget’ Falling oil prices mean it is no longer viable to produce biofuels in Mozambique, according to an official with the country’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy. In an interview with the Mozambican newspaper O País, the ministry’s deputy national director of Hydrocarbons and Energy, Almirante Dima, described the production of biofuels from jatropha as “something to forget”. According to O País, Dima made his claim based on the fact it is more expensive to produce biodiesel than it is conventional gasoline and diesel. Since the 2000s, jatropha has been used as an oil crop for the production of biodiesel. Mozambique’s government created a scheme to encourage the planting of the crop for biodiesel production as a means to reduce the dependency on foreign imports of fossil fuels. At that time, the cost of oil was so high it made economic sense to produce liquid fuels from other sources. However, Dima argues that falling oil prices mean that is no longer the case. Mozambique had been scheduled to make it compulsory for all fossil fuels to be mixed with biofuels. However, the global economic crisis meant that scheme never went ahead. l
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Full disclosure: Neste puts information about its crude palm oil suppliers online Renewable diesel supplier Neste has published information about all of its crude palm oil suppliers on its website. The data provided covers the palm oil supply chain used by Neste, including all companies, mills and estates involved. Available on the Neste website’s dashboard, the new site gives information on suppliers, certification systems used by the company, and certification documentation. There is also a map which allows users to see the geographical location of the mills used in Neste’s supply. The new website is not just a list of the Finnish company’s suppliers. It also offers an update on Neste’s corporate level usage of crude palm oil, and lists the company’s activities and collaborative projects aimed
at further developing the sustainability of its supply chain and supporting development within the palm oil industry. Neste aims to be the world’s first major palm oil user company to operate in a transparent fashion in regards to its raw material procurement. Last year, it published a comprehensive list of its palm oil suppliers. “Our new dashboard site is a significant step forward in our supply chain transparency. It is a result of continuous and fruitful cooperation over the past years with our suppliers who are fully committed to sustainability. Our customers and other stakeholders put great value on the work we have been doing together with our suppliers, and we aim at continuing to lead progress in the area of supply chain transparency even further in the future,” said Simo Honkanen, senior vice-president, Sustainability and Public Affairs at Neste, in a press release. l
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Etacarinae S.r.l. was founded in 2015 by professionals, that decided to finalize their many years’ experiences in the field of certification, business development and commodities trading for the growth of the bio energetic sector. The challenge is to support the biofuel and bioliquid chain, including the development of new technologies, with responsible policies and economic instruments to ensure the respect of the sustainability requirements of all products commercialized into the European and extra European market. Our mission is to provide a support connected to the responsible commercialization of biofuels, that represents an opportunity to enhance sustainable economic prospects in Europe, Africa, Americas, and Asia.
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Our team is skilled in providing technical support in obtaining the following certifications: Biofuels: ISCC EU & DE – International Sustainability et Carbon Certification 2BSvs – Biomass Biofuel Sustainability Voluntary Scheme ITALIAN NATIONAL SCHEME – Decreto Interministeriale 23 gennaio 2012 RED CERT – Gesellschaft zur Zertifizierung nachhaltig erzeugter Biomasse mbH Solid Biomass, feed, food, chemicals, bioplastics: ISCC PLUS Quality Enviroment for the following certifications: UNI EN ISO 9001; UNI EN ISO 14001
We carry out first and second part audit, including supplier qualification assessments. Our team give technical support for the biofuel supply chain product, as: Raw Materials: Vegetable oils: all major energy-related vegetable oils like palm (CPO, RBD, PKO, stearin), soybean, rapeseed, canola, sunflower and niche oils (camelina and jatropha). Animal Fats of category 1, 2 and 3 (Reg. CE 1069/2009).
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Federica Speran
as trader and sustaina In 2015 I founded Etacarinae and, today, we countboth on a portfolio sustainability theiryea ve I worked forfrom many of customers of relevant international importance, In becoming 2015asI trader foundedand Etacari both sus one of the most important landmark regarding theimportance, sustainability becoming on sustainability from the worldwide. management worldwide. I founded IIn am2015 qualified auditor, I Eta de importance, I am qualified auditor, I deal with consultancy and management training in andbecomin normati worldwide. European and Extra-EU Countries about all the management and I am auditor normative features related to biofuels, bioliquids, and all qualified the management and nor related products.
Simone Ferrari I am graduated in mechanical and energy engineering. My graduation thesis was focused on Simone Ferrari the use of bioliquids in engines for energy purposes. I am graduated in mecha In the meantime, I started working in a trading bioliquids in engines for developing, beside my tec company, developing, beside my technical knowledge, commercial I am qualified auditor, I de competencies related to bioliquids and biodiesel. Imanagement am qualified and Simone Ferrari normati auditor, I deal with consultancy and training in European and ExtraFrom 2016, I becam I amMarch graduated in me EU Countries about all the management and normative features in engines bioliquids related to biofuels, bioliquids, and all the related products. developing, beside my
I am qualified auditor From March 2016, I became part of Etacarinae’s team. management and nor From March 2016, I b
By-products, waste & residues: Used Cooking Oil, Fatty Acids from vegetable and animal origin, crude and refined Glycerine, Oleins, Acid Oils, Soap stocks, Distillation pitches, Biogas Feedstock, Palm Oil Sludge.
E TA C A R I N A E
Final products: Biodiesel, Bioethanol, Biomethane, HVO, Bioliquids, Esterified Oils.
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Other products: www.etacarinae.org Second and third generation biofuels supply chain products. sustainability@etacarinae.org 12 may/june 2017 biofuels international
biodiesel news Renewable Energy Group boosts Ralston biodiesel project after securing new financing US advanced biofuels producer Renewable Energy Group (REG) has announced that it has secured financing of up to $20 million (€18.3 million) from First Midwest Bank for the $24 million capacity-expansion project at the company’s Ralston, : Iowa biodiesel refinery. The upgrade project, announced last November, is expected to increase the annual nameplate capacity of the Ralston biorefinery from 12 million to 30 million gallons. This would match the capacity at the company’s other Iowa biorefineries in Mason City and Newton, the biomass-based diesel
producer said in a statement. “This investment shows our continued confidence in biodiesel for the longterm,” said Chad Stone, CFO at REG. “This confidence was bolstered by Iowa lawmakers’ long-term commitment to higher biodiesel blends and we thank them for their support.” Iowa Senate File 2309, which was signed into law last year by Governor Terry Branstad at REG’s Newton biorefinery, extends the existing 2 cents per gallon biodiesel production tax credit for seven years beginning January 1, 2018. In that year, the new law also adjusts the current retail incentive for fuel containing a minimum 5% biodiesel blend (B5) to 3.5 cents per gallon and creates a new 5.5 cents per gallon
incentive for blends of B11 or more. First Midwest Bank has also been involved in financing for REG Newton. “I am pleased First Midwest Bank has the opportunity to expand our banking relationship with an industry leader like REG,” said Drew Lawrence, senior vice president at First Midwest. “We look forward to working on a great project that will more than double biodiesel production capacity at the Ralston facility.” REG has grown from its beginnings in Ralston 21 years ago into North America’s largest biomass-based diesel producer, according to the company. The firm now owns 14 active biorefineries in the United States and Europe with a combined annual nameplate capacity of 502 million gallons. l
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may/june 2017 13
biodiesel news Congress urged to extend biodiesel blenders’ tax credit The Advanced Biofuels Association (ABA) has joined forces with NATSO, the national association representing truckstops and travel plazas, to urge Congress to extend the biodiesel blender’s tax credit. In letters to Members of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, lawmakers are asked to refrain from changing the US’ existing biodiesel tax credit structure. The signees of the letter argue that the biodiesel tax credit is helping to displace traditional petroleum-based fuel with a cleaner-burning substitute. A group of lawmakers from biodiesel producing states such as Iowa have recently been campaigning to have the biodiesel blenders’ tax credit converted to a producer’s one. This is something NATSO and ABA strongly disagree with. “A producer’s credit would be horrible for consumers and the American economy,” said NATSO President and CEO Lisa Mullings. “For the vast majority of consumers, the difference of just a few pennies in the price of a gallon of fuel can affect whether or not they decide to make a purchase. The biodiesel tax credit helps fuel retailers to sell biodiesel at a cost that is competitive with traditional diesel. If the price of biodiesel is no longer on par with the price of diesel, consumers won’t be inclined to buy it. Congress has already considered – and rightly rejected – past efforts to shift the biodiesel blenders’ tax credit to
NATSO is urging Congress to extend the biodiesel blenders ‘ tax credit
the producer’s credit. We strongly urge you to again reject efforts to alter what continues to be sound public policy.” The $1 (€0.9) per gallon biodiesel blenders’ tax credit expired at the end of 2016. It is argued in the letter that extending and then gradually phasing out the tax credit is needed to allow blenders, producers and consumers the certainty they need to achieve the environmental and cost benefits the tax credit was designed to accomplish, while also encouraging conversion to a marketbased, fiscally secure system where the
biodiesel industry can eventually survive on its own without government support. NATSO argues that converting to a producer’s credit would be counter-productive, driving up fuel prices enough to drive away consumer interest in biodiesel. NATSO and ABA were joined by the American Trucking Associations, the National Association of Convenience Stores, the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America in signing the letter. l
European Parliament calls for phase out of vegetable oil biofuels within 3 years Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have approved a resolution calling on the European Commission to phase out the use of vegetable oil for biofuels, ideally by 2020. The resolution has received support from MEPs across the political spectrum. It calls for an end to incentives for
rapeseed, palm oil and soy based biofuels, claiming the ingredients cause deforestation and peatland damage. The resolution also suggests a single certification scheme should be introduced for palm oil entering the EU market. Katerina Konecná, a Czech MEP and member of the GUE (Confederal Group of the European United Left), drafted the resolution calling on the EU to strengthen
environmental measures to prevent palm oil-related deforestation and phase out the oil as a component of biodiesel. The report also suggested that products should be certified for the socially responsible origin of their palm oil. Following the recent debate over Konecná’s resolution the European Parliament voted 640 to 18, with 28 abstentions, to approve it. l
14 may/june 2017 biofuels international
Indonesia labels EU palm oil resolution ‘discriminative’ and ‘protectionist’ Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the European Parliament Resolution on Palm Oil and Deforestation of Rainforests as ‘discriminative’. The ministry claims the EU decision was based on “inaccurate and unaccountable data”, accusing it of being a protectionist move contradicting the EU’s role as an advocate of open, free and fair trade. “The single certification scheme proposed by the European Parliament Resolution can potentially increase unnecessary barriers to trade and is counterproductive to efforts to increase the quality of palm oil sustainability.” Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an 8 point statement issued in response
to the EU’s resolution. Palm oil’s role in deforestation is questioned by the statement. “Palm oil is not the main cause of deforestation. Based on studies by the European Commission in 2013, from a total of 239 ha of land which underwent deforestation globally in a 20 year period, 58 million ha was due to livestock grazing, 13 million ha to soy, 8 million ha to corn, and 6 million ha to palm oil. In other words, total global palm oil contributed to approximately 2.5% of total global deforestation.” The effects of the resolution on small scale farmers are also raised by the Indonesia Foreign ministry. “The resolution also disregards the rights of small-scale palm oil farmers to make a living. There are 16 million people who directly and indirectly depend on the palm oil sector. 41% of palm oil is produced by smallscale farmers in villages.” l
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technology news LigM enzyme structure decoded to ‘unlock’ potential of biofuels waste A recent discovery by US-based Sandia National Laboratories researchers may unlock the potential of biofuel waste – and ultimately make biofuels competitive with petroleum. Fuel made from plants is much more expensive than petroleum, but one way to decrease the cost would be to sell products made from lignin, the plant waste left over from biofuel production. Lignin typically is either burned
to produce electricity or left unused in piles because no one has yet determined how to convert it into useful products, such as renewable plastics, fabrics, nylon and adhesives. According to Sandia, the electricity is not even available to the general public; it’s only used by companies that create large amounts of lignin, like pulp and paper manufacturers. Now Sandia scientists, working with researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the Joint BioEnergy Institute, have decoded
the structure and behaviour of LigM, an enzyme that breaks down molecules derived from lignin. The group’s work on LigM appears in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The enzyme has little in common with other, better understood proteins, which previously made it impossible for scientists to guess how it functions. This paper marks the first time anyone has solved the structure of LigM, opening a path toward new molecules and new, marketable products. l
Singapore Airlines takes off with biofuel-powered flight Singapore Airlines (SIA), in partnership with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), has started operating a series of 12 biofuelspowered flights over a three-month period on its non-stop San FranciscoSingapore route. Featuring SIA’s latestgeneration and most fuel-efficient aircraft – the Airbus A350-900 – the ‘green package’ flights are the first in the world to combine the use of biofuels, fuel-efficient aircraft and optimised flight operations. CAAS is facilitating the use of these optimised flight operations and Air Traffic Management (ATM) best practices which reduce fuel burn and carbon emissions for the flights. The first of the 12 flights, SQ31, departed San Francisco at 1121hrs (San Francisco Time) on 1 May 2017 and arrived in Singapore at 1910 hrs (Singapore Time) on 2 May with 206 passengers on board. The flights will be powered
Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900
by a combination of hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids, a sustainable biofuel produced from used cooking oils, and conventional jet fuel. The biofuel, produced by AltAir Fuels, will be supplied and delivered to San Francisco by SkyNRG in collaboration with North American Fuel Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Aviation Oil (Singapore), and EPIC Fuels. According to the International Air Transport
Association (IATA), sustainable biofuel is a promising technological solution which will reduce the airline industry’s carbon emissions. It has been certified safe for use in commercial aviation since 2011, and has been in use by airlines in other parts of the world. “Singapore Airlines’ fleet is already among the most modern and fuel-efficient in the world. We now want to push ourselves further and are embarking on this
initiative to help promote the use of sustainable biofuel in an operationally and commercially-viable manner. This is in line with our longterm commitment to further reduce carbon emissions while improving the efficiency of our operations. This initiative is especially memorable as our first biofuel flight departed from San Francisco on 1 May, when Singapore Airlines celebrated its 70th anniversary,” said SIA’s CEO, Goh Choon Phong. l
16 may/june 2017 biofuels international
technology news Engineers find new way to lower cost of ethanol production A team of chemical and biological engineers at the University of Wisconsin– Madison has found a way to produce from biomass a valuable compound used in plastic production that they estimate could lower the cost of ethanol produced from plant material by more than two dollars per gallon. The development is the latest in an ongoing effort at UW–Madison to create commodity chemicals currently derived from petroleum out of biomass. These bioderived chemicals could serve as high value co-products of the biofuels manufacturing process, improving the economics of refining fuels from cellulose. “This breakthrough shows how biomass-derived commodity chemicals can economically be used to replace petroleumderived products,” said George Huber, a UW–Madison professor of chemical and biological engineering and affiliate of the Wisconsin Energy Institute. Huber added: “It also shows how we might improve the rural economies in which biomass grows.” In their paper published recently by the journal ChemSusChem, Huber and collaborators report a new chemical pathway used to produce 1,5-pentanediol, a plastic precursor primarily used to make polyurethanes and polyester plastics. The group’s highly efficient approach is six times cheaper than a previously reported method, and represents the first economically viable way of producing 1,5-pentanediol from biomass. Plant biomass is typically about 40% oxygen by weight, while petroleum oil is less than 0.1% oxygen. “In our approach, we use the oxygen already inherent in the biomass to produce high value oxygenated commodity chemicals that can be used to
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make performance polymer materials like polyurethanes and polyesters,” said Huber. The study’s foundational discovery, its new pathway for chemical production, also provides fundamental chemistry that could be applicable to a wide cross-section of products. For instance, the same pathway could be used to produce two
other plastic precursors – 1,4 butanediol and 1,6-hexanediol – currently derived from petroleum and which together represent an annual market of a more than $6 billion. In the days ahead, the team will continue to refine their work, collecting the data needed to scale their process up to pilot plant testing.
Huber was joined in the study by UW-Madison engineering professors James Dumesic and Christos Maravelias, experts in a catalysis and techno-economic modeling, respectively, graduate students Zachary Bentzel (the paper’s first author) and Kevin Barnett, and postdoctoral researcher Kefeng Huang. l
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biofuels incident report A summary of the recent explosions, fires and leaks in the biofuels industry Date
Location
4 April 2017 Minnesota, US
3 April 2017
Washington, US
Company
Incident information
Heartland Corn Products, Winthrop ethanol plant
A fire occurred in a corn dryer at Heartland Corn Products in Winthrop, Minnesota. Fire services arrived at the scene on the morning of the 4 April 2017, and battled the blaze through the day. Nobody was hurt in the incident.
TreOil Industries
An emergency clean-up was needed after regulators found hazardous substances leaking from containers at the abandoned TreOil Industries biofuels processing plant. The abandoned plant has been on the Department of Ecology’s list of hazardous sites since 2001. It is believed the emergency cleanup operation could cost up to $1 million (₏943,000).
28 March 2017
Washington US
Coleman Oil
On 17 March signs were found of a biodiesel leak into the Columbia River, close to Wenatchee, Washington. It took close to two weeks for the source of the spill to be traced to the Coleman Oil plant. State and federal officials, working with Coleman, excavated the plant site and unearthed leaking pipes and soil saturated with biofuels.
10 March 2017
Iowa, US
N/A
A fire was sparked by the derailment of a freight train carrying ethanol through northwest Iowa. An environmental official said there appeared to be no significant ethanol leakage into a nearby creek. Some 15 hours after the derailment, the fire was still burning.
5 March 2017
Vancouver Island, Canada
Cermaq Canada
Biodiesel leaked from a salmon aquaculture site off the northern coast of Vancouver Island. Staff at the fish farm put out absorbent pads to soak up the fuel, with the farm saying the fish were unaffected. A statement from the federal fisheries department said the spill was caused by a fuel pump being left on overnight.
18 may/june 2017 biofuels international
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may/june 2017 19
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biofuels plant update
Plant update: North America Ace Ethanol Location End product Construction / expansion / acquisition
Project start date Completion date
Wisconsin, US Cellulosic ethanol US ethanol company ACE Ethanol has received a pilot facility which uses patented cellulosic ethanol technology from D3MAX. The pilot facility was installed at ACE Ethanol’s Wisconsin plant in late February. Start-up and testing at the facility are expected to take place over April and May February 2017 March 2017
AgProcessing (AGP) Location End product Feedstock Capacity Construction / expansion / acquisition
Project start date Completion date Investment
Iowa, US Biodiesel Soy 30 million gallons (currently) AGP is pushing ahead with expansion of its Port Neal biodiesel plant in Iowa, it will also build a new vegetable refinery, according to media reports March 2017 Before the end of 2017 $38 million (€35m) on expansion, $90 million (€85m)
Agritrade Location Arkansas, US End product Biodiesel Feedstock Yellow grease, rendered animal fats, inedible corn oil, and refined vegetable oil. Capacity 137,000 tonnes per year Construction / expansion / Agritrade Resources, an integrated acquisition energy and shipping solutions provider, has entered into renewable energy with Solfuels Holdings, an experienced biofuel operator, by acquiring a biodiesel plant in Arkansas, US. Agritrade will own 51%, while Solfuels Holdings will hold the remaining 49% of the biodiesel plant. The plant is located beside the Mississippi River and sits on a wide area of 38.2 acres of land Project start date December 2016 Completion date April 2017 Investment $2.97 million (€ 2.79m)
Borregaard and Rayonier Advanced Materials Location Florida, USA Feedstock Lignin Capacity 100,000 tonnes increasing to 150,000 tonnes Construction / expansion / Borregaard and Rayonier Advanced acquisition Materials announced that the companies have secured the necessary approvals from their boards of directors, and the appropriate permits to proceed with the investment for construction of a new lignin facility at RYAM’s Fernandina Beach site in Florida Project start date December 2016 Completion date Approx. May 2018 Investment $135million (€ 27m)
Bushmills Ethanol Location Atwater, Minnesota, USA End product Ethanol Capacity 49 million gallons per year Construction / expansion / Bushmills Ethanol has joined Growth acquisition Energy, a trade association of US ethanol producers Completion date April 2017
Cielo Waste Solutions Location Alberta, Canada End product Biodiesel Feedstock Multiple Capacity 16 million litres per year of biodiesel Construction / expansion / Canadian renewable diesel technology acquisition specialist Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. signed a commercial purchase agreement with XR Resources to purchase a property located in High River, Alberta, on which there is an existing biodiesel refinery Project start date November 2016 Investment $2,3 million (€ 2.17m)
Conestoga Energy Location End product Feedstock Capacity Construction / expansion / acquisition
Kansas, USA Bioethanol and biodiesel Animal feed 205 million gallons per year Conestoga Energy, a Kansas based bioethanol producer, has acquired the assets of VicNRG, a Texas based marketing, distribution and terminal operating company for biodiesel Completion date March 2017 Investment Undisclosed
20 may/june 2017 biofuels international
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Greenbelt Resources Corp Location California, USA End product Bioethanol Feedstock Waste from nearby Brewery, winery waste from local area Capacity Half a million gallons Construction / expansion / A new waste-to-energy acquisition interconnected system. According to Greenbelt it will be the first independently owned, local scale bioethanol solution in California Designer/builder Paso Robles ECOsystem Completion date March 2017
ICM Location Kansas, USA End product Ethanol Feedstock Biomass and forestry Capacity Up to 5 million gallons per year Construction / expansion / ICM is to build a showcase biorefinery acquisition plant called ‘ICM Element) ICM’s patented gasifier technology is capable of fully converting biomass feedstocks into producer gas or syngas. According to ICM, Element will be one of the most efficient ethanol manufacturers in the industry Project start date March 2017 Investment $175 million (€166m)
Natural Chem Location End product Construction / expansion / acquisition
Project start date Comment
New Mexico, USA Biodiesel/diesel blends US-based Natural Chem Group has acquired the mothballed Abengoa ethanol plant in Portales, New Mexico. The plant was acquired through a competitive bidding process November 2016 The State of New Mexico has mandated that all diesel fuel to be at least a 5% biodiesel blend. That mandate has been waived for several years because there are few local blending operations. NCG’s Portales blending facility will be able to help implement that target. Primary customers for NCG’s fuels are regional fleets and trucking operations, especially those serving the dairy and mining industries
Orgaworld Canada LLC Location End product Construction / expansion / acquisition
Completion date
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British Columbia, Canada Organic Biofuel The City of Surrey in British Columbia has partnered with Hoofdkantoor Orgaworld Nederland BV and its Canadian division, Orgaworld Canada LLC to create a new organic biofuel facility. Greenlane Biogas North America Limited and Odotech Incorporated have signed on to aid the project The project is nearing completion as of April 2017
Pacific Ethanol Location End product Capacity
California, USA Cellulosic ethanol 40 million gallons per year total, 1 million gallons cellulosic ethanol Construction / expansion / Pacific Ethanol, a US renewable fuels acquisition producer, and Edeniq, a biorefining and cellulosic technology company, have entered into a technology licensing and purchase agreement to enable the production of cellulosic ethanol at Pacific Ethanol’s Madera, California plant using Edeniq’s Pathway and Cellunator technologies Project start date February 2017 Completion date Third quarter 2017
Poet DSM Advanced Biofuels Location End product Feedstock Capacity
Iowa, USA Cellulosic ethanol Corn cobs, leaves, husk and stalk 70 gallons per ton of bone dry biomass Construction / expansion / Poet DSM will build an on-site enzyme acquisition manufacturing facility, pending state approval. The enzymes will help in the production of cellulosic ethanol Designer/builder CRB Project start date Late spring/early summer 2017 Completion date Not specified
Renewable Energy Group (REG) Location Capacity
Iowa, USA 12 million rising to 30 million gallons per year Construction / expansion / US biofuels firm Renewable Energy acquisition Group (REG) has broken ground at its Ralston, Iowa biorefinery to start a $24 million (€21.7m) expansion. The company intends to increase the annual nameplate capacity of the plant from 12 million to 30 million gallons Project start date November 2016 Investment $24 million (€21.7m)
Sweetwater Energy Location New York, USA End product Biochemical Feedstock Timber Construction / expansion / Sweetwater Energy, a New York-based acquisition renewable biochemical producer, announced that it has signed a conditional lease with Eastman Business Park to locate a green integrated biochemical facility in the park Project start date November 2016 Investment $53 million (€50m) Comment The facility will use Sweetwater’s patented biomass processing technology, which splits timber and waste wood into valuable sugar and lignin. The sugar is used to create industrial alcohol while the lignin is processed into activated carbon *This list is based on information made available to Biofuels International at the time of printing. If you would like to update the list with any additional plant information for future issues, please email liz@woodcotemedia.com
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biofuels market analysis An update on the US biodiesel market
US biodiesel market trucking along By Brian Milne
Brian Milne, product manager, Schneider Electric
A
lthough lacking the robust trading experienced for oil products, liquidity in the spot market for physical transactions of biodiesel in the US has improved, with deals taking place most business days. This is in contrast to 2016 that saw active trading at the start of the year fizzle, and uncertainty regarding an extension of a tax subsidy for blending. This issue froze out deal-making during much of the third and fourth quarters. The increased trading for bulk transactions of biodiesel coincides with sharply higher demand for distillate fuels, specifically diesel fuel, as the US economy grows, spurring industrial and commercial activity. This includes the upstream oil market, where US drilling activity has reached a two-year high, with the industry consuming more diesel and prompting active recruiting for truck drivers. A shortage of truck drivers has prompted aggressive hiring activity in some parts
of Texas as an example, with sharply higher drilling activity taking place in the western part of the state in the prolific Permian Basin. After starting 2017 at 170 million bbl, the highest supply level for 34 years and up 10 million bbl on 2016, US distillate fuel supply was drawn down nearly 20 million bbl during the first quarter. It continued to decline through mid-April, hitting a 16-month low of 148.3 million bbl,
oil in the US has diminished. The expansion in demand is best captured in the days of forward supply for distillate fuel, which has dropped precipitously in 2017 to a 22-month low at 34.6 days in mid-April, and near the 34.0 day five-year average. The improvement in demand is driven domestically, with US suppliers exporting 2.1 million bbl less distillate fuel in 2017 through mid-April than during the same period in 2016.
There has been a loss in pricing power for US biodiesel producers and marketers according to the US Energy Information Administration. US distillate fuel supplied to the primary market has consistently held above both the year ago and five-year average implied demand rates since early February, with EIA reporting a 4.033 million bpd cumulative daily average through 14 April, up 414,000 bpd or 11.4% versus the comparable year-ago period. The improvement in demand has been realised despite another overall mild winter in the US Northeast, the world’s largest concentration of customers that use heating oil. Distillate fuels include diesel and heating oil, although the share of heating
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a division of the US Department of Transportation, reports their Freight Transportation Services Index, which measure the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, reached an all-time high of 126.4 in February, according to the most recent data available. ‘Accelerating growth’ “The increase took place against a background of upward signals in other economic indicators. Employment, housing starts and personal income all grew
in February and the Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Managers’ Index showed positive and accelerating growth,” said BTS in reporting the index, also highlighting expansions in manufacturing and mining. The seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index did slip to 137.5 in March from February according to the American Trucking Associations, although is up 0.7% on annual basis. “Like several other economic indicators, March truck tonnage was likely hurt by some late season winter storms,” said ATA chief economist Bob Costello. “While I’m not expecting a surge in truck tonnage anytime soon, the signs remain mostly positive for freight, including lower inventory levels, better manufacturing activity, solid housing starts and good consumer spending. As a result, we can expect moderate growth going forward.” There has been a loss in pricing power for US biodiesel producers and marketers however, owing to the expiration of a US$1 (€0.91) gallon tax credit for blending biodiesel into petroleumbased products at the end of 2016 and a high rate of imports from Argentina. The tax credit had been an important incentive for blenders to purchase biodiesel, with the US$1 gallon credit bridging the wide chasm between biodiesel
22 may/june 2017 biofuels international
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prices and petroleumbased diesel values. Deals were frequently structured splitting the credit between buyer and seller. In 2016, many in the industry had pursued restructuring the tax credit to pay producers instead of
US biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia up a staggering 464% from 2014 to 2016, and taken 18.3% of market share from US producers. The loss of market share, said the trade organisation, has left idle a substantial amount
US distillate fuel stocks
In March, the NBB filed an anti-dumping petition EPA qualified biomass-based diesel supply volume blenders, arguing the subsidy was established to support the US biodiesel industry yet its design allowed payments to importers, undermining the credit’s purpose. Now, traders aren’t discussing the credit, with chances of its revival under the Trump administration low. Anti-dumping duty petition On 23 March, the National Biodiesel Board, the US industry’s trade group, filed an anti-dumping and countervailing duty petition with the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission against Argentina and Indonesia. “This is a simple case where companies in Argentina and Indonesia are getting advantages that cheat US trade laws and are counter to fair competition,” said NBB CEO Donnell Rehagen in a news release announcing the filing. The trade association said based on their review, producers in Argentina and Indonesia are selling their biodiesel in the US at prices “substantially below their cost of production,” with Argentinian product 23.3% less than production costs and Indonesia 34% below the producer cost. NBB said the “illegal trade activities” have pushed
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of production capacity in the US. EIA shows annual US biodiesel production capacity at 2.229 billion gallons in January. The US EPA shows the volume of available biomassbased diesel that qualifies in satisfying the Renewable Fuel Standard widening against year ago during the first quarter. While flat with 2016 in January at 126 million gallons, EPA qualified supply increased to 139 million gallons in February and to 179 million gallons in March, up 7.4% and 13.8% against a year ago, respectively. Expectations that the US would charge Argentinian producers with biodiesel dumping have abruptly halted new export deals from the South American country to US destinations, according to media reports from Argentina in mid-April, with no new business to be consummated until the policy situation is clarified. l
Market analysis spot prices
Transportation services index
For more information: This article was written by Brian Milne, who manages the refined fuel’s editorial content, spot price discovery activity and cask market analysis for Schneider Electric. Milne has nearly 20 years’ experience in the energy industry as an analyst, journalist and editor. Tel: + 1 952 851 7216
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biofuels market analysis SCB Commodity Brokers global biofuels prices Prices quoted: 21/04/2017 Product
Mid Price
URL: www.starcb.com
Product
Mid Price
EU biodiesel RED ($/mt)
US biodiesel B100 ($/gal)
FOB ARA RME
862.50
Houston SME
2.854
FOB ARA SME
865.00
Houston TME
2.804
FOB ARA PME
835.00
NY Harbour SME
2.884
FOB ARA FAME 0
855.00
NY Harbour TME
2.854
FOB ARA FAME -10
862.50
Mid West SME
2.884
EU Biodiesel Non RED ($/mt)
US Ethanol ($/gal)
FOB ARA RME
802.50
NY Harbour Barges
1.660
FOB ARA SME
805.00
Argo ITT Illinois
1.610
FOB ARA PME
775.00
FOB USGC
1.660
FOB ARA FAME 0
795.00
Rule 11 TWS (Railcar)
1.575
FOB ARA FAME -10
802.50
Rule 11 NWS (Railcar)
1.580
EU Ethanol (€/cbm)
RINs ($/RIN)
T2 FOB Rotterdam
537.50
2017 Ethanol (D6)
0.490
CIF Duisburg 60% GHG
523.00
2017 Biodiesel (D4)
0.970
US Ethanol ($/cbm)
2017 Advanced (D5)
0.930
FOB US ANP
460.98
Emission Credits ($/mt)
FOB Santos
580.00
LCFS Credits
78.00
Current price index
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s we move deeper into the summer blending season both producers and traders remain frustrated by the slow end-user demand in Northern Europe. This is especially the case for waste grades with a number of used cooking oil methyl esters (UCOME) producers now looking at mothballing production. As plant-based biodiesel (most notably methane capture palm product) is achieving ever higher and higher greenhouse gas (GHG) readings, the premium that buyers are prepared to pay for UCOME is dropping based on the unit cost of each percentage GHG saving. There are alternative markets for UCOME, most notably the UK, Netherlands and Italy. However, this has
not made up for the shortfall in demand from Germany, and with the opaque nature of used cooking oil (UCO) and other waste grade feedstocks, the drop in the price of UCOME has not been followed by a comparable drop in the price of feedstock. Mediterranean based producers have fared much better this year with an unexpected rise in demand from the Spanish refineries as the co-processing facilities in Spain have been running at well below full capacity. Italy also has been busy, and with double counting status being awarded to PFAD for the balance of 2017, palm-based producers with the ability to run fatty acid distillate have been doing well. This has been further enhanced this year as France continues to buy the majority of European
produced hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). As the French mandate is now above the blend wall, causing “ticket” prices to spike, HVO is the easiest route for most French oil companies to fulfil their mandated volumes. The start of 2017 saw the EU ethanol market rallying sharply from its Q4 lows to peak at €670 in February with trade buyers taking advantage of identified shortness in the market. Coming off that high the market now seems to have returned to a fairly balanced state, with physical trading in a fairly stable €530-€560 range. For spread players, a steady inverse of roughly €5-€10 per month is available from July – October, with liquidity now available out to CAL 2018 which is a very new and welcome
development in the market. The advent of options to the European ethanol market is a further sign of its increasing maturity. Arbitrage opportunities outside of Europe remain largely closed: the antidumping duty for US products leaves little margin for import into the EU; while in South and Central America, the preference over sugar to ethanol production subsequent to high sugar prices is suggested to persist in 2017, a trend that seems to be supported by a reported significant decline in Brazilian ethanol export. The usual exceptions to the rule apply with Peruvian and Guatemalan imports being widely discussed but not having a mainly sentimental impact so far with no visible cargos yet shown. l
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Creating jobs, returning economic prosperity to rural communities and making good on electoral promises top Trump’s list of challenges
All eyes on Trump
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onald Trump took the oath of office as the 45th President of the United States at a time of economic uncertainty in rural America. Crop prices are falling; farm auctions are mounting; and the United States Department of Agriculture predicts 2017 will be the fourth consecutive year that farm income will decline. Now that the first 100 days of the Trump presidency are in the rear-view mirror, there’s anxiousness among rural Americans about how and when the businessmanturned-president will make good on his promises to return jobs and economic prosperity to the agriculture-dependent communities that swung the vote in his favour during the November election. Things are off to an encouraging yet incomplete start, with a dose or two of uneasiness just for good measure. Trump promised to restore ethanol and biodiesel volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to the levels set in the law by Congress during his campaign. But the only rumblings from the White House about ethanol since
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt
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inauguration day have been unsupported rumours that Trump’s friend and fellow billionaire, Carl Ichan, is greasing the skids to move the RFS point of obligation from merchant refiners (Icahn holds a majority stake in a refining company) to downstream fuel blenders. In response, renewable fuel groups, integrated refiners, retailers, corn growers and others have redoubled efforts to urge the Trump administration to maintain the RFS point of obligation, and Members of Congress have sought investigations into Icahn’s apparent conflict of interest. All eyes are currently fixed on Scott Pruitt, Trump’s pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt served as the Attorney General of Oklahoma, and in that capacity, he was not a fan of renewable fuels. However, during his confirmation hearing in the US Senate, Pruitt said that he would follow the rule of law when implementing the RFS.
Here are a few of ACE’s suggestions: • Allow Reid vapor pressure (RVP) relief to E15 and higher ethanol blends. EPA’s current interpretation of its evaporative emissions regulation handcuffs retailers who want to sell E15 in the summer months because the fuel is less emitting and lower cost than E10 and straight gasoline. EPA has a number of options at its disposal to make a commonsense regulatory change to its fuel volatility standard that would allow consumers to have access to E15 and other lower cost fuels that improve air quality. • Update the lifecycle analysis of corn ethanol. Scientists have repeatedly calculated that the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) of corn ethanol are far lower than assumed by EPA in its original 2010 analysis under the RFS. In January, USDA released an independent analysis indicating corn ethanol GHG emissions are already 43% below gasoline emissions. EPA has resisted updating the lifecycle analysis because corn ethanol cannot currently qualify as an advanced or cellulosic biofuel under the RFS. What EPA fails to recognise is that Brazil and others use the agency’s obsolete analysis as an excuse to penalise corn ethanol. Recently, Brazil has suggested it would impose a tariff on UA ethanol based on EPA’s outdated lifecycle analysis. • Adjust fuel economy (CAFE) compliance to allow flex fuel vehicles (FFVs) to utilise the same incentives that are provided to other alternative fuel vehicles. Current CAFE rules provide incentives to automakers to build electric vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles, but strongly discourage production of FFVs that are capable of operating on fuel ranging from straight gasoline to 85% ethanol. This bias needs to be corrected.
Proposed 2018 RVOs Rural Americans are waiting for a couple of key decisions about the RFS. First, EPA must complete the process by which they hopefully decline requests by merchant refiners to move the RFS compliance point downstream. Under President Obama EPA proposed to deny those requests, but decided to take public comment on the matter, leaving the final decision to the Trump administration. Second, we anticipate EPA will release the proposed 2018 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) under the RFS before summer and based on the statute.
This issue is of paramount importance to America’s farmers who are reeling from oversupplies and low prices. This economic uncertainty began in 2013, when under the Obama administration EPA took implementation of the RFS off-track, reducing RVOs below levels established by Congress. EPA sided with oil companies that claimed the mythical E10 “blend wall” prevented higher ethanol blends from being used in the marketplace. As a result, biofuel groups were forced to sue. A court decision is expected later this year.
President Trump has announced a task force to identify ways to provide regulatory reform to rural America. The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) has already offered a number of suggestions to the Trump administration for how regulatory reform can unleash the ability for farmers and renewable fuel producers to help propel the American economy forward. l For more information: This article was written by Brian Jennings, executive vice president of the American Coalition for Ethanol.Visit: https://ethanol.org
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biofuels big interview A mechano-catalytic process is causing waves in the industry
From Hollywood to sustainable energy By Liz Gyekye
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lliance Bio-Products, a subsidiary of Alliance BioEnergy Plus, has produced an innovative cellulose conversion technology. The US-based company licenses the patented cellulose-tosugar (CTS) process, capable of converting cellulose materials including vegetative waste into sugars, for the production of biofuels. Liz Gyekye catches up with Alliance Bio-Products chairman Daniel de Liege to find out more about the technology. How are you finding the bioethanol landscape at the moment? Well, I think the infrastructure is in place and the mandates are in place to make it a
good market. However, the technology is struggling to crack the cellulose code, so to speak – that is the problem. We are stuck with the first-generation corn and sugarcane-based biofuels. All of the large efforts for cellulosic ethanol, from the enzymatic process to the hydrolysis process… have really fallen short. This is not from a lack of throwing money at it, but the processes themselves
are inherently expensive and very cumbersome from a technological standpoint. It’s just not where it needs to be. One of the advantages our process has is its simplicity. I believe that there are only around six cellulosic plants operating globally at the moment. What’s your opinion on that? This is good for us, as we are able to acquire assets from
‘It is a lot more refreshing dealing with energy professionals than it is with movie professionals’
Alliance Bio-Products CTS technology allows ethanol producers to convert common waste like lawn clippings into sugars to create ethanol without hazardous materials
existing plants that couldn’t make it work. This could give them more pennies on the dollars. It saves a lot of capital expense. We don’t have to do the “ground up build” that some other folks have done. Some have spent hundreds of dollars doing this. We can move in and retrofit our process relatively inexpensively and quickly. How does your CTS process work? The process is mechanocatalytic. This is mechanical chemistry. It was invented by Dr. Richard Blair when he was working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California around ten years ago. It was further developed by him when he developed his professional career at the University of California. This is where the CTS process was really born. It takes feedstock which includes any biomass, plant material or wood (i.e. any cellulosic material). It takes this into a dry environment, using a dry catalyst (off the ground clay) and it goes into a reactor. The dry catalyst along with the cellulose gets broken down. Through hydrolysis and impact force, a chemical reaction occurs. Basically, a cellulose chain is being broken, hydrolysised and converted into its base components (C5 and C6 sugar). This happens very quickly in around 15-20 minutes. The main component of our technology is the CTS
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Daniel de Liege, chairman of Alliance Bio-Products
reactor. Any feedstock can be mixed and put in and a very inexpensive sugar (C5/C6) comes out at the other end of the process at a very low cost. That is the breakthrough. The sugars can then be fermented to create biofuels, fine chemicals, or a number of other items including pharmaceuticals, carbon fibre nanotubes, construction products, and nutraceuticals to name a few. This process combines the size reduction, the breaking of the cellulose chain, the hydrolysisation and the eventual chemical conversion all in one step. This is what makes this so attractive and so simple. How does this compare to other processes? The other processes have to go through this in multiple steps and use hazardous chemicals and expensive enzymes etc. They really have to focus on a single feedstock because of the parameters of that chemistry. In contrast, our product is just impact force and hydrolysisation. That’s why we are able to do this very creatively. The sugar process – that’s well known technology. Fermentation/distillation has been going on since my great-great grandpa was
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up in the mountains making moonshine, but making inexpensive sugar is new. Ethanol is the low hanging fruit for us because the second-generation market has stumbled and we are able to take advantage of a shortfall and the inexpensive plants. However, the technology itself is so much more than ethanol. It’s making sugar for less than five cents a pound. This allows you to use the sugar in a variety of industrial applications. This includes bioplastics or fine chemicals. It can also include materials which have previously been made with petroleum. We just don’t tend to do it today because sugar is so expensive. Can you help operators to diversify into avenues other than ethanol ones? That’s exactly right. Let’s use an example of a dry mill corn plant in the Midwest. If the owners of the plant were to add our process, they could continue their process as it stands, take their dry distiller grains and put that through our process. They will then increase their capacity with cellulosic ethanol. It will also give them the ability to bring in outside feedstock – corn stover, grass or whatever waste product
they can get their hands on. They could slowly position themselves off of the corn kernel altogether and be running a cellulosic ethanol plant over a period of time. Let’s just imagine in ten years from now that ethanol went away. Say the US administration in ten years says “ethanol, we are done”. That plant wouldn’t have to shut down. It could very quickly and easily adjust its ethanol production to an isobutanol or some other alcohol derivative and make plastics with our process. You can’t do that at a dry mill corn plant or an enzymatic cellulosic plant. By the way, we don’t see ethanol going away. What about secondgeneration operators? They would have to adopt our process. If you are trying to run an enzymatic cellulosic process like in Iowa with the largest ethanol producer in the world, you will struggle to produce anything. What they are producing is coming out at a very high-per-gallon cost. If you want to fix that, you are going to have to adapt our process. There is no other way around using the enzymatic process and hydrolysis process and then trying to combine our process with it. That doesn’t make sense. What they are doing in three/four steps, we are doing in one. We are in discussions with several of the largest producers that are currently using a competing technology to do just that. How are you finding the landscape in terms of supply and demand? In the US, we have the renewable fuel standard (RFS2). As part of that mandate, the Environmental Protection Agency finalised the 2017 renewable volume obligation (RVO) for cellulosic biofuels at 311 million gallons. The industry will barely produce 15-18 million
gallons of cellulosic ethanol. So, demand is very high right now for cellulosic ethanol. We work with a broker and we have off-take arrangements for every drop of second-generation biofuel that we can make. If you are making secondgeneration biofuels you will have a home for it. Are there any new trends happening in the industry? The overall trend to get away from food-based biofuels is getting stronger across the world. In the EU, you are seeing an appetite to deal with waste streams a lot better. You have recently seen the reduction of rapeseed-based biofuels and the biodiesel sector shrinking. It takes up too much crop land and it is not actually environmentally friendly. People are starting to focus on waste – municipal, residential and commercial. Agricultural waste lends to our technology because we can process all of that. You are seeing the ethanol mandates kicking in, in various parts around the world. For instance, India is really jumping on board and increasing their mandates and capacities. South America is implementing mandates as well. China has realised that coal is killing them and has started to look at other technologies and other ways to deal with their waste. Elsewhere, Russia is looking at their ethanol mandates. Henry Ford used ethanol in the model T. Otto, who invented the car, used ethanol. In the late 1800s, in the US, we used ethanol for fuelling street lights. We put a tax on it to pay for the civil war and that was the death of ethanol for many years until that was repealed at the turn of the next century. Russia is going through an odd parallel. They are taxing ethanol and liquor right now. They need to stop that. When the Russians do stop that, they will join the trend like everybody else
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who is using waste-based materials to make ethanol. This will help to reduce their dependence on oil. We have an application design for the military, where this unit could be put at the bottom of a ship. While you are travelling to a far away location, you can be producing jet fuel from the waste produced from the Armada, so to speak, and materials such as algae can be grown. And when you reach the operating base the unit could be removed and put on land. Instead of running fuel over long lines back and forth with trucks, the fuel could be made at the operating base using the grass and trees around it. Any challenges? We did this without taking any government funding and without any Department of Energy funding. We did it on our own. We did it without taking Wall Street money. We did this on purpose. When I got into this I did not have any intention of running this technology. This was meant to be an investment. However, once I realised the uniqueness of it and importance of it I knew somebody had to steer the ship that cared. This is because it could have easily got gobbled up by one of the “bigs” and buried. It’s a disruptive technology and can literally replace all petroleum products in the world if implemented properly. There is enough green waste on this planet to replace all gasoline or diesel and jet fuel using a process that would consume that green waste. With that trend, there are certain groups that would not like to see that – obviously. That was the reason we kept it quiet. We did it with our own money. This was also helped with backing from family members. We have done this really quickly. We went from lab to commercial within three years. We are now at the point where we are in negotiations
to purchase an existing plant that we will retrofit our process to. The first commercial plant with our CTS process will be up and running in 2018. It will be based in Florida and running on commercial and residential yard waste from local landfill. After this is up and running, we will focus on licensing, and acquiring and building other plants. What’s your background? I am a film maker. My company was on the Paramount Pictures lot for most of the nineties. We made films like Lost in Space, which was filmed in London, and Black Dog which we shot with Patrick Swayze. When we originally set the parent company up, I was actually setting up an entertainment company to create a minimajor studio. It was when we made an investment personally into this technology that we decided that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have put my film career on hiatus until this is delivered. How does this industry compare to the film industry? You know, business is business. It all operates the same. It’s just the product that is different. However, it is a lot more refreshing dealing with energy professionals than it is with movie professionals. In Hollywood, when you are dealing with the studios and executives of distribution, you never know where you stand. You never know what the outcome is of the meeting you have just come out of until a lawyer calls you up and says you got a deal. This industry operates in a straight up way. You look a guy in the eye at an ethanol plant in Iowa and you know exactly where you stand with that guy. Everyone seems to be working towards the same goal even though they are on different paths. You get a couple of wild cards, but for the most part everybody is very cooperative and very helpful. l
biofuels international
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By Liz Gyekye
The green team The sustainability agenda shows no sign of abating
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innish company UPM has recently signed up to become an RSB member – a global standard and certification scheme for sustainable production of biomaterials and biofuels. Here, Liz Gyekye catches up with Maiju Helin, senior manager responsible for Safety, Sustainability and Quality at UPM Biofuels to discuss its green agenda.
Maiju Helin, senior manager responsible for Safety, Sustainability and Quality at UPM Biofuels
What steps did UPM take to become a RSB member? UPM has already for many years been following RSB closely both in terms of monitoring the development of the standard and also taking part in RSB-related discussions, for example in RSB annual assemblies. UPM has also continuously been active with NGO’s like WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) to promote the sustainability aspects around biofuel certification. Last year, UPM took its final steps to become a RSB member. In addition to
biofuels international
the membership, we are now in the process of finalising RSB certification. RSB certification verifies that we have all the sustainability, health, safety and environmental management practises in place to comply with RSB requirements. Although we develop our approach continuously and make internal audits regularly, the certification process has provided us a good chance to cross-check the level of our performance in comparison to the RSB standards. What is set to be the next biggest trend in sustainability? UPM sees the topic of lifecycle greenhouse gas emission reduction remaining an important issue on the climate change agenda. However, robust sustainability criteria for the origin of biomass-based feedstocks together with traceability of supply chains are things that will become more and more important in the future. This will also be important for products outside the biofuel market. Additionally, end users are more and more interested in the social responsibility aspects of the supply chain, encouraging producers to consider sustainability from a wider perspective. Why did you pick this scheme to join? UPM promotes sustainability from many angles. UPM holds ISCC-EU and ISCC-PLUS voluntary certificates for its BioVerno renewable diesel and naphtha and is finalising RSB
certification. The ISCC and RSB schemes are seen as the two strongest sustainability certification schemes, both having their own strengths and emphasis. ISCC Plus, for example, enabled us to open the bioplastics market segment for our wood-based renewable naphtha. Being able to show compliance with both schemes is even stronger evidence of sustainability in all UPM Biofuel operations. What do you think of the argument that voluntary sustainability schemes should be made mandatory? We find that in most of Europe, voluntary scheme certificates are already a mandatory requirement in cases where one wants to sell biofuels from one Member State to another. However, many Member States have applied additional measures to verify the sustainability of imported biofuels. As the original target of the voluntary schemes was to align requirements across the EU, it is important that any scheme accepted by the EU Commission would also be accepted as such by all Member States. What can be done to convince the public about the sustainability of biofuels and the part they should play in a lowcarbon world post 2020? I truly believe that we need all possible ways to reduce the transport sector’s emissions in the long term. To that end, advanced, sustainable biofuels will have a significant role to
play. In the longer term, the focus of biofuels will move from passenger vehicles to heavy duty transport, the marine sector and aviation. It goes without saying that sustainability of the feedstock must be robust for the puzzle to play out, and I’m convinced that is doable. The usage of traditional biofuels competing with food production has already been limited and post-2020 legislation proposals seem very positive for advanced fuels, such as our woodbased BioVerno products. Renewable drop-in fuels that significantly reduce both CO2 and tail pipe emissions, such as NOx and particles, will be favoured. Clear communication on the differences between the emission performances of different types of fuels will play a crucial role in engaging the general public. What is the biggest challenge you face? Unharmonised characteristics of the biofuel markets and regulation between countries, also within EU, is a big challenge for any biofuel player who wants to export its products. What next for UPM Biofuels? UPM actively seeks growth in sustainable and scalable biofuel production. Last autumn, a separate development programme was launched to investigate the best possible strategy and growth options for us in terms of raw materials, technologies and commercial solutions. l
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biofuels regulation Air pollution, marine opportunities and ‘broken’ EU policies drive World Bio Markets’ biofuels debate
All things biofuel By Colin Ley
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dvanced biofuels developers need to become more focused in promoting the beneficial impact that their products could have on reducing inner-city air pollution, Florida-based fuels consultant, Tammy Klein, told the 2017 World Bio Markets (WBM) conference in Amsterdam. Leading the event’s opening session on biofuels, Klein highlighted fuel efficiency and urbanisation as key influencing factors on the future shape and size of the biofuels market, with her message on air pollution carrying a sharp ‘get out there and talk’ challenge to delegates representing the advanced biofuels sector. “It’s important to examine how the different influencing trends work together in their impact on the industry,” she said. “In relation to fuel efficiency, for example, many countries are beginning to look at this area for the first time, with some groups pushing very strongly for new standards to be put in place. As a result, new measures are being applied in Asia and parts of Latin America while standards are being strengthened in Europe and North America. This will impact fuel demand strongly, as countries first put measures in place for passenger transport and then start to do the same for the heavy duty sector.” Highlighting urbanisation as one the under-lying drivers behind such moves, she pointed out that while 55% of the world’s population live in cities today, this figure is
forecast to ‘jump’ to 70% over the next 20 years. That was the context, she warned, in which air pollution was set to become an even bigger issue than it currently is. “Although we like to say in the US that we’ve dealt with air pollution, it is still a serious issue in the western world, as we’ve seen in London, Paris and across China,” said Klein. Klein added: “There has been an enormous growth in vehicle miles travelled and a continuing growth in vehicle numbers. In addition, in the coming years, the global car fleet is expected to grow by a further 135%, with 90% of that growth taking place in Asia, Africa and Latin America. “Cities are beginning to take action, therefore, with some countries starting to ban cars from certain areas. These trends are important as we try to work out the future demand for fuel. “Urbanisation and air pollution are both key to looking forward, with
hardly a week going by without some new study being published showing a connection between pollutants and a range of different health issues. “The challenge for those involved in biofuels therefore, especially advanced biofuels, is to get your message out there concerning what your product does for air pollution, because it really matters and often the sector’s positive story isn’t being told.” Klein also drew a marketplace positive for biofuels developers from the challenges surrounding the future electrification of transport, stating that she didn’t agree with recent forecasts which put fleet electrification as high as 35% by 2030. “I think we will see growth in this sector but not a quickly as that,” she said, even though battery and other technology costs are likely to reduce. “In addition, while travel range issues with
electrification will no doubt diminish, I don’t believe they will go away and that will be a concern for some. Developing the sector’s service infrastructure will also take longer than some are predicting. As such, biofuels have a major role to play in helping to decarbonise transport, while also creating a cleaner fuels pool.” Klein forecast a strong longer-term place for biofuels in relation to the marine sector, which she maintained would not be easy to electrify. “Aviation and heavy duty trucking will also be difficult in this respect,” she said. “In all three cases, marine, aviation and heavy duty, there will be a ‘large lump of demand’ for fuels and, therefore, a definite a role for advanced biofuels.” First marine biofuels session Having appropriately set the biofuels scene at WBM, Klein’s presentation was followed
This year’s World Bio Markets took place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in late March
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by what session chair, Dirk Kronemeijer, described as the ‘first marine biofuels session – probably in the world’. The following threehour programme included an analysis of market perspectives, the influence of governments and NGOs on developments and the views of existing and potential investors. “Working with partner companies in the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, we’ve been able to demonstrate that biofuels work well in the marine environment,” said Kronemeijer, CEO of the Dutch-based GoodFuels Marine business, further claiming that biofuels have the potential to become the ‘perfect solution’ for achieving sustainable shipping. Speaking against a background in which shipping is currently said to be responsible for up to 4% of the world’s CO2 emissions, 10-15% of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and 5-9% of sulphur oxides (SOx), Kronemeijer outlined the progress already made in the Dutch ports in collaboration with the port authorities themselves and commercial partners: Royal Dutch Boskalis (major maritime company), Wartsila (marine and energy technology business) and UPM Biofuels, the Finnish company responsible for developing the world’s first marine biofuel derived from wood residues. “We are becoming more and more convinced of the role which biofuels can play in the marine environment,” said Kronemeijer, urging conference delegates to join the marine initiative, through their companies, with the aim of helping to accelerate an important new marketplace. “We are comfortable with
being pioneers in this sector but we need help to develop it further; help from suppliers, governments, NGOs and also oil companies, if we’re to now scale this sector up.” Delegates were also warned that without appropriate attention, marine emission problems were set to keep rising in line with the sector’s advancing trade volumes. As such it’s believed that shipping is on course to become the fifth largest source of manmade CO2, and the largest global source of both SOx and NOx. EU biofuels plan is ‘fundamentally broken’ WBM’s dedicated biofuels session was also used by several speakers to focus attention on the European Commission’s plans to reduce the future role of food-based crops in biofuels production by cutting the food-linked cap from 7% in 2021 to 3.8% in 2030. “The EU’s biofuels legislation is fundamentally broken,” James Cogan of Dublin-based Ethanol Europe Renewables (EERL) told Biofuels International. “We’re clearly not winning the food-based argument at present but I still believe it can be won, especially as the EC position is entirely wrong and not based on fact.” Cogan, and others at WBM, believe the Commission’s plan needs to be turned around, arguing that producers have about a year to start winning the debate. “Current legislation is pitting conventional biofuels against advanced biofuels,” he said, “with the theory being that you progressively kill the conventional and grow the advanced so that by 2030 the two categories
will have swapped position. “That assumes, of course, advanced biofuel prices will have fallen significantly by 2030, making them competitive in the marketplace. That isn’t going to happen. “It’s also assumed by policy makers that we will have large amounts of advanced capacity already built by 2030. That also isn’t going to happen. Looking forward the 13 years in question, we’d need to have 50 factories around Europe producing second generation ethanol, with each factory costing at least €150 million to build and needing a concept-to-opening lead time of at least 6-8 years. “Frankly, there’s not even a single advanced biofuels investor thinking of doing this now, let alone anyone who is already working through the process. It’s all just not going to happen.” Dr Ausilio Bauen, Londonbased director of E4tech, addressed the same issue, commenting: “Conventional and advanced biofuels are often co-located, being processed though the same plants and drawn from the same raw materials. As such, you could have a conventional corn ethanol plant being turned into a conventional/advanced corn plus corn stover plant. “In that context, you would need to look at the overall sustainability of the development and understand the synergies that exist within such a plant, both now and in the future. “While I understand the desire of those who want to control and/or avoid the risks of certain conventional biofuels, it could be damaging to constrain conventional processes excessively and not leave space for the more
sustainable conventional options to continue to grow and demonstrate their sustainability.” WBM speakers also highlighted the negative effect the EC’s food-based biofuels shut-down could have on potential investors, including those who are already restricting their focus to second generation projects. “Advanced biofuels remains a bit of a sad story in Europe,” said Klein, adding that the ILUC debate had been allowed to rumble on for far too long. “Investors are looking for regulatory certainty. As an analyst, therefore, I’m not sure it’s a great idea to cap 1G because, if I were an investor, I would look at the cap on 1G and say ‘what will you do down the road for 2G’.” Canada-based management and project funding consultant, Jeff Passmore, made a similar point, stating that governments changing their minds on regulatory policies definitely wasn’t helping the industry’s growth, especially when projects start to approach the final stage of plant construction and need ‘somewhere north of $100 million’ to complete the job. “At that point, developers have to start talking to strategic investors; particularly those with deep pockets and patient money,” he said. “However, these people won’t invest unless there is certainty, and that’s where today’s governments have a major role to play. “The biggest fear strategic investors have is that they will end up with ventures which have turned into ‘stranded assets’ due to governments changing the rules, as has happened with the renewable energy directive (RED) in Europe and renewable fuel standard (RFS) in the US.” l
To get a fresh insight on current challenges from industry experts, join us at the 10th Biofuels International Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, in October. To find out more contact Matthew Clifton on +44 (0) 20 3551 5751 matthew@biofuels-news.com biofuels international
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biofuels company profile The journey from mastering the molecule to renewable growth
Pioneering renewable diesel
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breakthrough idea often emerges from a series of smaller discoveries. In the case of Neste’s NEXBTL (Next Generation Biomass to Liquid) technology, its path from concept to success story has been marked by both temporary setbacks and leaps in progress. This proprietary technology, the world’s first fully commercial renewable fuels production process, is used at Neste refineries in Porvoo, Finland, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Singapore. Before then, what is now known as the NEXBTL technology began as a research and development project in Porvoo (where
one of the two refineries in Finland is located). “In 1994, we were thinking about using new raw materials as feedstock for some of the process units in the oil refinery, so we looked at tall oil as one option,” says Lars-Peter Lindfors, senior VP of technology at Neste. While the project generated ideas on how to utilise renewable feeds such as tall oil – a resinous byproduct from the manufacture of chemical wood pulp – in refining, the company did not see this pathway as being lucrative at that stage. A patent for tall oil use as a renewable raw material for different products was filed in 1996, but was subsequently
put on the shelf. “We couldn’t see that there was a financially viable way to utilise these results in the refinery,” Lindfors explains. The refineries Around the year 2000, the discussions around renewable energy and climate change challenges began to accelerate in the EU. Neste realised that they already had an existing proprietary technology – a patented one – that could fulfil the requirements linked to processing advanced renewable traffic fuels. A new project team made up of individuals from Neste’s R&D unit and those from its
engineering company, Neste Jacobs, was then mobilised. They picked up from where the previous team left off. According to Lindfors, they soon found out that they actually knew how to make high-quality advanced hydrocarbon biofuels from fatty acids, from lipids. “At this time, we were mostly thinking about palm oil, because that was both financially and – in terms of volume – the most available raw material. We made a decision to invest in Porvoo, in our first commercial-scale production unit,” says Lindfors. Two renewable diesel refineries in Porvoo were brought on stream in 2007
NEXBTL diesel (pictured left) vs. fossil diesel (pictured right)
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and 2009. Two larger ones in Singapore and Rotterdam were established in 2010 and 2011, respectively. The fuel The renewable diesel that Neste produces through its NEXBTL technology is hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), while the conventional biodiesel (FAME) has been produced by using the esterification method. With NEXBTL technology, it is possible to produce hydrocarbons with chemical properties similar to those of paraffinic fossil diesel from various renewable raw materials. “It’s a 100% renewable fuel and you can use it in any diesel car, any logistical system and tank. You don’t need to worry if the weather is cold or warm, and it doesn’t have a best before date. It can remain in your tank for as long as you like because it’s a pure hydrocarbon. This difference with firstgeneration biodiesel is important as it really is a very different product with a much higher quality and energy content. Our renewable diesel is truly a ‘drop-in fuel’ that you can use up to 100% in any diesel car,” says Lindfors. “We took a long time from the initial idea in 1994 to the first erected plant in 2007. The first profitable year in the renewable business was 2013, due to the large investments. Today, more than half of the company’s profits come from this renewable business. It’s a huge success story and I’m really proud of it, but it has been a tough journey,” Lindfors continues.
Feedstock for Neste’s renewable diesel
He says the company also realised quite early on that it was not sufficient to have only one raw material. “We needed to have flexibility – in
didn’t favour the use of palm oil, so we decided that we need to broaden the raw material base. This is what we have been doing,” adds
‘Today, we have more than ten different renewable raw materials and about 80% of them are from waste and residue streams’
waste and residue streams.” And this is the major breakthrough that separates Neste from the rest. Today Neste’s renewable diesel is sold in North America and Europe. Most of it is still sold as a blend with fossil diesel, but Neste has an increasing number of climate conscious customers who buy it as a neat product, 100% renewable. Through the company’s own station chain, the 100% renewable diesel is sold under the name of Neste MY, referring to “my choice” that everyone can make. l
Lars-Peter Lindfors, senior VP of technology at Neste
terms of price volatility and availability of raw materials. There was also environmental pressure from NGOs that
Lindfors. “Today, we have more than ten different renewable raw materials and about 80% of them are from
For more information: This article was written by Gino de la Paz from Milton and Susanna Sieppi, communications manager at Neste. Visit: www.neste.com
Three advantages Lars-Peter Lindfors mentions three competitive advantages that make Neste stand out from the competition. One is its proprietary technology and its pretreatment capabilities. The second is its sustainability work and how the
biofuels international
company is seen in Asia, for instance, as a model company for managing raw material supply chain. Third is its global supply chain – the company does not need to buy from only one place, so sourcing can really be maximised and optimised.
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Optimising a rail car for the use of transporting biomass energy
Pellets on the right track
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n 2007, EU leaders set targets for the EU’s 2020 climate and energy programme. The programme classified wood pellets as a carbon-neutral form of renewable energy1. Since then, the wood pellet industry has boomed and investment has surged. Wood pellets are usually made from compressed forest thinning, scraps, wood waste and other byproducts of timber industry. It is considered one of the popular forms of biomass. Biomass, perhaps the oldest energy source people use after the sun, refers to any organic matter derived from plants or animals available on a renewable basis2. Common biomass types include wood and agricultural crops. Ethanol is made by fermenting biomass material such as corn, sugarcane, or sugar beet. Ethanol has been strongly promoted by government policies for cleaner energy in transportation fuel. In the US, people will see E10 (gasoline that contains 10% ethanol) and E15 (15% ethanol) in nearly all the gas stations, sometimes even E85 (a gasoline-ethanol mix of up to 85% ethanol percentage), which will only apply to modified engines. However, wood, instead of ethanol, accounts for about 46% of biomass energy3. Source of heating Since the compression of the wood often creates a higher BTU (British Thermal Unit) than other biomass sources4,
wood pellets are often used as a source of heating as well as power generation. It can be used for heating homes and businesses and as fuel for small-scale industrial boilers. In the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands, wood pellets are used predominantly for utility-scale electricity generation5. Most of the wood pellets made in the US head to the Drax power plant in northern England.6
For wood pellet export, the US has far outstripped its competitors. In 2015, US wood pellet exports hit record highs of 4,668,774,792kgs, when compared to 2014’s 4,055,732,449kgs and 2013’s 2,882,516,750kgs7. A clear majority is being shipped to the UK. The US’ closet competitor is Canada. In 2015, Canada’s wood pellet export reached 1.6 billion kg, slightly less than one third of the
Most of the wood pellets made in the US head to the Drax power plant in northern England While European companies are busy investing in converting their coal plants, American suppliers have found business opportunities and are expanding the mills to produce enough wood pellet to export across the ocean and feed these plants.
US’ 2015 export. According to US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) data, the top three destinations for American’s wood pellets in 2014 were the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands8. Europe’s increasing demand for wood pellets has led to
many business opportunities for US companies. This is because many US companies are exporting their wood pellets to Europe. From Mississippi to Louisiana to North Carolina, the South, because of its extensive forestation and old growth, is becoming the nation’s largest wood pellet producing region9. Wood pellet companies are opening mills in southern US and then transporting the pellets to the closest ports on the southeast US coastline to then ship across the ocean. The most economic approach to transport these pellets to the ports is by rail, due to its low cost/ high volume model and its easy access to ports in the southern US. Some suppliers started this effort by buying larger scale new hopper cars or by acquiring or leasing older idle railcars to haul their wood pellets. Due to a wood pellet’s physical features such as low density and vulnerability to water, the industry standard hopper (which, if existing, are usually older style grain
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cars) may not best serve this unique commodity. Vertex Railcar Corp., a major rail car manufacturer located in North Carolina, is working with wood pellet producers and has developed a specific car that can be used to optimise the volume, efficiency, and dryness of the product shipped by rail. Wood pellet’s unique physical features and high revenue potential require a car design with maximised storage capacity and a watertight sealed top hatch. By conducting numerous field trips, interviewing users, and researching the use of existing hopper cars, the Vertex engineers have developed a specific design for a wood pellet hopper to benefit the users of these cars. The innovative design successfully enlarged the current standard hopper capacity and improved the effective storage capacity
from approximately 75% to a true 98%. This was done by, among other things, adjusting the shape/design of the sidewalls and by improving the slope angles in the discharge areas of the car. By doing this, Vertex added approximately 10.5 tonnes of storage capacity. As a result of this, pellet producers can add a great deal of revenue to their balance sheets. If a user is running a 100 car train set two times each month, one can imagine how much extra revenue can be generated by having an extra 2,100 tonnes per month of product shipping in the same rail footprint. The overall storage of 5900 cubic feet is perceived to be smaller than other new style wood pellet cars on the rail today, but this is the wrong perception as the storage capacity is actually greater than these new car types.
Also, the VRC wood pellet hopper is equipped with a water tight full opening top pneumatic hatch. This top hatch ensures the loading efficiency and also product safety/dryness. The average loading time of the client’s existing car is more than one hour, but by utilising the innovative top hatch design of the Vertex car, the loading time can be reduced to approximately five to ten minutes which greatly accelerates the loading process. The operation of the hatch is automatic, saving the manpower and eliminating the safety concerns during the loading process. In addition, the hatches can reach a fully open position, which will maximise the loading efficiency as well. Because water tightness is critical to revenue generation and overall product/worker safety, the Vertex wood pellet
car utilises an overlapping, patent pending, watertight seal design, which effectively prevents moisture from getting into the car and contaminating the pellets. l For more information: This article was written by Ruijiao Zhang , market research coordinator and Donald Croteau, CEO at Vertex Railcar Corp. Visit: www.vertexrail.com References 1 http://trade.gov/topmarkets/ pdf/Renewable_Fuels_ Biomass_Wood_Pellets.pdf 2 https://www.iea.org/topics/ renewables/subtopics/bioenergy/ 3 http://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/ Energy%20At%20A%20Glance/ BiomassAtAGlance_11x17.pdf 4 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/ detail.php?id=20912 5 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/ detail.php?id=20912 6 http://fuelfix.com/blog/2016/12/15/ southern-united-statesbiggest-producer-and-sellerof-wood-pellets-in-2016/ 7 http://trade.gov/topmarkets/ pdf/Renewable_Fuels_ Biomass_Wood_Pellets.pdf 8 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/ detail.php?id=20912 9 http://fuelfix.com/blog/2016/12/15/ southern-united-states-
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biofuels technology An innovative technique is helping to produce bioethanol from corn dust and broken corn
A preprocessing system for cellulosic ethanol production
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he majority of CO2 emissions originate from the use of coal and fossil fuel, and one effective method for the reduction of these emissions is the use of renewable energy sources such as wind or solar energy. Among these renewable sources of energy, the only source of liquid fuel is the production of ethanol from biomass. In fact, various forms of renewable energy are currently being pursued in order to lower CO2 emissions and protect the global environment. Among these, the production of energy from the non-edible portion of corn stover has received considerable attention. Technological developments have allowed the use of non-edible corn stover, comprised of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose, as a raw material, thereby avoiding competition for food, and a number of plants have already begun operation. However, there are a number of problems associated with the current processing methods. These methods require preprocessing using chemical agents for the derivation of saccharification products from the raw corn stover, considerable time for saccharification, and the use of special, genetically-modified enzymes. A “breakthrough” in preprocessing technology was needed to help solve some of these issues. Japan-based Kato Biomass Technology Co.examined these problems from the perspective of “mechanical preprocessing” and has succeeded in exposing the saccharide component in corn stover using a single piece of equipment. Its newly developed equipment allows the exposure of the saccharide content by finely shredding the lignin, binding the cellulose and hemicellulose components through mechanical
processing using water, heat, and pressure. The process can take as little as 18 seconds to complete. Furthermore, saccharification tests have shown that the resultant product has a high saccharification efficiency of 88.9%. Theory – ‘Kato Saccharide Exposure’ method The research behind the technology was based on the notion that saccharification of corn stover would be more easily accomplished with commonly available enzymes if the saccharide content could be exposed. From this position, a method for the disintegration of the cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin components in the corn stover was designed to expose the saccharide content. The developed method, the Kato Saccharide Exposure (KSE) method, exposes the saccharide content through a combination of moisture, heat, and pressure at the time of disintegration of the raw materials. It is worth noting that purpose of heating here is two-fold as it both enhances the exposure of saccharides and allows further heating to be dispensed within the subsequent saccharification and fermentation process. Figure 1 shows a
Figure 1 Extrusion apparatus
cross-section of the core element of the apparatus (extrusion machinery). How it works – equipment configuration The processing equipment has a single power source driving an axis that turns a single screw. The single fixed barrel consists of a spacer and an outlet port, with a heating element surrounding the barrel and spacer. A cross-section of this part of the equipment is shown in Figure 1. The rotational speed of the screw and temperature of the heating element are both adjustable. Screw and barrel configuration The screw, with its outer spiral channel, is encompassed by the barrel, with its inner spiral channel. The pitch of the channel on the screw is larger than that on the barrel. In addition, the edges of the screw channel are not rounded, while the barrel channel is flat cut. Specifications A photograph of the screw removed during processing is shown in Figure 2. The length is 560.0mm and the outer peripheral diameter is 89.1mm. Furthermore, the channel width of the screw channel in the extrusion zone is 21.0mm and the depth is 1.0mm. In contrast, the depth in the compression and milling zones is 8.5mm (Figure 1). A photograph of the barrel during processing is shown in Figure 3. The length is 560.0mm and the inner peripheral diameter is 89.5 mm. The channels cut into the barrel are 7.0 mm in width and 5.5mm in depth from the extrusion zone to the leading
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Fig. 4 Raw materials and products Photograph of the screw in Figure 1, showing compressed biomass material
components. This machine allows the continuous processing of raw materials in just 18 seconds. Results of product testing
Fig. 3 Photograph of the tip of the barrel with the spacer and screw removed after the raw material has passed through the screw
edge (Figure1). The spacer (length 42.0mm) is located at the leading edge of the barrel, with the outlet port (inner diameter 8.5mm) located at the leading edge of the spacer. Processing phenomenon As the screw rotates, the raw material is fed into the screw channel and forced along the gap between the screw and the channel of the fixed barrel, where it is compressed and frictional resistance applied. As this frictional resistance shreds the lignin component of the raw material, with the raw material in the channel bottom compressed, the upper portion is uniformly milled. The milled raw material is steamed by the application of heat from the heating element at the
biofuels international
leading edge of the barrel, the steamed raw material enclosed in the spacer is then pressurised, and the processed product in which the saccharide and other components are exposed exits from the outlet port attached to the spacer. The purpose of the heating here is to enhance the exposure of the saccharide content. In addition, changing the rate of input of the raw material and the rotational speed of the screw allows the pressure in the milling zone and spacer (Figure 1) to be adjusted. This mechanism allows high temperature and pressure to be maintained above the saturation point, leading to the untangling of the tightly interwoven lignin and a notable improvement in the degree of exposure of the cellulose and hemicelluloses
Kato tested corn stover processing using the equipment described above. For this testing, the company used two kinds of corn stover crushed in a cutter mill: Material 1 (Figure 4 A-1), which consisted of unclassified corn stover ranging in size from 5.0mm to dust, and Material 2 (Figure 4 B-1), which was 2.0mm x 2.0mm in size. The water content of both Material 1 and 2 was adjusted to 28% prior to feeding into the equipment, and the temperature at the leading edge of the barrel was set at 162ยบC using the heating element. With regard to pressure, the rotational speed of the screw was set at 140 rpm, allowing the raw material to pass through the milling zone in five seconds and be retained in the spacer for five seconds, which had been shown to maintain pressure in the milling zone at an optimal level. The products generated from Material 1 and 2 under these conditions are shown in Figure 4 A-2 and 4 B-2, respectively. Processing throughput and energy requirements The equipment described herein can process the raw material at 23kg/h, with the required energy for processing measured at 33.3kJ/kg. Saccharification test using genetically-modified enzymes Saccharification testing of Product 1 and 2 was also performed by the publiclyfunded Hokkaido Research Organization.
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biofuels technology The test was based on protocol NREL/TP-51042629 (11) established by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US. Briefly, Product 1 and Product 2, corresponding to 0.1g of cellulose, were placed in screw vial containers (30 mm in diameter x 65 mm in height, total volume 30ml) and 5ml of citric acid buffer, cellulose (Novozymes 50013, 25FPU/g-cellulose), betaglucosidase (Novozymes 50010, 42CBU/g-cellulose), and two kinds of antibiotics (in powder form); 40μg tetracycline and 30μg cycloheximide, were added with water to a final volume of 10ml. The solution was then incubated at 50ºC for 72 hours, and the glucose content was measured by liquid chromatography using a LaChrom Elite L-2490 Refractive Index (RI) detector
with a LaChrom Elite L-2200 Auto sampler, LaChrom Elite L-2130 Pump and LaChrom Elite L-2350 Column oven. Saccharification test using the commonly available enzymes amylase and amyloglucosidase Product 1 and Product 2 were further subjected to saccharification testing at the Hokkaido Research Organization based on protocol NREL/TP-510-42629 using amylase (SIGMA-A7595) and amyloglucosidase (SIGMA-A7095). Saccharification test results The saccharification efficiency of Product 1 using the genetically-modified enzymes described above
in “saccharification test using genetically modified enzymes” was 64.5%. Almost no glucose was eluted when a blank solution (sample only with no enzymes) was applied. The saccharification efficiency of Product 2 under the same conditions was 88.9%, and again little glucose was eluted when a blank solution was applied. The saccharification efficiency of Product 1 using the common enzymes described above in “saccharification test using the commonly available enzymes amylase and amyloglucosidase” was 64.4%. Again, little glucose was eluted when a blank solution was applied. Conclusion All in all, Kato’s newly developed equipment has succeeded in exposing the
saccharide component in corn stover by mechanical processing in the time of 18 seconds. In addition to this, the saccharification efficiency of the product using commonly available enzymes, such as amylase and amyloglucosidase, was comparable to that obtained using geneticallymodified enzymes. It is thought that these factors will enable ethanol to be produced at a reduced cost in comparison with conventional techniques. l
For more information: The corresponding author for this manuscript is Susumu Kato, President and CEO of Kato Biomass technology Co. The manuscript was written in collaboration with Takaaki Takebe, Haruo Imai, Norihiro Terajima, Yukiko Kato, Yuka Sugawara, and Hiroki Kato. Visit: http://www.katobiomass.com/index.html
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2015 Paris Convention – driving the need for development in analytical science for renewable biofuels
A green convention
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he application of biomass-to-liquid (BTL) or gas-to-liquid (GTL) in diesels is pushing the industry to further develop new technologies for aiding the actual industry requirements. This article provides practical examples on how the latest analytical techniques can support the industry in assuring product integrity and controlling costs. How can analytical techniques help to manage biofuels obligations? With the current changes in the market, there is a shift towards sustainable fuels. In the past, these were limited to fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) in addition to, or as a replacement of, diesel fuel. Nowadays, the market shifts towards BTL and GTL fuels. The determination of the hydrogenated vegetable oils (HVO) addition to fuels is required to confirm the “bioobligation” for fuel retailers. Currently, the 2017 minimum limits are set at country level to gradually reach the 2020 bio-obligation agreed during the 2015 Paris Convention. The minimum requirement for bio-based sources in fuels will be 10% by volume by 2020. The use of BTL or GTL instead of conventional diesel results in lower emissions and improved combustion. The main benefit of using these types of fuels is lowering the dependency on conventional fossil fuels. With traditional methodologies, GTL and BTL cannot be identified separately, which
is creating a direct challenge for complying with the above regulations. These fuels require new analytical techniques such as GC x GC (comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography). Conventional techniques, such as GC-FID, do not have the capability to achieve a separation of coeluting compounds (see figure 1). Two-dimensional technique To investigate the different hydrocarbon compounds such as normal and isoparaffins, aromatics, naphthenes in BTL and GTL fuels, a twodimensional (2D) technique is required, where separation is firstly achieved over a primary GC-column, and with the help of a second column most of the co-eluting compounds are separated, qualified and quantified. The two columns are connected via a thermal modulator, which releases the sample material every few seconds, providing the second GC-column with sub-segments of the original sample to further identify the overlapping components. By combining the GC x GC technology with a mass spectrometer (MS) detector a highly sensitive method can be developed providing a twodimensional qualitative and quantitative fingerprint of any complex product mixture. To meet the increased demand of biofuel into conventional fuels, further applications for
Figure 1: GC-FID chromatogram of the FAME sample by conventional 1D method
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Figure 2: GC×GC-FID-SCD-MS configuration
the GC x GC technique are being developed to determine and verify the amount of BTL blended into the conventional diesel fuels. Performing the identical analysis with traditional GC methods will require a large number of individual tests being run individually without providing the same level of detail as GC x GC. The time consumed with this traditional approach is unrealistic in any production, quality assurance or investigative environment. The implementation of the GC x GC technology in a commercial environment will support the further development of the biofuels market and the specific challenges it is experiencing. Advanced technologies like GC x GC have a wide range of applications, but due to the complexity of the technology, there are no off-the-shelf methods available. The method development will be bespoke for each sample type and requires high levels of expertise in the
technology, but also a good understanding of the customer’s challenges and the relevant information to be found. Where FAME is a commonly applied bio-component, the regulation on the source is getting more stringent, confirmation of the FAME origin by one dimensional (1D) GCFID is almost impossible. The application of two dimensional (2D) reversed columns by GC x GC-FID and MS can provide the fuel fingerprinting (see figure 3) required to understand the product differentiation. All in all, any investigative research can benefit from this technology. This will especially help if one wants to understand the root cause of a quality clear or if one decides to develop new blends, additives and products. l For more information: This article was written by Jan Willem Eickholt, senior analytical expert at Inspectorate Netherlands. Visit: www.inspectorate.com
Figure 3: GC×GC-FID chromatograms of BTL (left) and GTL (right) fuel samples with 2D reversed column set
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biofuels technology There are many options for fast-tracking clean technology patent applications
In the fast lane
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he grant of a patent can be delayed by years due to backlogs at patent offices around the world. However, recognising the urgent need to address climate change, certain patent offices have established programmes to expedite the examination of patent applications related to clean technologies. Consequently, patents are valuable assets, particularly to companies in emerging clean technologies such as biomass and biofuels. Through these exclusive rights, companies can prevent others from commercially using the patented invention, thereby reducing competition and establishing market share. They can be used as defensive tools and provide leverage in negotiations. They can also become revenue sources through license or sale. As such, most companies and investors view a patent portfolio as essential, even if there is no plan to enforce the patents in litigation, and robust numbers of patents in the fuels industry continue to get granted. For example, Table 1 lists organisations receiving five or more US utility patents. Depending on the particular patent office, the time to grant of a patent is reduced by 42% to 75% for patents having fast-track examination. A summary of the latest programmes for fast-tracking clean technology patents follows below. Australia On 15 September, 2009, IP Australia announced a fasttrack examination programme for patent applications in the field of green technology.
First-named owner
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Total
Individually owned patent*
8
12
20
17
12
69
Shell Oil Company
5
5
5
11
15
41
Afton Chemical Company
1
4
5
14
6
30
BASF SE
3
2
2
6
3
16
Elevance Renewable Sciences
2
2
3
4
0
11
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
1
1
3
0
4
9
UOP
0
0
0
2
7
9
Innospec
0
1
0
4
2
7
Butamax Advanced Biofuels
0
0
1
3
2
6
Clariant Finance (BVI)
0
0
0
3
3
6
Re Community Energy
0
2
4
0
0
6
Bestline International Research
2
1
1
1
0
5
Endicott Biofuels II
0
3
1
1
0
5
Table 1 – Rank-ordered listing of organisations receiving five or more US utility patents having a primary patent classification of “fuel and related compositions”. Data excerpted from https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/tecasg/044_torg.htm *According to the US. Patent and Trademark Office, this entry corresponds to (1) patents for which ownership was not assigned at the time of grant (i.e., ownership was presumably retained by the inventor(s)) and (2) patents for which ownership was assigned to an individual at the time of grant (i.e., ownership assignment was not made to an organisation). See https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/tecasg/explan_torg.htm
According to IP Australia, the programme helps “green innovators find a fast track to the marketplace by offering priority to environmentallyfriendly technologies in the patent application system”. Under the programme, examination of patent applications is expected to begin within four to eight weeks, and no additional fee is required. Forty-three patents were reported as fast-tracked under the programme from September 2009 to August 2012. Brazil The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) launched a “Green Patent” pilot programme on 17
April, 2012 to accelerate the patenting of green technologies in alternative energy, transportation, energy conservation, waste management, and agriculture. The programme became permanent on 6 December, 2016. Data from 9 June, 2015 indicates that a total of 49 patents were granted under the programme, 55 applications were rejected, 121 applications received unfavourable opinions, and 61 applications received office actions. In November 2015, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and INPI signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme. Under
the PPH programme, each country may use the search and examination results prepared by the other, which should reduce examination time. The INPI will only accept applications under the programme that are directed to oil, gas, or petrochemical inventions, while the USPTO will accept applications directed to any subject matter. The programme began 11 January, 2016 and will end on 10 January, 2018, or sooner once each patent office has accepted 150 applications. As of 6 March, 2017, the INPI has received 38 PPH petitions and accelerated examination of 25 applications. Approximately 70% of the accelerated applications have been
40 may/june 2017 biofuels international
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granted as patents. It is expected that the majority of PPH petitions will be filed at the INPI rather than the USPTO because examination at the USPTO typically occurs more much quickly due to backlogs at the INPI. However, the USPTO has reported that they received two PPH petitions in October 2016 based on patents that were issued by the INPI. Canada The Canadian Intellectual Property Office issued an initiative on 3 March, 2011 to accelerate the examination of applications pertaining to green technology. Under the initiative, applicants can request accelerated examination by submitting a declaration stating that the application relates to a technology that could help to resolve or mitigate environmental impacts or conserve the natural environment and resources if commercialised. No additional fee is required. Typically, an office action is received in one to three months of requesting accelerated examination, a significant reduction from the 12-24 months it usually takes to receive an office action. A searchable public database of the accelerated green technology patents and applications is also available. As of 14 March, 2017, the database contains 262 patents and 86 applications.
first office action is expected to issue within 30 days, and prioritised examination is expected to be completed within one year. In 2014, China had a total of 61 green technology patents granted, mostly in solar (33), wind (12), and hybrid and electrical car (8) technologies. Israel A new category of applications eligible for priority examination was created for “green patents” by the Israeli Patent Office on 27 December, 2009. To request priority examination, applicants must provide an explanation as to why the invention helps advance environmental protection. However, the declaration and extra fees normally required for priority examination are not required. Additionally, a request for priority examination can be made after an application
has been filed if examination has not started. Applications will be examined within three months after qualifying for priority examination. Japan On 1 November, 2009, the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) implemented a programme allowing for the accelerated examination of “green inventions” having a beneficial effect on the environment through low energy consumption or reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Under the programme, applicants can receive a first office action in about two months. The JPO’s annual report of 2010 indicated that 47 applications for accelerated examination were made between 1 November, 2009 and 31 March, 2010. The JPO also reports that Japan is a leading country in the number of
green technology patent applications filed, with approximately 40,000 applications published in 2014, 2,150 applications published in January 2015, and 1,000 applications published in February 2015 related to energy, resource saving, the environment, and/ or society’s infrastructure. Given the disparity between the numbers of green technology applications and the numbers of accelerated examination requests, it appears the JPO’s accelerated examination may be underutilised. In addition, green technology companies can now choose the JPO as an International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) for international applications filed at the USPTO. As of 1 July, 2015, the JPO may act as an ISA and IPEA, provided that:
China Since 1 August, 2012, prioritised examination of applications relating to energy conservation, environmental protection, or green technologies has been available in China. Applicants must submit a search report by a qualified entity or a translation of a search report issued by another country. Once a request for prioritised examination is granted, a
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Patents are valuable assets, particularly to companies in emerging clean technologies such as biomass and biofuels
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biofuels technology (1) The application is submitted in the English language (2) The claims of the application are directed to the field of green technology as defined by certain International Patent Classification classes (3) The JPO has not received more than 5,000 international applications from the USPTO during the three-year period from 1 July, 2015 to 30 June, 2018, not more than 300 applications per quarter during the first year, and not more than 475 applications per quarter during the second and third years Electing the JPO instead of the USPTO as the ISA reduces the international search fees owed, and provides applicants interested in obtaining patent protection in Japan earlier insight into how the JPO views their invention. This option is projected to end on 30 June, 2018. South Korea The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) launched a fast-track examination programme on 1 October, 2009 for applications related to certain green technologies. Green technologies eligible under the programme include air pollution prevention, noise prevention, water quality, waste disposal, livestock waste management, recycling, and sewage. Other green technologies are also eligible if the invention received financial support or certification from the government. Applicants must also submit results of a prior art search to participate in the programme. KIPO states that a first office action will be issued within one month of requesting fast-track examination. It is estimated that no more than 69 applications were fast-tracked under the programme in 2015. In addition, applications
related to the “prevention of pollution” also qualify for accelerated examination under a separate regulation. In 2015, 232 requests for accelerated examination were accepted under this regulation.
applications in the Green Channel programme is available. As of 8 March, 2017, the database contains over 1,600 applications.
Taiwan
The Green Technology Pilot Programme for expediting examination of clean technology applications closed in 2012, with more than 1,050 patents issued under the programme. Even though the successful programme closed, other accelerated examination options applicable to all technologies are still available for clean technology applications. One option is the USPTO’s Prioritised Examination Programme (Track One). Under the Track One programme, an application is advanced out of turn for examination upon payment of a $4,000 (€3,750) petition fee and a $140 processing fee, reduced for qualifying small entity and microentity applicants. A maximum of 10,000 requests are granted under Track One per fiscal year, and 9,360 requests were filed between March 2016 and February 2017.Currently, the average time until issuance of a first office action is 2.1 months under Track One, and the average time until allowance is 5.2 months. Other programmes for expediting examination include the Patent Prosecution Highway, First Action Interview Pilot, After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0, PreAppeal Brief Conference, Expedited Patent Appeal Pilot, Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement Pilot, Collaborative Search Pilot, Petition to Make Special, Ombudsman Program, and Accelerated Examination.
On 1 January, 2014, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office began expedited examination of green technology applications. Applications must be an invention patent and published prior to requesting expedited examination. In order to qualify as a green technology, the technology must be related to energy saving, new energies, automobiles powered by new engines, or carbon reduction. As of September 2016, more than 100 applications have been expedited under the programme. In 2016, the average time to issuance of a first office action was approximately 103 days, much shorter than the 29 months it can take under regular examination. The majority of applications in the programme are owned by Taiwanese entities, with one of the top corporate applicants being Green Cellulosity Corp. in the field of biofuels. UK On 12 May, 2009, the UK Intellectual Property Office created a “Green Channel” programme whereby applicants can request accelerated processing of an application by indicating (1) How the application is environmentally-friendly (2) Which actions to accelerate (i.e., search, combined search and examination, publication, and/or examination) The programme applies to existing applications and applications filed after 12 May, 2009. A searchable public database of published
US
PCT The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) assists applicants seeking international patent protection. The PCT is
administered by an agency of the United Nations called the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Under the PCT procedure, a single patent application is filed at a single patent office in one language. The PCT application is then examined by an International Searching Authority and transmitted to each country in which a patent is desired. Accordingly, the PCT greatly simplifies the process of filing applications and obtaining patents in many countries. In view of the growing number of different national programmes, WIPO has considered implementing a standardised global system for fast-tracking clean technology applications , whereby a single set of rules would apply to all countries offering fast-track examination. While such a system would likely simplify the process and encourage greater participation, it has not yet been implemented. Summary In view of the numerous international opportunities for accelerated examination and the importance of clean technologies, patent applicants should carefully consider these expedited options as part of a global intellectual property strategy to patent their bio-based innovations and bring them quickly to market. l
For more information: This article was written by Peter Jackman, director, and Lori Brandes, Of Counsel, at Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox PLLC with assistance from Novak Obsenica, paralegal. Visit: www.skgf.com
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A concise history of drying technology
Developments in dehydration processing
O
ne of the process steps for ethanol production is the removal of water from the biofuel. Special techniques have therefore been developed to remove the water, known as drying. Here, Ronning Engineering gives Biofuels International readers a review of 57 years of dehydration process technology. 1. History of dryer types and their applications. a) Open single pass dryers. Originated by W. J. Small Co. and others for the processing of forage crops and other agricultural biproducts. b) Three pass dryers. Originated and patented by Gerald Arnold and later marketed as the Heil dryer and dominated the drying industries for many years as the high quality, reliable preferred system for processing agricultural by-products. These dryers were also produced by MEC Co., Aeroglide Co., and other suppliers. c) Stearns Rogers highdensity single pass dryer. Originated in the sugar beet pulp drying process with high capacity, high temperature drying systems of excellent quality construction and later applied as used equipment in corn processing industries. d) Three stage dryer. Originated and patented by Ronning Engineering Co. for high capacity operations in the ethanol bi-product industry for drying
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distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) with low temperatures and minimum product degradation. e) Ring dryers or flash dryers. A popular option for biofuels drying supplied by GEA-Barr Rosin provides selective drying in a pneumatic system that incorporates high velocities for short-term drying with minimum product drying time. f) Quad four dryer. A reverse three pass dryer with a single pass first section developed by productisation and later marketed by Dupps Co. Productisation relates to the process of analysing a need, defining and combining suitable elements, tangible and/ or intangible, into a product-like defined set of deliverables that is standardised, repeatable and comprehendible. g) Indirect fired dryer. Dryers
where the heat transfer media is stack gas that is recycled back through a heat exchanger to be reheated and reapplied to the drying apparatus. This technology is provided by GEA Bar-Rosin, Ronning Engineering Co. and others. 2. Industries served by these dryer systems. a) Dried distillers grain from ethanol and beverage alcohol production. b) Brewers grain from breweries. c) Corn gluten feed from corn processing operations. d) Hydrolysed feather meal from poultry production operations. e) Poultry manure from egg laying operations. f) Fish meal from fish processing operations. g) Municipal sludge from sewage treatment facilities. h) Pet food processing. i) Forage product drying.
Flow diagram related to the application of Ronning’s rotary waste heat evaporator
3. The elements of dryer capacity expansion. a) High density heat transfer capability/cubic feet of heat exchanger. b) Mass rate of product showering/cubic feet of heat exchanger. c) Heat transfer media - flow rate through the dryer. d) Inlet and outlet gas temperatures. e) Specific humidity of heat transfer media. f) Surface area of product/ pound of product. g) Product recycle mixing and time to normalise. h) Limits of heat transfer media velocity and effects on heat transfer. 4. The recent developments by Ronning Engineering Co., Inc. and their influence on the drying process. By creating more heat transfer in less volume of heat exchanger and increasing the mass of product exposed to the heat transfer media the dryer drum becomes a more efficient heat exchanger device. This creates higher capacity, greater stability and improved product quality due to lower stress drying. Our goal is to fill the cross section of the dryer with as much product surface area exposed to the heat transfer media as is possible in a rotary kiln. By the by, the result of these improvements is that one of Ronning’s dryers will often replace two of the conventional dryers serving these various industries. l For more information: This article was written by Richard Ronning, CEO at Ronning Engineering Co. Visit:www.ronningengineering.com
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biofuels company profile – ethanol drying A look at ICM’s beginnings, past, present and future
Ethanol dryers: Where we were yesterday and where we are today
R
otary dryer systems used in the early days of the ethanol industry were relatively crude. Their sole purpose was to simply dry the distiller’s grains “by-product” (DDGS) produced after the ethanol was extracted. A dark and burnt smelling product with indigestible syrup balls was the industry norm. As the industry grew and looked for ways to generate more value, interest in producing a better quality and more valuable distiller’s grain became more important. Dave VanderGriend recognised the need for a better dryer system – a system with a simpler, yet robust, dependable design. He founded ICM to develop a dryer system that would produce a much higher quality DDGS product with a consistent granular make-up, a consistent colour, and consistent smell that would be more appealing to the animal feed market which in return would generate more value for the ethanol plant and expand the DDGS market. Today Over the years, the ICM drying system has become the industry standard. With more than 350 units in operation across the globe, ICM has worked to add enhancements to its drying system allowing customers to increase the value of their distiller’s grain products while operating in a safe and efficient manner. The simple, reliable, and robust design has resulted in efficient system performance.
ICM dryer
Ethanol plants see efficient air flow and product movement through the dryer minimising gas usage. The product recycle feature allows for additional operational flexibility for ICM’s customers and the series arrangement allows for enhanced product quality. Trim adjustments on the system give the company’s customer’s added flexibility to produce DDGS, modified DDGS or Wet Distillers Grains with Solubles (WDGS) products depending on plant performance or market conditions. Ethanol customers benefit by having the ICM dryer system designed and manufactured in one location. This ensures all aspects of the system are controlled by our strict internal quality control procedures. Heavy duty construction with quality materials ensures long equipment life and low maintenance trouble free operation, resulting in lower long term capital costs for ICM’s customers. The safety aspects of these systems is critically
important. Ethanol customers want a system that produces a quality, consistent product with ease of operation and maximum uptime. Over the years, ICM has worked closely with customers and insurance carriers to increase safety components and controls on the system. Combustion control and safety verifications for air flow monitoring are important to ensure proper operation. Annual training and proper operating procedures are also important in keeping the plants up to date and focused on
safely operating the system. Today, plants are becoming more interested in differentiated co-products. Technology enhancements to the plant are allowing ICM’s customers the ability to create different, higher value feed products. Drying systems will become an important part in allowing the company’s customers to penetrate these new markets and generate value for their businesses. The ICM dryer system has come a long way in the last 23 years. Helping the industry create a consistent, quality DDGS was important in growing demand for these feed products worldwide. We will do the same as the industry looks to move into new feed products and markets. As the industry continues to innovate, we will be there to help drive the innovation and help our customers generate even greater value out of their assets. l For more information: This article was written by John Caffrey, director of Manufacturing and Design at ICM. Visit: www.icminc.com
John Caffrey, director of Manufacturing and Design at ICM
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A LEGACY OF PROVEN INNOVATION
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How can I get a good night’s sleep? Carefully planning a pilot plant scale-up will help operators avoid sleepless nights
S
cale-up of a new process is an important series of steps in process development. When it becomes time to build a new, larger version of the process under consideration, many key decisions need to be made on how to design the next step. What is really necessary? Is the size of my scale-up too large, too expensive, and too risky? Or is it so small that it doesn’t provide any value? What parts of my process should I focus on? How do I make sure not to cut corners in an effort to preserve capital and regret it later? What can I do to be able to sleep at night? None of these questions have easy answers, but let us take a look at how a hypothetical company, AlgaeCo*, might think about it. AlgaeCo was developing an algae-to-fuels process, having spent years developing a specific strain and process. Based on a
combination of market forces and technological hurdles, AlgaeCo decided to pivot to produce specialty chemicals from algae, requiring it to urgently develop a new strain of algae and make significant modifications to its process. AlgaeCo has a sophisticated lab and will build a new pilot plant, some portions of which can potentially be reused from the old pilot plant. Stepwise development Process development is generally accomplished in a series of scale-up steps, beginning with laboratory scale, followed by pilot, demonstration, and finally commercial scale. At each step, information is acquired that is applied towards the design of the next step. As AlgaeCo redesigns its pilot plant, it should be done in a way that leverages the existing lab and old pilot plant where possible, as well as trying to make it comparable
to future, larger-scale plants. For example, specific processing steps that are critical in the demonstration and commercial scale plants should be included in the pilot plant as well. Regardless of where AlgaeCo is in its process development, it should always begin with the end in mind, keeping things like commercial technical capability, financial viability, and safety in focus. The key parameters to make the business succeed should be well understood. If they are unknown, work should be done to explore them.
resources, AlgaeCo should look at the critical operations in the process technology and determine the maximum scaleup ratio for each of these operations. The scale-up ratio is then partially dependent on the scope of the pilot plant. Where AlgaeCo is in the development process is also relevant to deciding on a scale-up ratio. For example, some unit operations might be difficult to scale up when going from laboratory to pilot scale, while that same unit operation could scale easily from demonstration to commercial scale.
How big should the next step be?
What to (not) pilot?
A 10:1 scale-up ratio is usually safe and always expensive. Modern process engineering allows for different scale-up factors for different process areas. Scale-up is limited by the operation with the lowest scale-up feasibility. For most efficient use of limited
Having a fully integrated pilot plant with all the unit operations of a commercial scale plant offers the best simulation of the process, but is usually cost prohibitive. To determine the scope of the pilot, AlgaeCo should design its pilot plant around its core technology.
46 may/june 2017 biofuels international
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In AlgaeCo’s case, it is probably the specific strain of algae it is trying to grow. Additionally, unit operations that have low scalability or low maturity should be a focus. In AlgaeCo’s case, it could be steps like algae growth or product extraction. Ideally, the pilot plant is large enough to understand key processing steps as they would exist in the commercial scale, including recycle streams and energy recovery. The earlier any potential issues can be discovered and mitigated, the better. Some parts of a process might be able to be excluded from AlgaeCo’s pilot plant in an effort to save time and money. For example, an operation like anaerobic digestion of waste solids is likely to be more mature and better understood than
algae growth and product extraction. Any mature technology or operation that can be reliably simulated is a candidate to be excluded from the pilot plant, preserving capital that can be spent on other important things. What should somebody else pilot for us? AlgaeCo is not an expert in everything. In fact, AlgaeCo has spent the last five years focused on a fuel product and is not experienced in some technologies that are particular to chemical processing. Some parts of the pilot plant might be important to trial, but AlgaeCo should consider getting help in areas outside its expertise. For instance, the product recovery process is new to AlgaeCo and someone like
a contract manufacturer with more experience in this particular technology could potentially run this step for them, freeing up AlgaeCo to focus on its core technology. Additionally, a contract manufacturer might be able to teach AlgaeCo a thing or two that they can incorporate in the future. Leveraging a contract manufacturer is also not without risks. The contract manufacturer might not be set up in a similar way to AlgaeCo’s planned commercial plant, for example. Sharing of intellectual property outside of the company is not popular, either. Conclusion In conclusion, a few rules of thumb should be kept in mind when scaling up a process.
• Making a mistake in scaleup of a process is easy to do, so think it through • Focus on areas that are related to core technology, low scalability, and low maturity • Skip or outsource unit operations where it makes sense, but do not cut out too much • Make sure assumptions about the process have data behind them, especially if they are key to the success of the business • Have access to relevant experience, either internally or externally But it still might be tough to get a good night’s sleep. l For more information: This article was written by Jeff Ross, process engineer at Harris Group. Visit: www.harrisgroup.com *AlgaeCo is an imaginary company
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biofuels ethanol drying Skid-mounted system for recovery of ethanol from brewery waste streams
Home and dry
W
aste streams can be a major expense for breweries, wineries, and distilleries. In many cases, these streams are trucked away for processing at off-site waste treatment facilities. The transportation and treatment costs can be substantial. However, what one company views as an ongoing expense, another forwardthinking group sees as a lucrative revenue stream. One such company, a global biotechnology company who is a leader in the supply of animal feed supplements, contacted Vogelbusch USA to assist them with building a facility, located near several commercial breweries, that recovers yeast from one of these waste streams. In a brewery, enzymes in barley are utilised to convert the starch in barley (and sometimes other grains) into sugar. Yeast and wort (the liquid extracted from the mashing process) are combined in a fermenter where the sugar is consumed to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. After all available sugar has been consumed, most of the yeast falls out of solution and becomes sediment on the bottom of the fermenter. This sediment layer is separated from the beer and trucked to the yeast recovery facility. The yeast in the sediment stream is separated and dried for sale as an animal feed supplement. The remaining ethanol/water stream requires further treatment. Because ethanol and water form an azeotrope, limiting how much water can be removed with conventional distillation, a combination of
Modules assembled and tested prior to shipment
unit operations is required to efficiently separate the two so that the ethanol can be sold as a clean-burning, oxygenated fuel additive. The recovery package
supplied by Vogelbusch USA was designed as a PLC-controlled, two-stage process that consists of a two-column distillation, which produces an ethanol/water
vapour that is then dried in the Molecular Sieve Unit (MSU). The feed, containing approximately 15% ethanol, is fed to the bottom section of a rectifier. A small purge
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stream generated during the regeneration of the MSU is also fed to the lower section of the rectifier for recovery of ethanol. Alcohol is concentrated to about 90% in the top of the rectifier. The bottom of the column contains a small amount of alcohol. This stream is pumped to a stripping column to recover this alcohol. The alcohol-free stream leaving the bottom of the stripping column is cooled and pumped outside the battery limits for disposal. The rectifier is driven by overhead vapours from the stripping column and operates with reflux, obtained by condensing the rectifier overhead vapours to maximise alcohol concentration. A portion of the overhead vapours from the rectifier is directed to the MSU. Molecular sieve material The MSU is made up of two beds packed with 3A type molecular sieve material (zeolite). These beds are operated in a pressure swing cycle such that at any given time, one bed is in adsorption mode, while the other bed is in desorption or regeneration mode. As the ethanol/water stream flows downward through the bed of zeolite, water is preferentially adsorbed into the pores of the beads, allowing ethanol to flow through. The dehydrated ethanol vapour leaving the desorbing bed is condensed, filtered, and then used to preheat the MSU purge stream. Finally, the dehydrated product is further cooled with cooling water and sent to product storage. The off-line bed is regenerated by desorption, accomplished by maintaining a vacuum on the desorbing bed and passing a portion of the dehydrated alcohol vapour stream exiting the adsorbing bed upwards through it. This stream, called purge,
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System is installed and ready for operation
acts to sweep water vapour that has desorbed from the bead pores out of the bed, thus regenerating the beads. The MSU purge stream is condensed, collected, and pumped back to the rectifier to recover the ethanol. The vacuum required for purging is maintained by a liquid ring vacuum pump. Modular process skids are often a cost-effective alternative to traditional construction where process components are shipped individually and installed at the site. They provide the advantage of parallel construction, where a system is built and pretested at an off-
site fabrication facility while civil work is simultaneously completed at the plant site. Additional benefits include: single point construction responsibility, minimal interruption to existing operations, reduced construction infrastructure at the site, improved site safety, higher quality workmanship, ease of future relocation, and ability to construct modules to fit on ships for export. In this case, the two modular skids were loaded onto trucks. A third truck was loaded with columns, miscellaneous components, and piping. When the trucks arrived at the site, the
bottom skid was placed on a prepared foundation, then the second module was stacked on top. Columns were set, and cartridge trays were installed. Connections between the two modules were made, and zeolite was loaded into the MSU beds. Process, utility, and electrical connections were completed. Finally, after equipment and piping were insulated, the system was ready for commissioning and startup. l
For more information: This article was written by Dan Mahon, vice president at Vogelbusch USA. Visit: www.vbusa.com
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biofuels biochemicals opinion Oil-rich nuts are the latest material to be converted into biofuels and biochemicals
Nuts about green fuels
N
ot many people would have heard about cashew nut shell oil. For some of you reading this article, this might be the first time you have heard about it. One shouldn’t feel bad about this, since it is a hidden gem. The cashew nut shell oil obtained from the shell that covers the nut is a natural material source for biopolymer production. The shell is about 0.3cm thick, having a soft feathery outer skin and a thin hard inner skin. The cashew tree has very strict growing conditions and is limited to tropical areas. Cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) mainly consists of anacardic acid, cardol, cardanol and 2-methyl cardanol. Anacardic acid is a natural organic acid contained in the shell that acts like a shield to protect the kernel from insect and small animal bites. Cardanol is a monohydroxy phenol and cardol and methyl cardanol are dihydroxy phenols. There are different extraction methods for CNSL. Some of them can change the chemical composition of the final CNSL product during the process or can be processed later. Raw CNSL is extracted using cold press or solvent extraction methods. It contains approximately 70% of anacardic acid, 18% of cardol, 5% of cardanol and 2% of 2-methyl cardanol. Technical CNSL is extracted by using hot steam, which leads to a different composition by dercaboxylation of the anacardic acid in cardanol
Cashew
and obtaining a rough final composition of approximately 50% cardanol, 10% cardol, and others. Finally, distillation of the CNSL with high vacuum and temperature increases the cardanol content to high values and produces a lighter coloured-end product with an approximate composition of 82% cardanol, 8% cardol, 2% residol, 7% different homologue compounds and 1% 2-methyl cardanol. CNSL, derivatives and residues CNSL, thanks to chemical structure consisting of aromatic phenols with an aliphatic chain in meta position, is considered as a natural alkyphenol. This structure gives CNSL polymers produced using a catalyst and temperature especially good properties, such as
high thermal resistance, good adhesion, hardness, water repellence, and certain flexibility, plus others. One of the most well-known products made from CNSL is the friction dust that is used in friction materials such as brake pads, due to it maintaining the friction coefficient in high temperatures. Besides that, CNSL has been used to produce liquid polymers with different molecular weights as a binder. Also, CNSL is extensively used to modify phenolic resins for different applications, such as friction, tyre production, rubber compounds, coatings, adhesives, etc. Distilled CNSL, when used with amines, produces phenalkamines, which can be used as new epoxy hardeners. Also, CNSL can be used as biofuel either as burning oil or when blended
into fossil fuel and biodiesel. Wave SL Co. has been working to develop new polymers and applications for technical and distilled CNSL. During last year, the company launched a new CNSL polyol base for polyurethane (PU) and produced a solid CNSL resin as a binder. Its latest applications are for soap tensoactives for textile, leather and pesticides. Moreover, the excellent properties of CNSL biopolymers are part of a new generation of renewable chemicals. Chemical firm Wave SL’s goal is to replace nearly any petro-based chemical, such as phenols, solvents, resins, and butanol, with green, environmentally-friendly chemicals that, among other things, will lower the exposure to potentially carcinogenic products, air and soil
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damaged and oil extracted kernels. The latter one is not suitable for animal feed, but as biomass for heating process with high calorific value, as already mentioned. Future potential
CNSL oil
pollution, and other hazardous environmental effects. Another by-product of CNSL production is the cashew nut shell cake, which is widely used as a biomass for heating processes. With its high calorific value at about 5000Kcal/kg and long shelf life, it is suitable for applications requiring high heating temperatures. There are also some known usages of CNSL as an antioxidant added to animal feed. Antioxidants are used in animal feed in order to protect it against lipid peroxidation. CNSL is widely used as an antioxidant for lubricates, but the same characteristics are found to match similar purposes in animal feed. There are two “cakes” one can make from cashew nut – cashew nut cake and cashew nut shell cake. The first can be used for animal feed since it is produced from bad,
For the low-tech industry, CNSL can be used as burning fuel instead of using diesel oil. Also, CNSL blended with a bit of high speed diesel (HSD) can be used as a renewable substitute for machinerybased engines with speeds lower than 750 RPM. Another blend based on pyrolysis oil and CNSL lowers the density and viscosity of the CNSL, with ignition also occurring a fraction of a second faster. This blended mix is free from sediments, freeflowing, and does not need preheating like furnace oil. Nowadays, InLightMe is on the verge of conducting research to modify CNSL in a way it can be use as biofuel blend for power plants and marine fuel – what can be called a bio-bunker fuel. On the high-tech side, there have been attempts and research in order to determine if CNSL can be used as a biodiesel feedstock. Up until now, there has been no such commercial use for CNSL as a feedstock, as the technology is still at the research stage. With basic properties such as 2-8% FFA content, 2-5% moisture and impurities (M&I),
and an iodine content of less than 200, one may think this is premium oil much like virgin vegetable oils or high grade UCO. Additionally, there are a few more advantages: 1. Relatively cheap compared to other agrobased feedstocks. 2. Non-edible oil, which complies with the new dossier submitted to the European Commission, which states that biofuels must be made from non-food resources. 3. In relation to the above, the biodiesel market has a new goal in the biodiesel market using waste as a feedstock. For example, Neste’s MY Renewable Diesel is made out of 100% waste and residues. But, for any advantage there are some disadvantages with CNSL-based biodiesel that need to be looked at. For example, it has:
1. High viscosity 2. High water content 3. High levels of sulfated ash 4. High acidity So things are not as bright as it seems, but the huge potential is on the floor waiting for someone to pick it up, pre-treat it, and produce a cheap, high grade, profitable biodiesel to enter the market. All in all, as one can see, one can do many things with CNSL. It brings great benefits to those in the biochemical and biofuel industry. CNSL brings a lot to the table including a suitable and sustainable solution for any fossil-polluting material you use nowadays. l For more information: This article was written by Yariv Shabtay, InLightMe – renewable energy and WTE projects manager, and Jorge Oller, chemical engineer at founder and CEO of Wave SL, Natural Chemicals. Visit: www.inlightmenergy.com
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CNSL chemical structure
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biofuels fractionation Corn kernel
Uncovering the history of corn dry fractionation and looking at its future
An in-depth look at the development of corn dry fractionation
Corn dry fractionation – past, present, and future
C
orn dry fractionation, or corn dry milling, is a method of separating the three components of a corn kernel prior to any processing steps, such as alcohol production. These components are the bran (the protective outer layer; high in fibre), the germ (the embryo of the seed; high in oil), and the endosperm (the starch-rich food source for the growing embryo after germination). As in most commodity processing industries, the implementation of a component separation step like corn dry fractionation concentrates a constituent within each component.
In the case of corn-based biofuels and biochemical production, removal of the bran and germ prior to fermentation provides a higher concentration of starch in the feedstock. This leads to much more efficient fermentation,
of the distillers grains along with the increased protein (reaching levels of other valuable feedstuffs such as soybean meal) open more protein market outlets. Removal of the bran creates options for the cellulosic
Corn germ contains nearly 80% of the oil in the kernel lower post-fermentation solids, and a concentrated protein distillers grains. The lower fibre and oil content
component of the kernel. The most valuable potential for bran is a feedstock for cellulosic ethanol production.
The low-lignin material is produced onsite, thus eliminating the harvest, storage, and transportation issues associated with other cellulosic feedstocks. Other uses include biochemical production, combined heat and power, and fibre markets. Corn germ contains nearly 80% of the oil in the kernel. On its own, corn germ is an oilseed. The long-term outlook for vegetable oils worldwide show a significant deficiency. The biofuels industry, via corn dry fractionation and foodgrade corn oil extraction, represents a source of supply to a much greater need than fuel. Gaining access to the
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corn. This paradigm shift in the industry led to several innovative technologies and improvements that represent a short payback and a slight bump to the bottom line profits. The implementation of corn dry fractionation still offers the highest potential for return on investment and diversification, but the cloudy regulatory environment has kept the wraps on making larger investment decisions. The capital investment in corn dry fractionation is exactly what the industry needs at this point, though, to mitigate product risk and create opportunities for higher value products. There are demands that are currently unmet for vegetable oils, proteins and cellulosic feedstocks. Other commodity processing industries, as mentioned earlier, realised long ago that the future of their industry hinges on value added products, efficiency gains in production, and diversification. The ethanol industry should follow suit.
Germ – the embryo of the seed; high in oil
corn oil before any other processing steps yields the highest volume and highest quality of oil per bushel.
Future
Past Corn has been milled for food grade purposes for well over 100 years. This includes the use of low-fat, low-fibre, starch-rich endosperm as a brewing adjunct (alcohol production). The industrial demand for corn dry fractionation didn’t present itself however, until the ethanol boom several years ago. At that time a new industry was being created at lightning speed, and while early ethanol industry pioneers understood and believed in the benefits of separating the corn kernel prior to fermentation, the race to get production capacity online from whole corn outweighed these benefits. There were early adapters though seeking to diversify their operation from the start rather than adapt later. They had the vision to
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Bran – the protective outer layer; high in fibre
become a corn processing facility rather than a narrowmarket ethanol producer. Rather than limiting their market options to a price fluctuation that doesn’t track with the cost of corn, they chose to diversify into feed protein and food markets, and position their company for long-term sustainability. The first sign of the vulnerability of the standard ethanol plant came in late 2008 when the cost of corn skyrocketed but the price for ethanol did not. Coupled with a significant downturn in the US economy, whole corn-based ethanol plants saw margins shrink drastically. The fallout of this
shift in the ethanol industry would last for several years. Present As some producers began to pick up the pieces and others were acquired, the ethanol industry’s growth rate slowed dramatically. The race to get production online became a race to increase the efficiency of existing assets. In 2010, the release of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) emphasised greenhouse gas emissions and the production of ethanol from feedstocks other than corn. It also limited the gallons per year of ethanol that could be produced from
Biofuel producers continue to seek options for their companies. The future of the corn-based ethanol industry as well as the cellulosic ethanol industry is limited without a major change. Corn dry fractionation could very well be that change. Ethanol plants could become corn processing plants, positioning their operation for a healthier future with reduced reliance on government cycles. In the future, ethanol plants will make more money from food and biochemical coproducts than from ethanol. Wouldn’t that be nice! l
For more information: This article was written by Michael Reiger, vice president at Cereal Process Technologies. Visit: www.cerealprocess.com
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biofuels heat exchangers Heat exchangers can help to bring great savings to ethanol producers
The heat is on
T
oday, global industry consumes a vast amount of energy. The biggest challenge is that as much as half of it is wasted due to the inefficient and complicated recovery of low-grade energy. Establishing environmentally and economically sustainable processes in the ethanol industry is key to producers’ success. To be successful, an ethanol producer must reduce energy waste, maximise production and minimise maintenance operations. The primary heat recovery solution in industry to date has been heat exchangers The shell and tube, the air cooled and the plate-type exchanger are the three most commonly used types of exchangers in industries handling fluids and chemicals. Shell and tube heat exchangers are available in many shapes, sizes and have been used in industry for more than 150 years. In this exchanger group are various sub design types: Fixed, U-tube and Floating tubesheet. Variations of all can be denoted as type “E”, “F”, “G”, “H”, “J”, “K” or “X”. The main applications are where high pressure/temperatures are key considerations. General designs The shell and tube exchanger basically consists of a number of connected components, some of which are also used in the construction of other types of exchangers. Loosely, general designs consist of an outer shell in which resides a tube bundle (these can be configured as finned, plain etc) sealed at each end by a tubesheet which isolates the tubes and the outer shell.
Shell & tube heat exchangers have the capability to transfer large amounts of heat at low(er) costs. This, in principle, is down to both design simplicity and effectiveness – large tube surface for reduced weight, volume of liquid and importantly, floor space.
similar in all tubesheet flanges (“tubesheets”). Tubesheets have tubes attached to them within the body or “shell” of the heat exchanger. The tubes allow the movement of a given medium (gas/fluid) through the shell chamber stopping it mixing with a second fluid
The shell and tube exchanger consists of a number of connected components
Various flanged components are used to make a heat exchanger. These range from the more standard (body/ girth flanges) to the bespoke (tubesheets), the small to the large. A flange, as defined by Collins dictionary is “a projecting disc-shaped collar or rim on an object for locating or strengthening it or for attaching it to another object”. This benign description does not reflect the true importance this product undertakes within its daily working function. In an attempt to gain perspective in terms of an oil and gas or power and process project - piping and its associated component makeup (which includes flanges) is one of the key considerations in terms of construction staff, engineering and monetary value. Whilst there is a wide variety to choose from there are certain key components
medium that lies outside these tubes. As long as there is a temperature difference between these, in effect, the two flow past one another exchanging heat without ever mixing. Tubesheets can be fixed or floating dependent on the application the heat exchanger is designed for. Tubesheets are a critical component. There are a multitude of materials they can be manufactured from. Material selection is made after careful consideration as it is in contact with both fluids. It must therefore have the necessary corrosion resistance, electromechanical and metallurgical properties associated for its given working environment. The tubesheets themselves have holes drilled into them. These are dependent on very specific design configurations, at very precise locations with critical tolerances. The
quantity of holes can range from a few to thousands. These pattern or “pitch” holes are relative to each other tubesheet within the shell. This pitch changes tube distance, angle and flow direction. These parameters are varied to maximise heat transfer effectiveness. Because these tubesheets are the main, critical, internal flanged component(s) they are manufactured directly to OEM (“Original Equipment Manufacturer”) drawings and issued as CAD DX Files. Delcam Featurecam CAD reading software means the final tubesheet product supplied from us is manufactured to the exacting specifications as designed, released and issued from a given client. Whilst no design work is undertaken in house, manufacturing to and, directly from CAD DX File issued drawings virtually eliminates the risk of human programming error our side. Max machining capacity is 2,000mm Ø x 1,600mm high. Alexander Comley’s considerable experience in this highly specialised area means that whatever the requirement, whatever the timescale, this oilfield equipment specialist has the technical, in-house experience and know-how to approach a given task, deliver on time and in budget. Conclusion The humble flange, simple or complex, standard or bespoke, large or small, whether in a general piping system or deep within a piece of critical process equipment is one of the most integral components to be found on and offshore. Its flexibility,
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Tubesheet flanges
application diversity and ability to be designed and redesigned as bespoke means projects can be delivered no matter how stringent the design criteria may be. Alexander Comley has been trading since 1920 and the current board has more than 100 years’ experience in the market sector. Day after day, year after year the company
has come across new, more challenging requirements from both old, new, domestic and international customers and their associated projects. All in all, efficient heat exchange networks can help plant operators achieve significant savings in energy costs. A flange is a major component in helping them to make this come to fruition.
Example material grades: Carbon, stainless, aluminium bronze, copper, copper alloys (90/10, 70/30), exotic materials, duplex, super duplex, nickel alloys (625, 718 and 825), brass, aluminum bronze and others as sought Example material requirements: NORSOK, NACE MR-01-75, thirdparty certification (EN 10204
3.2), specific additional testing, in accordance with API, bespoke project bill of material requirements and others as sought. l
For more information: This article was written by Andrew Johnson, business development manager, Alexander Comley. Visit: www.alexandercomley.com
Have you done your homework? Research gives you a clear advantage over your competitors. You can get the very latest information on new plants, projects, innovations and legislative updates all from one source‌ www.biofuels-news.com Get an A* and get online today.
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biofuels plant automation
Keeping machines running When it comes to keeping an ethanol plant up and running, automation is key
W
hen most people think of ‘automation’, they probably think of machine automation. But there are quite a few different types of automation which can be beneficial to ethanol plants. One of the most useful types is the automation of reports and processes. A system scheduler within a computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) can be an invaluable tool when it comes to automating processes and reports. Being able to set up a time and day for preventive maintenance work orders to be created and reports to run also helps free up maintenance technicians’ time, so they can spend it doing other things instead of being a slave to their computer. The main thing ethanol plants use Mapcon’s system scheduler for is to automate the release of preventive maintenance (PM) work orders. Releasing preventive maintenance orders on a regular basis is an important part of keeping machines running and thus decreasing costly downtime. The system scheduler allows administrators to set up a date for all of the PMs to be turned into work orders, which can then be emailed to the appropriate person. They can also be sent to the person’s mobile device
and will appear in their mobile CMMS application. If needed, the admin can print the PM work orders and assign them accordingly. Many plants choose to run this process at the beginning of each week, so workers know what repairs they have to get done for the week. ‘A huge timesaver’ Along with automating part of the PM process, the system scheduler can also be used to run various reports on a regular basis. In fact, any report that can be run in Mapcon can be set up on the scheduler to run automatically. Users can even set reports to be automatically emailed to other employees. The ability to automate reports can be a huge timesaver for ethanol plants, because workers will not need to go into the system on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis and spend time running each report manually. Having them run automatically also avoids human error, since no one will forget to run the reports when they are needed, and they won’t enter in the wrong information by mistake. Pannonia Ethanol, located in Budapest, Hungary, uses it to run the ‘Timecard Shift Report’ which is sent to their managers and maintenance controllers each morning. The report details which technicians worked the night before, which
can be helpful for scheduling purposes. It also shows what jobs the techs completed, so managers can keep track of what still needs to be done. The report is organised by shift, then by employee, which allows managers to easily tell which shifts have done which repairs. Since the report was set up on the system scheduler, it automatically runs each morning. No one is tasked with the responsibility of remembering to run it and send it out. Pannonia has also added Mapcon’s Inventory Value Summary Report to the scheduler to run at the end of each month. This report provides a snapshot of what they have in their inventory at that moment, as well as the value of it. The report can then be compared to previous months to find out how the overall inventory value has changed. This allows managers to observe how their inventory has changed and to see if there are any trends from month to month. Not only do they use the system scheduler to automate PM releases and report generation, but they also use it to update exchange rates. Since Pannonia Ethanol deals with vendors all over the world, they need to know the exchange rates for various types of currency at any given time. The plant creates purchase orders in
Hungarian Forint, Euros, US Dollars, and British Pounds. The programmers at Mapcon were able to address this need by adding a customisation within the software that is run through the system scheduler. This custom feature runs on a daily basis and updates all of the exchange rates for all currency types that Pannonia uses. This means that if a purchase order is written to a vendor in Euros, when Pannonia runs the Inventory Value Summary Report, the amounts on the report will automatically be converted to the currency that they use, which is Hungarian Forint. This being an automated process is a huge time saver because workers don’t have to sit and manually calculate the conversions before sending purchase orders out. Additionally, this eliminates human error, which could be a costly mistake. Automation is key to keeping any ethanol plant up and running. A CMMS that has the option to automate reports and processes can be an essential tool for any ethanol plant. Not only will it help save workers time, but it can also help decrease downtime and save the plant money. l For more information: This article was written by Heather Wilkerson, marketing coordinator at Mapcon Technologies. Visit: www.mapcon.com
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