by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Pilot-scale biorefineries for drop-in military diesel, jet fuel the focus of the DOE’s latest grant round.
In Washington, the US Department of Energy announced up to $17.7 million in grants to four pilot-scale biorefinery projects aimed at military-spec hydrocarbon fuels. Cobalt Technologies, Mercurius Biofuels, BioProcess Algae and Frontline BioEnergy were selected for negotiation. Recipients are required to contribute a minimum of 50 percent matching funds for these projects.
The pilot-scale biorefinery projects selected will use a variety of nonfood biomass feedstocks, waste-based materials, and algae in innovative conversion processes to produce biofuels that meet military specifications for jet fuel and diesel. The projects will demonstrate technologies to cost-effectively convert biomass into advanced drop-in biofuels and assist these organizations to scale up the processes to commercial levels.
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Frontline BioEnergy LLC (up to $4.2 million; Ames, Iowa)
Building on prior commercial-scale gasification success, Frontline BioEnergy, along with its project partners SGC Energia, Stanley Consultants, and Delphi Engineering and Construction LLC, will build and integrate an innovative new pilot-scale TarFreeGas reactor and new gas conditioning processes with an existing Fischer Tropsch unit capable of producing 1 barrel per day of FT liquids from woody biomass, municipal solid waste and refuse derived fuel at the Iowa Energy Center’s Biomass Energy Conversion Facility in Nevada, Iowa. These liquids will be upgraded to produce samples of biofuels that meet military specifications.
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Cobalt Technologies (up to $2.5 million; Mountain View, Calif.)
Cobalt Technologies will operate a pilot-scale integrated biorefinery to convert switchgrass to biojet fuel. Together with its partners, including the Naval Air Warfare China Lake Weapons Division, Show Me Energy Cooperative, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Cobalt intends to build a pilot-scale facility to purify and convert butanol to jet fuel. Cobalt will operate the integrated pilot-scale biorefinery to evaluate scalability of the process and assess the facility’s greenhouse gas emissions.
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Mercurius Biorefining Inc. (up to $4.6 million; Ferndale, Wash.)
For its project, Mercurius will build and operate a pilot plant that uses an innovative process that converts the cellulosic biomass into nonsugar intermediates, which are further processed into drop-in biojet fuel and chemicals. Several organizations are participating in this consortium led by Mercurius Biorefining, including Purdue University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Incitor.
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BioProcess Algae (up to $6.4 million; Shenandoah, Iowa)
The BioProcess Algae project will evaluate an innovative algal growth platform that will produce hydrocarbon fuels meeting military specifications using renewable carbon dioxide, lignocellulosic sugars and waste heat. The proposed biorefinery is co-located with the Green Plains Renewable Energy ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa. It will integrate low-cost autotrophic algal production, accelerated lipid production and lipid conversion. While the primary product from the proposed biorefinery will be military fuels, the facility will also co-produce additional products, including other hydrocarbons, glycerin, and animal feed.
BioProcess Algae LLC is a joint venture among CLARCOR, BioProcessH2O LLC and Green Plains Renewable Energy. BioProcess Algae was created to commercialize advanced photo-bioreactor technologies for growing and harvesting of algal biomass. READ MORE and MORE (US Department of Energy) and MORE (MarineLink.com)