A $25 million partnership brings new biodiesel technology to the Midwest BY KI MAE HEUSSNER MEDILL NEWS SERVICE
For several years now, the U.S. biodiesel industry has been eyeing an alternative process for refining the renewable fuel that relies on a solid - rather than liquid - reactor. Although the potential benefits of the unconventional process were known, the execution of the technology eluded most U.S. companies.
Until this week.
A Chicago-based Benefuel Inc. and Indiana-based Seymour Biofuels LLC announced they will invest $25 million to build a biodiesel refinery in Seymour, Ind. that will harness the new technology. The companies said the plant will begin production toward the end of 2008 and will generate 10 million gallons of biodiesel annually.
"It is what I would call cutting-edge technology," said Steve Howell, technical director for the National Biodiesel Board, of the new reactor.
Seymour Biofuels LLC, the majority holder in the partnership, will operate the new plant, and Benefuel will supply the reactor, said Marshall Royalty, a principal with Seymour Biofuels.
In addition to providing the reactor for the Seymour plant, Benefuel plans to use its technology to build a network of biodiesel refineries around the country that could capitalize on locally available raw materials.
"In general terms, a solid catalyst is something people have been looking at for a while as a potential catalyst," said Howell. But to his knowledge, only French conglomerate IFP has been able to develop a solid reactor process that is both technically and economically sound.
The biodiesel industry in the United States is small, but it is growing rapidly. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, biodiesel production has grown six-fold since 2004.
Most conventional biodiesel refineries convert vegetable oils and animal fats into usable fuel by mixing the base oil with an industrial alcohol (typically methanol) and a catalyst (usually sodium hydroxide).
By contrast, Tripp said the Seymour plant will rely on a solid acid reactor that will enable the plant to produce high-quality fuel from almost any kind of vegetable oil or animal fat, without the pre-processing required by traditional methods.
The new Seymour plant technology, however, will be a "great leap forward for the entire biodiesel industry," Rob Tripp, CEO of Benefuel, said in a statement.
According to Benefuel estimates, Tripp said the new reactor will result in a cost benefit of 80 to 90 percent for the producer.
