Mtech Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2005

UM, Atlantic Biomass to Make Fuel from Agricultural Byproducts

COLLEGE PARK, Md.—Imagine if the U.S. could replace much of its imported oil with fuel made from agricultural and forest product leftovers?

This could be a reality, if researchers at the University of Maryland, Frederick-based Atlantic Biomass Conversions Inc., and Hood College are successful. Together they are developing bio-refineries to make fuel from the residue produced when consumer goods such as sugar, orange juice, and paper are made.

The technology to make this work is an enhanced enzyme Atlantic has developed that strips methyl groups from pectin-based biomass and converts them into methanol. Pectin is a chemical found in all plants, although fruits and sugar beets contain it in higher concentrations.

“Bacteria have evolved over 3 billion years and they’ve figured out how to do things,” said Robert Kozak, president of Atlantic Biomass. “They can extract methane from rocks. Everyone is looking for new ways to create energy, and fortunately—nature has already given us the key.”

The company’s first product will process sugar beet pulp, which is left over after sugar is refined and purified, and convert it into methanol.

Clark School Chemical Engineering Professor Nam Sun Wang, through Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program funding, is helping Atlantic Biomass develop methods to mass produce the enzyme, as well as create an economical bioreactor system that fits current sugar beet processing plants.

“This work is critical to our success,” said Kozak. “No matter how good the enzyme is, if we can’t manufacture it on a large scale, if the system isn’t economical, and if it doesn’t fit right into existing processing plants, we’re dead in the water.”

A challenge for developing the bioreactor is recycling heat produced throughout the sugar-making process to reduce the energy needed for Atlantic’s BioMethanolTM system. “This is essential since an energy efficient system will increase everyone’s profit margin,” said Kozak.

Atlantic’s system will also outpace current systems for making bio-based fuel.

“This will be a one-step, fast process,” explained Kozak. “Fermentation, which is used to make ethanol from corn, takes up to 48 hours. Our process takes two.”

Kozak hopes his system will be used in sugar beet pulp refineries in states such as South Dakota, Michigan, Minnesota, Idaho, Colorado, and California.

But it’s in expanding Atlantic Biomass’s technology to other industries, such as fruit processing (orange and apple peels), and especially wood and pulp markets, that the numbers start to rise.

“If this technology were applied to all available crops in the US, we could, in theory, eliminate much of the currently imported oil,” said Kozak.

Methanol can also be used to replace gasoline; it can also be used in conjunction with gasoline, and it can be used to power hydrogen fuel cells. DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Honda, Nissan and Toyota have all built fuel cell vehicles powered by liquid methanol, according to the Methanol Institute. Both NEC and Toshiba have introduced methanol-fuel-cell powered laptop computers in selected markets. They will run for five hours on 40 ml of methanol.

Kozak envisions a future three-step expansion of Atlantic’s technology. First, he plans to make fuel from agricultural and forest product industry residue. Second, he plans to expand that process into bio-refineries, which will produce a variety of high-value bio-chemicals for both industrial and pharmaceutical use—much like petroleum refineries to today—for plastics and other commodities. Third, he hopes to expand into bio-fuel cells and other commercial systems that will produce energy directly.

###