Project Aims To Bring Bio-Based Jet Fuel Production To The
Northwest
Seattle biofuel producer Imperium
Renewables and the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory (PNNL) are developing a new method to make
biomass-based drop-in jet fuels so that additional renewable jet
fuel production facilities can be built in the Pacific Northwest.
So far, their process has produced a meaningful amount of fuel that
is being evaluated to determine how well it can blend with
traditional, petroleum-based jet fuel.
The method uses a catalytic process being developed at PNNL that
converts biomass-based alcohols into renewable drop-in jet fuels.
Imperium entered into the project in July 2010 through a
collaborative research agreement with Battelle, the nonprofit
research organization that manages PNNL for DOE.
"This grant will help us provide sustainable, economically
viable drop-in biofuels that will allow the Department of Defense
and the airline industry to become less reliant on foreign oil,"
said Imperium CEO John Plaza. "Imperium is excited to be part of
this partnership and to continue our work with LanzaTech, Boeing
and PNNL to develop renewable jet fuels from multiple feed
stocks."
The joint project started with an economic analysis to ensure
the method could be financially viable when it's fully developed.
In the lab, research has advanced to the bench scale. The ultimate
goal is to use the process at a commercial plant such as Imperium's
Grays Harbor biodiesel refinery near Hoquiam, WA.
This work will be further developed as part of a recent award
from the Department of Energy towards a new biofuel research
project led by LanzaTech of Roselle, Ill. The award leverages
approximately $5 million to the integrated technology which aims to
develop a cost-effective technology to produce renewable drop-in
jet fuel blendstock and bio-based products by employing
biotechnology and catalysis. DOE is providing up to $4 million for
the project, about $2 million of which is going to PNNL.
LanzaTech is developing the first half of the process, which
coverts biomass to intermediates such as alcohols, while PNNL is
working with Imperium to convert the alcohols produced by LanzaTech
into a renewable drop-in jet fuel that works in today's existing
aircraft. Imperium is also providing in-kind contributions for
PNNL's research and is funding related research at the University
of Delaware and Michigan Technological University.
Imperium has gone through some rough times. The company
cancelled an IPO and declared bankruptcy in 2009, according to a
report in the Puget Sound Business Journal. After
restarting production, there was an explosion at a glycerin
processing tank at the Grays Harbor facility. The company resumed
full production in 2010.
Other partners in the new project are the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory, Orochem Technologies and The Boeing Company,
with support from The Port of Seattle.