Envergent Technologies offers the only biomass-to-liquid fuel technology that has proven been commercially.

RTP™ stands for Rapid Thermal Process, representing the technology and equipment used to convert non-food-based feedstocks into RTP green fuel. It is a fast thermal process whereby biomass is heated rapidly by contact with hot sand; the biomass is first vaporized and then rapidly cooled. The process occurs in less than two seconds. This product can then be used in the generation of electricity and for the production of process heat. Development is underway to upgrade RTP green fuel into green gasoline, green diesel and green jet fuel.

These are plentiful feedstocks that do not compete with food resources. Cellulosic residuals from the forestry and agricultural sectors such as sawdust and straw are examples. Urban residuals such as wood from construction and demolition activities are additional examples of non-food, biomass feedstocks. Studies completed in the U.S. show there are more than a billion tons of cellulosic residuals available in the U.S. today.

The transportation fuel that we will offer is not ethanol or biodiesel. The green transportation fuels produced by upgrading will be fungible with their fossil counterparts. These fuels will be known as green gasoline, green diesel and green jet fuel. They will be molecularly identical to their fossil counterparts, whereas ethanol and biodiesel are not molecularly identical to gasoline or diesel. Being molecularly identical allows them to fit seamlessly into the existing refining and distribution infrastructure; they are fungible, avoiding any mixing and separation issues.

RTP green fuel is the liquid product of fast pyrolysis. It is a water-soluble, oxygenated fuel consisting of 'depolymerized' components of biomass. It is essentially carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, with low levels of nitrogen and negligible levels of sulfur. The major organic components of RTP green fuel are a liquid lignin derivative, alcohols, natural organic acids and carbonyls.

RTP green fuel can be used in a variety of renewable energy applications. Either internally or to develop an alternate revenue stream, it can replace fossil fuel in burners to generate heat or steam, or it can generate green electricity. In the near future, upgrading RTP green fuel to transportation fuels will be commercially available.

RTP green fuel is a brown, pourable liquid with a smoky aroma. It has low volatility and is an aqueous polar liquid. It has a high oxygen and water content, which improves viscosity but decreases the heating value relative to fossil fuels. It also has a low pH as a result of the organic acids present. An ASTM specification has been developed for RTP green fuel for use in industrial burners:

When RTP green fuel replaces fossil fuels to produce heat or steam, life cycle greenhouse gas emissions are dramatically reduced – by 70-88% – depending on the biomass transport distance. Note the SOx emissions from burning RTP green fuel are similar to natural gas.

Comparison of GHG Emissions Cradle to Delivered Energy, and Burned

Ensyn’s RTP technology has been commercially deployed since 1989 in the production of food products and industrial chemicals.

Ensyn is a world leader in the type of thermal conversion technology that converts biomass to liquid bio-oil. Ensyn's RTP technology is the world's only rapid pyrolysis process that has a commercial record of operating on a long-term basis. Since 1989, Ensyn's technology has been commercially deployed in the food sector for the production of food chemicals and energy, and as a result revolutionized that component of the food business. More recently, the technology has been deployed in the industrial chemical and heavy oil upgrading sectors. Ensyn has designed, built and commissioned seven commercial RTP plants in the United States and Canada. Scalability of the plants to the size required to supply large volumes needed by the fuel markets is attainable based on the size of plants currently being designed and built for the application of Ensyn's technology in the heavy oil upgrading sector. UOP's vast experience in engineering, designing and building at the scale required for large-scale fuel refining is a key attribute of the joint venture.

Ensyn is a Delaware-headquartered company with engineering and development offices in Ottawa, Canada. It was incorporated in 1984 to commercialize its RTP technology to convert biomass to RTP green fuel. Its technology has been commercially deployed since 1989.

In addition to worldwide reach, UOP offers extensive engineering design capability and experience. UOP has also shown commitment to the development of renewable technology solutions with focus on the usage of second-generation feedstocks and technologies that leverage the existing infrastructure (i.e. drop-in replacement fuels).

For almost 100 years UOP has been a leading technology licensor and provider of equipment, catalysts, engineering support and service to the worldwide refining, petrochemicals and gas processing industries. UOP has 19 offices in 16 countries around the world and approximately 3,000 employees.

UOP launched its Renewable Energy & Chemicals business in 2006. The business has commercialized the ecofining process for the conversion of bio feedstocks into green gasoline and green diesel, and has developed technology for the conversion of bio feedstocks to green jet fuel.

The capital cost of an RTP unit varies depending on the type and amount of feedstock to be processed, and the intended use of the RTP green fuel. It can also vary depending on whether the plant is a greenfield unit or integrated into an existing facility. As an example, the ISBL (inside battery limits) estimated CAPEX for a 400 bone dry metric ton per day facility is $US 38M, U.S. Gulf Coast 2009 fabrication, +/-40%. This excludes front-end material handling, utilities, offsites, product storage, foundations, site preparation, buildings, spares, safety containment, fire water systems, waste water system, start up fuels system, emissions control, installation, etc.

While RTP green fuel has been upgraded to transportation fuels at laboratory scale, the technology is currently in development. As a result, the capital cost is not available at this time.

While RTP green fuel has been upgraded to transportation fuels at laboratory scale, the technology is currently in development. As a result, the production cost is not available at this time.

While RTP green fuel has been upgraded to transportation fuels at laboratory scale, the technology is currently in development. As a result, the product yields are not available at this time.

Performance guarantees are negotiated with each individual customer, but nominal unit throughput, product yield and quality are parameters that are included in the supply agreement.

The main focus is lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks that do not compete with food crops. This includes forestry, pulp and paper residuals, agricultural residues and woody post-consumer streams like clean construction and demolition wood.

The only streams that exit an RTP unit are by-product gas and a small stream of ash/sand, but markets can be developed for the by-product gas.

There is no catalyst in an RTP unit. Sand is used at the heat carrier, so makeup sand is required once the unit is inventoried.

Under a non-disclosure agreement, Envergent can arrange to provide RTP green fuel samples on a case-by-case basis.

There are several distinguishing features of RTP offered by Envergent versus other fast pyrolysis technologies. RTP is the only commercial operation of fast pyrolysis and has been in practice for more than twenty years. It is set apart by high RTP green fuel yields and the fact that unit performance is guaranteed.

Envergent has adopted a modular delivery approach for RTP, which includes standard unit sizes to process current unit sizes of 150 and 400 bone dry metric tons per day of feedstock. The first phase of an RTP project is a scoping study, which involves feedstock testing, initial evaluation of the site, project definition and a preliminary cost estimate. The second phase is detailed engineering, which leads to a firm price for the specific unit. Finally, the third phase includes procurement, module fabrication, site advisory and startup assistance, and operator training.