Portrait of a Transformative Technology: ZeaChem

This week, the Digest is accepting nominations for the 10 Most Transformative Technologies of 2010, and subscriber voting will commence next week.

In today’s profile, we look at Zeachem, which announced this morning that it will be breaking ground on its 250,000 gallon-per-year cellulosic biorefinery in Boardman, Oregon today.

Progress. Last November, ZeaChem announced that it has commenced construction of its 250,000 gallons semi-cellulsoic ethanol and chemicals facility that will be located Boardman, Oregon. The company tapped Hazen Research of Golden, Colorado to construct the critical first step of the biorefinery fermentation process. Hazen Research, an industrial research and development firm, will construct and host the initial process unit and provide infrastructure and operations support.

ZeaChem is constructing the semi-works scale biorefinery utilizing skid mounted design, which allows construction of individual process units more quickly in fabrication shops, and the company will obtain more operational data, faster towards its commercial scale-up.
The semi-works plant is expected to have completed construction of its core process by the end of 2010, and is constructed at scale so that all processes are designed to go directly to commercial-scale production.

The company’s technology demonstration hinges on the scale-up of bacteria, acetogens, which ZeaChem uses in its fermentation process. Acetogens are highly robust and, unlike yeast, produce no carbon dioxide (CO2) during the fermentation process, allowing ZeaChem to realize a significant efficiency and yield advantage.

ZeaChem has successfully produced acetogens at the lab scale for over 1,000 fermentation trials of sugars as well as hydrolyzate derived from cellulosic biomass, and Imbler told the Digest “we have completed four 10-times scale-ups at this stage with our organism – we’re looking at this stage to validate rather than verify the data.”

Technology: Acetogens have been shown to be powerful organisms in other industries such as wastewater treatment before ZeaChem began utilizing them for bio-based chemicals and fuels production. Naturally-occurring acetogens are highly robust and, unlike yeast, produce no carbon dioxide (CO2) during the fermentation process, allowing ZeaChem to realize a significant efficiency and yield advantage. ZeaChem has successfully used acetogens to produce acetic acid at the lab scale in over 1,000 fermentation trials using mixed sugars as well as hydrolyzate derived from cellulosic biomass. ZeaChem is now seeking hydrolyzate supply to replicate these scale-up results.

Business: ZeaChem’s technology is a parallel hybrid system of fermentation and gasification. This hybrid process achieves 40% higher yield than other cellulosic processes. ZeaChem’s strategy is to control input costs so that it can remain the lowest cost producer. We choose feedstock that can be cultivated and delivered locally. The company has  patented a flexible process to convert that feedstock into a portfolio of high-value chemicals and fuels. ZeaChem’s patented biorefining process uses an acetogen – a species of bacteria naturally adapted to digest the tough carbon chains of cellulose – to extract the maximum amount of energy available from the feedstock.

ZeaChem raised a Series A round in 2006 for $6MM from Mohr Davidow Ventures (MDV) and Firelake Capital. A Series B was raised in 2008 for $34MM led by PrairieGold Venture Partners and Globespan Capital Partners with follow on investment from MDV and Firelake Capital. Valero Energy Corporation, the nation’s largest petroleum refiner, also invested during the Series B.

Model: ZeaChem’s first objective is to build, own and operate facilities in strategic markets. ZeaChem maintains the option of awarding direct licenses to qualified parties where it makes sense. The complexities of building plants internationally will also present opportunities to license the technology.

Products. In April, ZeaChem announced it has produced commercial grade ethyl acetate, thereby proving its core technology platform. Ethyl acetate is a widely-used chemical intermediate that can be sold directly to chemical manufacturers or converted into ethanol. The achievement marks the final milestone in proving the core components of the company’s biorefining platform to stakeholders in the fuel and chemicals industries.

In February, ZeaChem announced its 10,000 times scale increase in fermentation to acetic acid, and the concentration of that broth into glacial acetic acid, a salable product.

Through an esterification reaction process validated externally by process expert Sulzer Chemtech, the company has converted the glacial acetic acid into ethyl acetate. Both the concentration and esterification processes are commercially available from multiple vendors.

The annual market for ethyl acetate, used as a solvent in paints, printing inks, pharmaceuticals and packaging is roughly $2.2 billion globally and $115 million in the U.S. ZeaChem’s biological pathway provides a lower cost route for the production of ethyl acetate compared to natural gas-based processes.

Past milestones:
1. In 2008, a successful Series B of $34MM was achieved  to fund ZeaChem’s demonstration scale biorefinery.

2. ZeaChem is working with CH2MHILL as the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor on the engineering design package for the demonstration scale biorefinery. By the end of 2009, ZeaChem will begin construction of its demo facility, proposed to be built in Boardman, Oregon.

3. Zeachem landed a $25 million DOE integrated bioenergy grant.

Future milestones:
1. ZeaChem will begin engineering design for its first commercial-scale biorefinery.

2. ZeaChem will initiate research and development of the three carbon (C3) product platform.

Metrics: ZeaChem’s technology is a parallel hybrid system of fermentation and gasification. This hybrid process achieves 40% higher yield than other cellulosic processes. Theoretical maximum for biochemical and thermochemical players is approximately 100 gallons/BDT compared to ZeaChem’s theoretical maximum of 165 gallons/BDT. At 85% efficiency, actual yield for biochemical and thermochemical only processes will be around 90 gallons/BDT compared to 135 gallon/BDT for ZeaChem’s technology. This significant yield advantage translates into economic saving and environmental benefits.

Assuming a yield of 15 BDT/acre, a dedicated energy crop biomass farm with an approximate 5 mile radius could support a ZeaChem biorefinery with capacity of 100 million gallons per year (MM GPY). This translates into net land productivity rates nearly five times higher than existing approaches.

10 Most Transformative Technologies of 2010

The Digest will accept nominations all this week for “the 10 Most Transformative Technologies for 2010″ and we will conduct a subscriber ballot next week, announcing our winners on June 12th. To submit a technology for the ballot, write [email protected] with: a 50 word description of the technology and a URL to link to more information. Universities, national labs, and commercial developers are welcome to compete. Your technology of choice must be proven out at least at bench-scale. This is a global competition.