ThermoChem Recovery International (TRI): Biofuels Digest’s 5-Minute Guide

Based in: 3700 Koppers Street, Suite 405, Baltimore, MD, 21227

Year founded: 1996

Technology:
Steam reforming gasification

Fuel type:
TRI’s high-quality, medium-BTU syngas can be converted into a wide range of downstream biofuel and biochemical products. Since 2003, a TRI gasifier has been in commercial-scale operation at Norampac’s Trenton (Ontario) containerboard mill, gasifying black liquor (solid biomass equivalent: 500 dry tons per day). Currently, TRI is the gasification technology provider for two separate DOE-funded biorefinery projects which will convert TRI syngas to Fischer-Tropsch waxes and diesel for market sale, and provide tailgas to offset natural gas use in the lime kiln. One of these projects, NewPage Corporation, converts 500 dry tons per day of woody biomass feedstock, and the other, Flambeau River BioFuels, converts 1,000 dry tons per day. Both are integrated with existing paper mills and benefit from tight thermal integration of the biorefinery and host facility, utilizing tail gas, steam and hot water streams for maximum economic advantage.

Major investors: The Abell Foundation, Inc., a leading Maryland foundation established in 1953, which makes investments in breakthrough clean energy technology companies based in Maryland.

Past milestones:

• Award of NewPage Corporation’s DOE Biorefinery grant, with TRI as main technology provider
• Award of Flambeau River BioFuels DOE Biorefinery grant, with TRI as main technology provider
• Successful launch of state-of-the-art proprietary 4 dry ton per day Process Demonstration Unit (PDU) in Durham, North Carolina. The PDU transforms biomass into a synthetic gas or “syngas,” which is catalytically converted to produce liquid fuels and other bio-based chemicals.
• In November 2011, After a rigorous testing process, ThermoChem Recovery International (TRI) validated a process that converts wood waste and forest residue into clean, renewable fuel. Pilot validation is a key milestone for biofuels companies like TRI. With critical engineering data in hand and the testing phase complete, TRI can now begin the journey toward full-scale commercialization of a proven technology.
• With the support of Energy Department funding, TRI has done substantial testing of a thermal gasification and gas-to-liquids process at its pilot plant in Durham, North Carolina. Through its operations, TRI converted several hundred tons of 100% woody biomass feedstock into diesel fuel and paraffin waxes.
• In 2012, TRI announced that it had recently surpassed 1,000 hours of integrated operation of its state-of-the-art biomass-to-liquids process demonstration unit (PDU) in Durham, North Carolina.

Future milestones:

• Ground-breaking on cellulosic biofuels project
• Project close on RDF-to-fuels project

Business model:

TRI licenses its proprietary gasification technology and provides specialized equipment and engineering services to integrate biorefineries with energy hosts like pulp and paper mills.

Fuel cost:
This varies by feedstock, size and configuration of plant, ability to fully utilize and monetize energy by-products (tail gas, steam, hot water, etc.) and type of end products, but TRI has very competitive operational costs across a range of different project/product scenarios.

Competitive edge:
TRI’s main competitive advantages come from three key attributes of its proprietary technology: 1.) an ability to successfully gasify a wide range of feedstocks (woody biomass, agricultural residues, Refuse Derived Fuel, lignite, subbituminous coal, etc.) into a consistent and reliable medium-calorific (300-350 BTU/dscf) syngas; 2.) a proven ability to “dial in” the ideal hydrogen to carbon monoxide (H2:CO) ratio required by the specific downstream GTL conversion process; and 3.) a highly-scalable steam reformer vessel design such that project sizes from 500 – 2,000 dry tons per day can be accommodated by a single gasification system. TRI can handle a wide range of different feedstocks coming in, and can reliably supply syngas capable of producing a wide range of different energy products.

Alliances and Partnerships:
TRI has established research, marketing and technology partnerships across a wide range of entities and resources to most widely commercialize our proprietary technologies. We treat these relationships as business confidential until specific project-related announcements can be made.

Development stage:
TRI has been commercial on black liquor, a liquid biomass, since 2003 and is currently at demo scale on solid biomass, entering into commercial scale.

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