Primafuel debuts corn oil extraction system

In California, Primafuel announced the creation of a new biofuels technology solutions subsidiary, Primafuel Solutions. The team’s initial offering is SMAART™Oil, a down-stream system that extracts more food and fuel from the same bushel of corn. “Many advanced biofuels technologies have applications right now, with first-generation biofuels,” said Rahul Iyer, co-founder of the company. “For example, we have a proprietary pretreatment technology that improves the efficiency of the corn oil extraction process, and an extensive portfolio of IP that will allow us to target more food-grade and fuel-grade materials, as well as other higher value compounds,” he said. “The days of having just two products, ethanol and DDGs, are over.”

The Primafuel systems are tailored to each client’s facility, and corn oil extraction rates will vary from facility to facility.  Primafuel evaluates a range of samples (free of charge) from the client’s plant, and extraction rates and performance guarantees are based on these tests

Like companies such as GS CleanTech, the basic corn oil extraction technology involves a centrifuge process to separate the oils from the corn silage. Companies are differentiating themselves by packaging finance and post-production marketing services for ethanol clients in a tough balance sheet environment; Primafuel’s focus on using advanced technology to customize a range of high-value compounds gives it a further point of differentiation.

Primafuel background

In January, Primafuel received a World Economic Forum “Technology Pioneer Award” for innovation in biofuels production and distribution infrastructure.

Primafuel is active in globally strategic markets in the US, Europe and Asia.  As part of its drive toward zero-carbon fuels, Primafuel’s infrastructure projects have earned accolades and awards from leading authorities such as the California Air Resources Board. The company owns patent-pending technologies that improve the biofuels production process including waste-stream recycling, scalable and modular refineries, carbon-tracking infrastructure and the use of next-generation feedstocks.