National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401-3393

A -- NOTICE OF INTEREST FOR USE OF A PILOT PLANT FOR CONVERTING LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS TO ETHANOL SOL DW110 POC Dan Schell, NREL, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401, (303) 384-6869, E-mail: schelld@nrel.gov E-MAIL: Click here to contact the NREL contact via e-mail, schelld@nrel.gov. Sources Sought -- The United States Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fuels Development is funding the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to investigate the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol. NREL operates DOE's Process Development Unit (PDU) located in Golden, CO. This is a pilot plant built to support the development of bioconversion processes. DOE and NREL are soliciting interest in and conditions required for use of the PDU by ethanol producers or technology developers to either develop or demonstrate technology for the conversion of lignocellulosics. The pilot plant is housed in NREL's Alternative Fuels User Facility, a 28,000 square foot building also containing twelve state-of-the-art laboratories for the investigation of bioconversion processes. Bench-scale equipment, fermentors, and a variety of analytical instrumentation is available for research and process demonstration needs. NREL also has a highly qualified staff of chemical engineers, microbiologists, biochemists, analytical chemists, and technicians. The pilot plant, located in an 8,000 square foot section of the building, was designed to process one dry ton (900kg)/day of biomass and can handle a variety of feedstocks. The plant includes unit operations for feedstock washing and handling, dilute acid pretreatment, fermentation, seed growth, distillation, and solid/liquid separation. These unit operations are completely integrated with each other and operate continuously on a 24 hour/day basis or can be operated independently of each other. The feedstock washing and handling equipment includes a 6000-L wash tank, feed hopper, mill (air-swept impact mill), weigh belts and a conveyor. Pretreatment is done in a pilot-scale pulp digestor (supplied by Sunds Defibrator, Inc.) and can achieve conditions of 160 degree C to 210 degree C and 5-20 min. residence times. Additional equipment includes a pug mill mixer, an acid delivery system, agitated flash tank, and a caustic (lime) delivery system. The plant is equipped with four 9000-L fermentor for producing ethanol or performing other bioconversion processes (e.g., enzyme production). The fermentors can be operated in a batch or continuous mode. Sterilizable tanks are available for addition of nutrients or other ingredients. One 20-L, two 160-L and two 1500-L fermentors are available for inoculum production or other fermentations. Ethanol is removed from the fermentation broth by a 19-plate sieve tray distillation column. The plant also has a solid bowl decanting centrifuge for solid/liquid separation. The facility is supported by a 450 psi, 2500 lb/h boiler; 900 psi, 1000 lb/h steam generator; cooling water system; chilled water system; and instrument and process air systems. Two 500 square foot laboratories located near the plant provide analytical and microbiological support. The plant is highly instrumented for gathering process performance and scale-up data and includes a sophisticated computerized control system for monitoring and controlling the 900 input/outputs points in the plant. Measurements are made of pressure, temperature, level, flow rates of liquid and gas streams, pH, and dissolved oxygen. The plant also has a mass spectrometer for measurement of gas composition. The pilot plant has been operated in the past for an industrial client with runs lasting from 2-6 weeks. NREL has trained plant operators available to operate the plant and personnel to provide analytical (chemical and microbial) support. We also have expertise in process engineering design and analysis using tools like the Aspen Process Simulator. Office facilities are available to support your on-site personnel. The PDU is a user facility available for use by technology developers and industrial concerns. DOE and NREL are soliciting interest from companies who would like to use the facility for process development research on the conversion of lignocellulose to ethanol or the production and use of sugars produced from lignocellulose. Cost sharing may be available depending on the project, which includes modifications to the facility to suit your needs if they support DOE's program goals. Also, all company trade secrets and data generated during the work will be held in confidence and protected. We are interest in determining the conditions or requirements necessary to make the pilot plant an attractive facility to conduct your research. Some specific information for you to consider is does the PDU have sufficient equipment in the plant to meet your process requirements or are additional equipment and capabilities needed? How much cost sharing could your company contribute? How many staff members from your company would be on-site to support your needs? Parties interested in use of the PDU or who would like more information please contact: Dan Schell, NREL, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401, (303) 384-6869, E-mail: schelld@nrel.gov (0233)

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