TetraVitae completes demonstration of n-butanol production process

TetraVitae worked with the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) to retrofit NCERC’s fully integrated corn dry-mill pilot plant to run TetraVitae’s technology to create economically competitive renewable n-butanol for the coatings, plastics, personal care, and packaging industries.

The project has produced n-butanol, acetone, and distillers grains, and TetraVitae has used the raw chemical products produced at NCERC to develop purified n-butanol and acetone in a continuous distillation working with the University of Texas in Austin’s Separations Research Program.

TetraVitae CEO Jay Kouba said that corn dry-mills offer the most direct, capital efficient, and low-cost route to large-scale production of renewable chemicals in North America.

"The industry has built a successful business based on fuel ethanol. TetraVitae is offering dry-mill operators a way to make higher value products using their existing capital base," Kouba said.

Sign up for our weekly news round-up!

Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights.

Sign up