Alter NRG has revealed that Westinghouse Plasma gasification operation in Madison, Pennsylvania, is now operating and providing clean syngas to the adjacent cellulosic ethanol conversion facility operated by Coskata.
The Project Lighthouse is Coskata’s semi-commercial cellulosic ethanol plant that converts syngas (provided by the Westinghouse Plasma gasification process) into ethanol.
Coskata’s proprietary process was analyzed by Argonne National laboratory, who found that every unit of fossil energy used, in turn generated up to 7.7 times the amount of energy. It was also found that it reduces CO2 emissions by up to 96% compared with a well-to-wheel analysis of gasoline.
Westinghouse Plasma a subsidiary of Alter NRG. The Westinghouse Plasma gasification system converts non-food biomass in its existing gasification reactor to provide clean, cool, pressurized syngas. Syngas is the energy source of Coskata’s FlexEthanol conversion process. This approximate $25m semi-commercial facility constructed by Coskata will increase the utilization rate of WPC gasification facility and is anticipated to provide approximately $2.5m to $3m in revenue to the company from the production of specified syngas during the first half of 2010.
Mark Montemurro, president and CEO of Alter NRG, said: “Alter NRG has worked diligently to transform our pilot facility into a commercial demonstration facility which can operate on an extended continuous basis. In addition to the near term revenues, Project Lighthouse has attracted international interest from leading energy companies and developers from around the world. The Westinghouse Plasma site is hosting industry leading energy, forestry and industrial companies to show the technology at work first hand.”
The gasification section of the demonstration plant has been modified to produce clean tar free synthetic gas tailored for the Coskata process. The syngas produced from biomass is expected to be suitable for other energy production processes, such as the production of power from a gas turbine.
Bill Roe, CEO of Coskata, said: “Working alongside Alter NRG has allowed us to showcase the successful scale-up and commercial viability of our process. The patented technology uses non-grain inputs to create feedstock flexible ethanol, which will directly compete with gasoline. Project Lighthouse has been designed to allow direct scaling to commercial plants capable of producing 50 to 100 million gallons per year.”
Coskata has also engaged Alter NRG for engineering services on its first commercial facility which is expected to be a 50 to 60 million gallon per year ethanol facility. Alter NRG expects this facility to generate approximately $50m in engineering services and equipment sale revenues upon completion.