Increasing bioethanol yields with the PDX reactor

Pursuit Dynamics is currently conducting research and development trials on the improvements possible in bioethanol production by using the PDX reactor to increase yields

Bioethanol is currently produced commercially from two principal sources: starchy materials such as cereal grains and from sugar cane.

It is also possible to produce ethanol from cellulosic materials such as grasses, wood chips and other organic waste products but extraction is more complex and this process is currently the focus of major research and development projects around the globe.

The production of bioethanol from cereal crops comprises several stages - a pre-treatment stage, which activates the starch in the maize and provides glucose and other sugars to the fermentation stage, and a distillation stage, which produces the ethanol.

The co-products from this process are normally sold on as cattle feed in the form of wet or dry distillers grains.

Current research and development at Pursuit Dynamics concentrates on the pre-treatment stage.

In order to produce ethanol from cereal grains, the starch must first be broken down into sugars.

In bioethanol production, the transformation of starch into sugars is accomplished more rapidly by treating the starch with fungal amylase enzymes.

Similarly cellulosic materials, which also contain sugars, have to be broken down but in these materials the process is much more difficult.

Introduction - Phase 1 Trials.

Pursuit Dynamics trials to date (Phase 1 of our programme) have focused principally on the potential application of the PDX reactor to increase yields, reduce process time and reduce operating costs, in conventional "starch to ethanol" production, which we refer to as Generation 1.

However, Phase 1 also investigated the potential for the PDX reactor to enable the conversion of cellulosic material to ethanol (Generation 2), especially co-product materials created during the "starch to ethanol" production process.

Generation 1 - "Starch to Ethanol" Conversion Phase 1 testing was carried out in 150kg batches with approximately 2,500 samples taken in 48 trial sequences.

External laboratories were used to validate results in a number of trials.

The findings from Phase 1 are as follows:.

* The Company achieved a repeatable, externally verified, average yield increase equivalent to 7% per bushel of maize.

* These yield improvements were achieved with no increase in energy usage above that used in conventional production methods.

* These improved yields were achieved with a significant reduction in the level of time taken and amount of enzyme used.

* These results have been achieved using a non-optimised PDX reactor system.

* Preliminary results, which are yet to be externally verified, also indicate that using an enhanced, optimised PDX reactor system an average yield increase in excess of 7% per bushel of maize can be achieved.

The results are derived from the analysis of glucose concentrations in a maize feedstock provided by a major US ethanol manufacturer.

Having been processed through a non-optimised PDX reactor system, Pursuit Dynamics achieved externally verified yield equivalents that averaged 3.0 US gallons of fuel ethanol per bushel of maize.

These findings were repeated and externally verified a number of times.

They represent an approximate 7% improvement in yield when compared against current production process yields in the US of between 2.7 and 2.8 gallons of fuel ethanol per bushel of maize.

When processing maize through an enhanced PDX reactor system, Pursuit Dynamics has repeatedly measured yield equivalents in excess of the 7% per bushel of maize reported above, although these results are yet to be externally verified.

It is the Pursuit Dynamics belief that these improved yields will pass external verification and will form the main focus of our development programme going forwards.

Generation 2 - "Cellulosic Material to Ethanol" Conversion.

The results on the conversion of cellulosic materials to ethanol are derived from the analysis of glucose concentrations in Wet Distillers Grain and Dry Distillers Grain, which are co-products produced in the conventional "Starch to Ethanol" production process.

These materials were provided by a major US ethanol producer.

* Using a non-optimised PDX reactor system, the Pursuit Dynamics trial results indicate that: - 83% of the total cellulosic content of Wet Distillers Grain was converted to fermentable sugars - 88% of the total cellulosic content of Dry Distillers Grain was converted to fermentable sugars (the fermentable sugar content in the Dry Distillers Grain test was externally verified).

* Both trial sequences recorded the results stated above in under four minutes.

Phase 2 Trials.

Phase 2 of our Research and Development programme on bioethanol is now underway.

We are focussed on optimising the PDX technology in conventional "starch to ethanol" production and continue to investigate the opportunities to use cellulosic materials in the production of bioethanol.

Commenting on the trial results, John Heathcote, CEO of Pursuit Dynamics, said: "The results of Phase 1 of our bioethanol trials programme are extremely encouraging.

We believe that the increase in yields in the "Starch to Ethanol" process created by the application of the PDX reactor system, if scalable, represent a very important development in the bioethanol industry.

"Similarly, the findings on the conversion of cellulosic material to ethanol are extremely promising and clearly demonstrate the potential application of the PDX technology in the production of bioethanol from cellulosic material.

We have already started the commercialisation process of our technology in Generation 1 applications (starch to ethanol).

We have completed preliminary designs for a full-scale pre-treatment system and we are currently reviewing several commercial opportunities with a number of major participants in the ethanol industry.

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