American Process Inc | Biorefinery Initiative

American Process Inc is prominent in the cellulosic biorefinery field. We have developed several proprietary processes for ethanol production. Our proprietary process, AVAP™ (American Value Added Pulping) co-produces pulp and ethanol from wood in an integrated biorefinery application. Another technology, GREEN POWER+™, is a process to add an extraction module and ethanol production module to a biomass boiler. In addition to developing technology, American Process provides complete ethanol plant design, detailed engineering and project management.

AVAP™ utilizes alcohol sulfite cooking liquor to fractionate softwood chips into three lignocellulosic components. An addition of alcohol speeds the pulping, while preserving the cellulose strength. Volatile cooking chemicals are stripped and reused in the cooking process at a high recovery rate. Lignosulfonates are precipitated and burned to produce process energy. The remaining liquid fraction contains hydrolyzed hemicelluloses. The value of converted hemicelluloses is 4-5 times greater for society as ethanol than as presently burned. Biomass from the surrounding wood processing plants as well as logging residues can provide energy self-sufficiency for the mill.

Process integration and efficient recovery of chemicals are the cornerstones for the low overall cost. Because ethanol processing occurs concurrently with pulping, the heat and chemical input are split between the two products, without sacrificing the yield on either product. Flexibility to swing yield between the two products provides financial stability over the market conditions. Additional biofuels and chemicals are obtainable from the process if the economics are favorable.

American Process, in partnership with Diamond Alternative Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation, completed construction of a biorefinery demonstration plant in Thomaston, GA in February, 2010, to prove and refine the AVAP™ process.

GREEN POWER+™ utilizes a module in front of the biomass boiler that utilizes steam extract hydrolyzate as feedstock and an ethanol extraction module. Dewatered solids are then returned to the biomass boiler. The process significantly increases overall profitability by converting low BTU hemicelluloses into high value ethanol.

The process enables cost effective cellulosic ethanol production at a small scale of 10-20MMUSG/year, with an ethanol production cost ~$1/USG.

Key success factors of this process are the cost effective treatment of the extract, being able to return consistent biomass composition to the boiler with uninterrupted operation, and an effective energy integration of ethanol production with biopower.

This technology is applicable not only in the pulp and paper industry, but also for biomass power stations in utilities and any industry employing biomass boilers for power production.

American Process is planning a prototype biorefinery in Alpena, Michigan, that this technology is based on. The plant has been awarded grants from the Michigan Economic Development Commission, and from the Department of Energy. This plant is projected to be operational by the end of 2011.

Besides our own technologies that we are continuing to develop in our two labs in Atlanta, we believe that there will be many credible technologies to be used for co-producing cellulosic ethanol with pulp and paper. Therefore, we are continuing to gather know-how in the fields of gasification and hemicelluloses pre-extraction by collaborating with the leading biorefinery academic institutions and forest products corporations.

We believe the right technology for each case will depend on the local economic energy prices, the paper product mix, the wood species and the existing site configuration.

Simulating ethanol production in pulp and paper mills and doing “what if” scenarios is critical in order to achieve an efficient design. American Process Inc has the only commercial simulator that simulates pulp and paper and ethanol in one program, apiMAX™.