Signal Hill, Calif.-based Primafuel (http://www.primafuel.com/) has created a new subsidiary, Primafuel Solutions, which will focus on delivering next-generation, market-ready technology solutions to the biofuel industries. By taking its advanced technology platforms to market, Primafuel Solutions is working with customers to facilitate the transition to more sustainable biorefineries.
With research laboratories in California and Sweden, in addition to business development offices in Basehor, Kan., and Beijing, China, Primafuel intends to offer products derived from its novel bio-separations and thermochemical technology platforms.
Primafuel Solutions’ initial offering to the ethanol industry will be its SMAART Oil system. According to Executive Vice President and Primafuel Co-Founder Rahul Iyer, the SMAART Oil system is a fully-integrated skid mounted corn oil extraction unit that can extract more food and fuel from the same bushel of corn and some plants may see a profit increase on the order of the 10 percent.
“We are very pleased with how well received both the team and the technology solution have been received in the marketplace right now,” Iyer said. “A lot of folks in the ethanol space right now are looking for much more than simply an equipment or technology vendor. They’re looking for a team they can turn to that has a broad base of experience in the biofuels space and a fairly rich intellectual property portfolio that they can look to in the coming years as the challenges in the biofuels industry unfolds.”
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With significant funds committed to research and development, Primafuel Solutions intends to introduce additional bio-separation innovations in 2009. Iyer said future technologies will include systems to convert low-value fats from ethanol facilities into more food-grade and fuel-grade materials as well technologies to than can purify glycerin in the biodiesel industry through a thermochemical and purification strategy in place of low energy input requirements.
“The overarching theme of our downstream technology portfolio is really focused on offering economical or piece-meal investments that a biofuels producer or an organized entity can afford to purchase in this difficult capital market and actually make incremental steps toward biorefining,” Iyer said.
Primafuel, a privately-held corporation with operations in North America, Europe and Asia, is a 2008 recipient of the Technology Pioneer Award from the World Economic Forum. Last year, Primafuel was awarded the state of California’s largest biofuels grant towards construction of a low-carbon fuels facility at the Port of Sacramento.
