TRI Successfully Launches Operation Of Its New Thermochemical Biorefinery Demonstration Unit

New state-of the-art gasification facility gasifies a range of biomass feedstocks to produce renewable fuels and clean energy

Durham, NC /PRNewswire/ -- ThermoChem Recovery International (TRI), a leading renewable energy technology company headquartered in Baltimore, MD, today announced that it successfully launched operation of its new, large-scale state-of-the-art biomass gasification process demonstration unit (PDU) in Durham, North Carolina. The PDU transforms biomass into a synthetic gas or "syngas," which is catalytically converted to produce liquid fuels and other bio-based chemicals. Biomass gasification is considered to be a key technology platform for advanced cellulosic biofuels, and a primary means for reducing our nation's dependence on foreign oil and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

TRI's new demonstration unit can process 4 dry tons of biomass per day. The 1.0 MWth PDU is designed to be easily integrated into a variety of downstream catalytic processes to produce renewable fuels, chemicals and power. The PDU has the flexibility to gasify any form of biomass, and provides analytical and engineering data needed for process evaluation and commercial scale-up.

"The system's design and scaling parameters were developed with our commercial projects firmly in mind," said Dave Newport, TRI's VP of Projects. "We learned a great deal from our previous pilot project work and from our commercial scale gasifier at Norampac, which has been operational since 2003. This new system will now allow us to evaluate different types of feedstocks used to produce biofuels and to support the development of premier commercial gasification facilities as we move forward."

"This is a proud moment for TRI and its partners as we successfully launch a large-scale pilot plant that allows us to accelerate development of commercial biorefineries as well as next generation design concepts for renewable fuels and clean energy," said TRI President and CEO Dan Burciaga. "The development of biofuels is here to stay and TRI is poised to play a major part in this bioenergy revolution."

TRI, which was founded in 1996, is a leading renewable energy technology company commercializing thermochemical biorefinery systems for the production of biofuels and clean energy from non-food biomass feedstocks. TRI is currently a key technology provider for two United States Department of Energy-funded biorefinery projects: Flambeau River BioFuels LLC (Park Falls, WI) and NewPage Corporation (Wisconsin Rapids, WI), and is engaged in a range of other commercial-scale projects. The PDU is located at Southern Research Institute's Carbon 2 Liquids™ facility in Durham, NC.

For more information, please visit www.tri-inc.net or, for general media queries, contact Mr. Chris Doherty, VP, at cdoherty@tri-inc.net or 443-621-5453; for technical and project development queries, please contact Mr. Eric Connor, Senior VP, at econnor@tri-inc.net or 713-201-0988.

SOURCE ThermoChem Recovery International