Advanced BioFuels USA

by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Another in our series of stories about promising technologies applicable to the development of a robust advanced biofuel economy diverting to fossil fuel use for research, development and deployment.

KmX membrane demonstration and pilot scale research facilities in New Church, VA. Photo KmX

This time it’s not a conversion technology or a bioproduct, but an element of production technology–membranes that separate water from solutions in order to either purify the water or concentrate the solution, depending on your point of view and objectives.

In biofuels applications, KmXs’ membranes are useful in a number of ways. In in the final stages of getting to the 99.6% pure ethanol needed for fuel applications, Azeo-Sep™ membranes can break the azeotrope. At about 95% ethanol to water, traditional distillation relies on the different boiling points of ethanol and water and distillation no longer works because at that concentration, the ethanol and water vaporize at the same temperature.  A different technology must take over.  KmX’s Azeo-Sep^TM membranes dehydrate the 95% solutions by attracting the rest of the water away from the ethanol solution to achieve the needed purity of ethanol at significantly lower energy consumption.

With the ethanol fuel market stagnated, COO Jill Harris explained that KmX has adjusted its focus to concentrate on cleaning up the brine of chemicals employed by the fossil fuel fracking industry.  For these purposes, they are using KmX membranes to separate water molecules from the salts and other dissolved solids and chemicals to deliver cleaner water.  Cleaner, she says, than regular drinking water from a tap.

KmX Aqua-SEP TM research facility.

Recently, Robert Kozak, president of Atlantic Biomass, Inc., and an Advanced Biofuels USA board member, visited Canadian-based KmX’s operation on the Eastern Shore Maryland/Virginia border in New Church, Virginia, to discuss the use of KmX Aqua-SEP^TM system membranes to concentrate sugars converted from fruit and root biomass for industrial purposes.

The KmX Virginia operation, built at the location of an old cannery and 1980’s era ethanol biorefinery, still maintains some of the historic buildings and structures. Building a research facility on the ruins of an ancient food processing plant and ethanol biorefinery, they give them new life, working to achieve a new generation’s renewable fuel goals in the spirit of reuse, recycle, renovate and renew.

Even in their product-related business, KmX focuses on recycling; converting solvent and wastewater streams into resalable or reusable products by integrating appropriate separation systems and technologies.

Jill Harris and Robert Kozak discuss 21st century root-and-fruit conversion to building blocks of biofuels and bioproducts by 20th century cannery buildings at KmX research facility in Virginia.

Kozak affirmed that a tour through the demonstration and pilot facilities served to give him a clearer understanding of the technology, the status of relevant research, the size and structure of the membrane separation platform; and helped him determine how it would best fit into his company’s on-going project developments.  Sometimes, he explained, it helps to see the equipment and the processes and talk in-person with the people working with it to fully grasp the answers to technical questions.

When the price of oil rises again and strong environmentally conscientious policies become re-established, technologies initially aimed at renewable fuels markets which are currently being developed for fossil fuel customers, will be ready for deployment as those fossil fuels markets falter and markets for renewables take their place.

Building on the old (in more ways than one here) to create something new, KmX has a lot of company as they divert their focus away from biofuels for the moment and enlarge their capabilities beyond biofuels.  From large companies like Lanza Tech, Solazyme, Origin Oil to small entrepreneurial efforts like Troy Clark’s Golden Leaf Energy; they are taking advantage of the lopsided playing field which advantages fossil fuel options–for now.   READ MORE

*Joanne Ivancic, serves as Executive Director of Advanced Biofuels USA. She also served as a lobbyist promoting advanced biofuels research and production on Capitol Hill and with executive agencies.  She has observed the development of advanced biofuels’ research and financing for more than fifteen years. From 2010 to 2013 she was voted one of the Top 100 People in Bioenergy by Biofuels Digest readers and editors.

This article is part of a series of articles looking behind the scenes at the people, places and projects that contribute pieces of the story of the development of advanced biofuels and the bio-based economy in the early 21st century.

photos by J. Ivancic unless otherwise noted.

Updated 5/12/2015 to correct technical details.