Enerkem‘s Four-Step Thermochemical Process Goes Commercial
In less than five minutes, waste-to-biofuels and chemicals producer Enerkem‘s technology turns household waste into 99.9 percent pure liquid chemicals and biofuels.
In Enerkem’s system, different feedstocks – solid waste coming from several municipalities and other types of residue – are converted into methanol, ethanol or other renewable chemicals. In turn, methanol is a chemical building block for the production of secondary chemicals such as olefins, acrylic acid, n-Propanol, and n-Butanol, which can then be used to form thousands of everyday products. Now Enerkem Inc. has announced that its first full-scale commercial facility, located in Edmonton, Alberta, has met all operational milestones.
Enerkem’s four-step thermochemical process includes feedstock preparation by sorting and drying, gasification by converting residues into synthetic gas, cleaning and conditioning of the syngas and its conversion into renewable products like biofuels or chemicals.
“We have been impressed with Enerkem‘s discipline and commitment throughout the process of ramping-up the world‘s first commercial operation of its kind“, said Greg Dimmer, Managing Director IAM Private Debt Group. “As Enerkem‘s senior lender we look forward to expanding our partnership through future financing opportunities as the company continues to expand its market outreach.“ “The Enerkem Alberta Biofuels facility in Edmonton is fully operational in accordance with very rigorous production criteria“, underlined Vincent Chornet, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enerkem. “This third-party validation comes in at the right time as we are expanding our footprint in North America and Europe.“ In fact, the construction of a waste-to-chemicals plant in the Netherlands partnership based on the innovative technology developed by Enerkem is planned: A partnership consisting of AkzoNobel, Van Gansewinkel, Air Liquide, AVR, Enerkem and Port of Rotterdam has announced that it is looking to build the plant in Rotterdam in collaboration with the Port of Rotterdam, the City of Rotterdam, the province of South Holland and InnovationQuarter.
Photo: Enerkem
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