International technology Group ANDRITZ, through its U.S. subsidiary ANDRITZ Inc., received an order to supply its advanced continuous biomass pre-treatment technology for the Poet-DSM Advanced Biofuels commercial-scale biofuel facility being built in Emmetsburg, Iowa, USA.
Project LIBERTY is POET-DSM’s first commercial scale 2nd generation cellulosic ethanol plant and is under construction in Emmetsburg, Iowa. The facility will produce 20 million-gallons per year by using corn cobs, leaves, husk, and some stalk to produce renewable fuel. Construction is scheduled to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2013.
ANDRITZ’s advanced steam explosion (SteamEx) technology is a two-stage process which includes a vertical reactor, interstage washing, and continuous steam explosion. The technology will be employed to help in the pre-treatment of biomass so that it can be converted into low-cost sugars which will be used in the production of ethanol. This technology is well-proven in other industrial processes and, through extensive R&D in liquid biofuels, has been optimized by ANDRITZ to satisfy the requirements for Project LIBERTY.