An American Success Story

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PROCESS (according to API): PINCH, WATER CLOSE™, GREEN POWER+®, and AVAP®.

Based in Atlanta, Ga., USA, American Process Inc. (API) was founded by Theodora Retsina, CEO, in 1994, as a consulting practice serving the forest products industry. Since that time, API has shown steady growth to the tune of more than 80 employees with locations in Atlanta, Thomaston, Ga., Alpena, Mich., Greece, Brazil, and Romania (the company's employee count went from just 19 to 80 in the past 1.5 years). API has seven granted patents, and more than 50 patents pending in the biorefinery space.

Eric Fletty and I were invited by Kim Nelson, PhD VP of Government Affairs & Environmental Quality, to visit API's Atlanta offices this past May 29. We met with Kim and one of API's newest employees, Bahador Bakhtiari, Ph.D. Business Development director, Process Integration. Bahador just arrived from Montreal in the past two months after spending four years working in a similar capacity with Natural Resources Canada, CanmetEnergy (in the photo below (l-r) are Larry Montague, Kim Nelson, and Bahador Bakhtiari).

API is comprised of two business divisions that deliver process integration into pulp and paper mills and biorefineries. Steve Rutherford, COO, has led the Project Engineering group at API since 1997. Prior to joining API, Rutherford was Engineering VP of Parsons & Whittemore Inc., a global tier-one pulp and paper design-build, owner, and operator, and served at project director level for the $1.1 billion construction and commissioning of Alabama River (market pulp) and Alabama Pine Newsprint mills in Perdue Hill, Ala.

Back to the definitions of PROCESS according to API:

• PINCH is a systematic analytical process that allows pulp and paper mills to minimize steam use through operational changes and heat recovery projects. By reducing steam use, PINCH can significantly reduce operating costs associated with steam generation. Process integration is key—the principle of analyzing the entire processes as an integral system, and not just a collection of individual departments.
• WATER CLOSE is a technology that allows pulp and paper mills to minimize fresh water use while meeting flow and water quality demands. By identifying strategic water reuse opportunities, WATER CLOSE can significantly reduce operating costs associated with fresh water pumping and filtering, effluent treatment, steam use, and fiber and chemical losses.
• GREEN POWER+ is a cellulosic technology that co-locates with pulp and paper mills and biomass power plants. The hemicelluloses are selectively extracted into monomer sugars. The resulting sugars are fermented into cellulosic ethanol. The process configuration enables Green Power+ to convert the hemicelluloses to higher value added products; cellulosic ethanol, and/or renewable chemicals (demonstration plant is located in Alpena, Mich.).
• AVAP is a cellulosic technology that fractionates any biomass via the proprietary, patented use of SO² and ethanol into cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses. The cellulose and hemicelluloses are then converted into sugars. The sugars are high purity and low cost, making them ideal feedstock for downstream conversion into bio-based chemicals and biofuels. The lignin is burned as fuel in the boiler (demonstration plant is located in Thomaston, Ga.).

API has long been a very impressive company. Their accomplishments have gained the attention of GranBio out of Brazil to the point that GranBio announced on April 16, 2013, that it has invested in the North American Cleantech Company American Process Inc. (API). GranBio completed the acquisition of a 25% equity investment of API.

More information on API is available online.

More information about TAPPI is also available online

Remember, there are two types of people in our industry; TAPPI members and those who should be.

Until next time...

Larry