Cribe Invests $6 Million to Convert Wood Waste to Fuel at Domtar's Dryden Mill

CRIBE (Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy), Thunder Bay, Ont., Canada, is providing up to $6 million in funding to leverage a total project value of up to $14 million for a partnership between Domtar (Montreal, Que.) and Battelle (Columbus, Ohio, USA) to develop a new approach to converting underutilized wood to fuel. Pulp and paper producer Domtar and Battelle, the world's largest private research and development institute, have teamed up to develop a unique, cost-effective system that, if successful, will increase operational efficiencies and create a fossil fuel alternative for transportation fuels.

This system uses "fast pyrolysis" technology, a process that rapidly converts biomass using heat without oxygen to produce crude biooil and gas. The key to Battelle's approach is in the treatment and processing of this crude biooil to a "drop-in fuel" that can be blended directly with gasoline or diesel fuel.

Domtar Dryden will use wood waste that is currently burned for low value as the biomass feedstock for the process. If successful, the biooil will be used to blend into the fuel for Domtar's vehicle fleet or it could be used internally to offset the use of natural gas.

One of the big advantages to Battelle's system is that its unique design requires far less energy to produce the same fuel product as existing "fuel from wood" technology. As well, because it simply adds to an existing operation, it reduces capital and operating costs, making it more economically viable.

In this two-phase project, phase 1 will utilize wood waste from Domtar's Dryden mill to produce the higher value biooil. Once the process is optimized and results are demonstrated, phase two involves the construction of a 100 tpd pilot plant, to be integrated into Domtar Dryden's facility.

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