Sundrop Fuels, Inc

The Sundrop Fuels SynStream™ process produces more yield of renewable liquid fuel per ton of biomass feedstock than any other production method in the world.

How it

works

1. Cellulosic biomass material is delivered by entrained flow into the proprietary SynStream™ system, which converts the material using ultrahigh-temperature pressurized gasification. Natural gas is used to power the radiation-driven gasifier, generating temperatures of more than 1,300 degrees Celsius (2,372 degrees Fahrenheit).

2. Hydrogen-rich natural gas is added after biomass gasification to allow for a two-to-one hydrogen-to-carbon ratio – the chemical make-up necessary for transportation fuels that can be used in today’s internal combustion engines. This combination of gasified biomass and additional hydrogen creates a renewable feed that is the key ingredient for Sundrop Fuels drop-in biogasoline.

3. The renewable feed is converted into methanol using a commercially available catalyst process.

4. Using a well-established commercial fuels synthesis process, the methanol that was created from the renewable feed is then made into in ready-to-use “green gasoline” – or more easily referred to as biogasoline.

5. The Sundrop Fuels high-octane, drop-in biogasoline is blended and ultimately delivered to the marketplace through the nation’s existing pipeline and distribution infrastructure.

SYNSTREAM™: THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND SUNDROP FUELS’

ULTRA-EFFICIENT CONVERSION OF BIOMASS TO LIQUID FUEL

At the center of Sundrop Fuels’ three-stage advanced biofuels production methodology is its proprietary SynStream™ technology, an ultrahigh-temperature pressurized gasification system in which biomass is rapidly converted and combined with hydrogen from clean-burning natural gas to create a renewable feed that is the key ingredient for biogasoline. Sundrop Fuels first converts this renewable feed into methanol, then turns it into drop-in “green gasoline” using a commercially-established methanol-to-gasoline fuels synthesis process.

The Sundrop Fuels SynStream method is unique from conventional biomass gasification in that it uses indirect radiation heat transfer to rapidly drive the extremely high temperatures needed to create the renewable feed that is then further processed to create drop-in advanced biofuels. Natural gas is used to power the Sundrop Fuels radiation-driven gasifier, generating temperatures of more than 1,300 degrees Celsius (2,372 degrees Fahrenheit).

By steadily maintaining these ultra-high temperatures to drive the endothermic gasification reaction, the Sundrop Fuels SynStream process operates at an astonishing high efficiency – producing more yield of renewable liquid fuel per ton of biomass feedstock than any other production method in the world.

As importantly, the Sundrop Fuels biogasoline product lifecycle significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to the production of conventional petroleum fuels.

Sundrop Fuels is now beginning construction of its inaugural facility near Alexandria, Louisiana – a combination commercial production and demonstration plant that represents the first operational milestone in the company’s path toward becoming a large-scale provider of renewable, drop-in biogasoline. The facility will also represent the first commercial production of biofuels using a methanol-to-gasoline technology originally developed in the 1970s.