CRIBE Partners with GreenField Specialty Alcohols (formerly GreenField Ethanol) to Test Demonstration Technology at AV Terrace Bay Mill

THUNDER BAY, ON, March 12, 2014 /CNW/ - CRIBE is partnering with GreenField Specialty Alcohols to test and develop a technology that, if successful, will lead to significant economic and operational gains for pulp mills by providing new revenue streams as well as a more efficient way to perform current processes.

This is a natural extension to an earlier GreenField project supported by CRIBE, which focused on the conditioning and pre-treatment of a variety of biomass including underutilized northern hardwood such as poplar.

The practical application of this technology is to take GreenField's patent pending equipment - a modified twin screw extruder used to extract and recover clean sugars - and apply it in a pulp and paper mill demonstration project at two mills including AV Terrace Bay Inc. GreenField's technology may be beneficial as the Terrace Bay mill moves towards converting the facility from conventional NMSK pulp to a dissolved pulp process.

CRIBE is providing up to $1.3 Million in funding to this project to leverage a total project cost of almost $2.7 Million.

This project has 2 phases:

1)	Initial testing will be done at GreenField's facility in Chatham with "streams", i.e. wood chips and by-products of the pulping process such as sludge and white water, to be partially provided by AV Terrace Bay Inc.
2)	A portable version of the modified twin screw extruder technology will be installed for testing in situ at the AV Terrace Bay mill.

"Northern Ontario is a place of limitless potential and advancements in technology continue to result in new opportunities for significant growth. Today's announcement is a perfect showcase of the talent and skill of Ontario's research and innovation sector and presents an exciting opportunity for the Forestry industry in our province. I commend this great partnership between GreenField and CRIBE, and I wish everyone involved great success!" - Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development & Mines

"Ontario is pleased to continue to invest in bio-mass research and innovation in Northern Ontario," said Reza Moridi, Minister of Research and Innovation. "With the support of the Ontario government, through CRIBE, GreenField is helping pulp mills become more efficient, diverse and profitable. This will bring the next generation of jobs and prosperity to Ontario's north."

"GreenField is most appreciative of CRIBE's support to advance and accelerate the development and commercial deployment of its Extruder Technology; and is pleased and excited to partner with CRIBE to adapt this technology for applications that will benefit the pulp and paper industry," said Barry Wortzman Vice President of Business Development, GreenField Specialty Alcohols Inc.

"This is the kind of project that CRIBE was created for," said Lorne Morrow, CEO CRIBE. "By bringing companies from the north and south together the Ontario forestry industry can receive the benefits of knowledge clustering. CRIBE's continuing partnership with companies such as GreenField may lead to significant impacts on the economic viability Ontario's forest industry in the future."

The Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy is a provincial initiative to transform the forest products industry in Northern Ontario. We're an independent, not-for-profit research corporation, with $25 million in funding provided by the government of Ontario, that partners closely with other relevant organizations to provide support to direct and turn research results and innovative business opportunities into operational realities. CRIBE will help the bio-economy to play a central role in the metamorphosis of Northern Ontario's future - creating jobs, opportunity and prosperity.

GreenField Specialty Alcohols Inc. is the leading specialty alcohols producer in Canada, with a focus on high purity medical and pharmaceutical alcohols, corn-based bulk industrial alcohol, packaged alcohol and fuel ethanol, as well as associated agricultural co-products.  Headquartered in Toronto, the 20-year-old company owns and operates four state-of-the-art manufacturing plants in Canada, as well as three alcohol packaging plants in Canada and the United states.  From a standing start, GreenField has grown to manufacture 1.7 million litres of fuel-ethanol per day, as well as alcohol for more than 4,500 consumer and industrial products.  GreenField also makes co-products from the alcohol production process, including distillers grains for animal feed, corn oil and carbon dioxide, ensuring that there is  virtually no waste from the manufacturing process.  As a true innovator, GreenField has developed a superior pretreatment technology which is the first key step to the commercially viable production of cellulosic ethanol and it plans to commercialize this technology over the next few years.

 

 

SOURCE: CRIBE (Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy)

For further information:

Contacts:

Lorne Morrow, CRIBE CEO [phone] [e-mail]

Barry Wortzman, Vice President of Business Development, GreenField Specialty Alcohols Inc.: [phone] x8420; [e-mail]