Month: October 2012

Our next Biorenewables Café will happen on Tuesday November 13th, from 6-8pm at at the Railway Club on 579 Dunsmuir St. The talk will begin at 6:30 pm followed by a Q&A session and networking.

The speaker for the evening will be Mahmood Ebadian, PhD candidate  in the Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia (UBC).  Title, abstract, and Mahmood’s bio are below:

Challenges of commercial viability of advanced biofuel production from a supply chain perspective

Abstract

After years of R&D, planning and operating at pilot and demonstration scales, the advanced biofuel industry has now reached the Hillary Step of the scale-up Everest. Although the industry is nearing the Summit and the big breakthroughs in the biofuel conversion process are coming up, the last technical and commercial obstacle to reach the Submit is the biomass supply chain. Biomass supply chain is responsible for a secure and steady delivery of right quantities of biomass to the biofuel production system at the right time, low-cost and desired quality. This presentation will provide an overview of the weaknesses of the current practices in the biomass supply chain and their negative impacts on the commercial viability of the advanced biofuel industry. Lessons from similar industries to enhance the performance of the supply chain will be also discussed.

Bio:

Mahmood is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia (UBC). He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in industrial engineering. His Ph.D. research concerns the development of a decision support model to develop a robust and cost-efficient biomass supply chain in bioenergy production. He has four years of work experience in educational, consulting and manufacturing sectors. In the past six years, he has been doing research in the fields of operations research, supply chain management and bioenergy.

Hello Biorenewable enthusiasts!

Biorenewables Cafe is back for the month of October. Our next cafe will be:

Tuesday, October 9 at the Railway Club on 579 Dunsmuir St. from 6:00-8:00 pm.

The talk will begin at 6:30 pm followed by a Q&A session and networking.

Stefan Muller, Senior Vice President Research and Development at Ensyn Technologies Inc. will be speaking about Ensyn’s technology to produce commercial renewable liquid fuels and chemicals from biomass. Title, abstract, and Stefan’s bio are below:

 
Producing Commercial Renewable Liquid Fuels and Chemicals from Non-food Biomass with Proven Technology

Abstract:
Ensyn is a producer of cellulosic renewable liquid fuels and renewable chemical products. Ensyn has had continuous commercial operations for several years, producing over 30 million gallons of renewable fuels and chemicals from wood residues. Supported by a strategic alliance with UOP, a Honeywell company, Ensyn is now initiating a significant expansion of production capacity. Ensyn’s core technology, Rapid Thermal Processing, or RTP™, converts residual biomass from the forest and agricultural sectors as well as cellulosic-based, post-consumer wastes to high yields of light liquids. These RTP liquids are a source for a wide range of applications, some of which have already been commercialized and others which are poised for commercial introduction. The presentation will provide an overview will of Ensyn’s technology, current product portfolio as well as new product developments.

Speake Bio:
MÜLLER, Stefan, P. Eng., M. Eng.
Senior Vice President Research & Development at Ensyn Technologies Inc. Stefan has extensive experience developing biomass derived chemicals and products. Since joining Ensyn in 2007, Stefan has been responsible for the development and commercialization of new applications and products from RTP Liquids, produced using Ensyn’s patented pyrolysis process, RTP™. Stefan previously had 11 years of experience in chemicals, 3 of which were in the syngas industry and the other 8 years were in the bioproducts and forestry industries. During this time Stefan held various roles in plant operations, ranging from engineering to plant management to various roles in senior management. Stefan received his Bachelors and Masters in Chemical Engineering from McGill University.

For more information about the Biorenewables Cafe, please join us on LinkedIn and visit our website: www.blogs.ubc.ca/biorenewablescafe

For more information about the Forest Products Biotechnology/Bioenergy Research Group please visit: http://www.bioenergy.ubc.ca/

Hope to see you there!