company, based in Penticton, B.C., will provide the gasifiers for Expander’s renewable fuels projects. Crawford says the ability to do all of their own engineering inhouse allows them to move the project forward efficiently. Expander did the engineering, procure -ment, and construction management for Rocky Mountain Clean Fuels’ over $100-million natural gas-to-liquids plant in Carseland, which went into operation in 2022. The Expander management team brings decades of experience in the development, engineering, construction and operation of energy industry facilities.“To say there are 50 plants that have been built by members of the leadership group is no exaggeration – it’s probably an understatement,” Crawford says. Expander is in the process of introducing its Biomass to Liq -uids technology to the Rocky Mountain Clean Fuels’ Carseland location, with the goal of creating a fully integrated commercial biomass to Bio-SynDiesel ® facility. As of the November transaction, Cielo Waste Solutions now has exclusive license in Canada to use Expander’s Enhanced Biomass to Liquids (EBTL™) and Biomass Gas to Liquids (BGTL™) technologies, as well as license in the U.S. specific to creosote and treated wood waste. Under the agreement, Expander will handle engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as operation and project management for these Bio-SynDiesel ® projects, now owned by Cielo. ENTER CIELO “The gasifier will take 78 tonnes per day of biomass and turn it into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which will then be converted into 150 barrels per day of Bio-SynDiesel.” “It really did make sense,” Jackson said of the transaction. “We have access to capital markets and there is a need for us to take advantage of the feedstock opportunities that we currently have and are sourcing as a result of this transaction with Expander.” Cielo’s most notable feedstock opportunity is an existing agree -ment between them and North American rail company CPKC to turn between 500,000 and one million end-of-life railroad ties into Bio-Synthetic each year. The project, slated for Dunmore in south -ern Alberta, will now include Expander technology and Expander will design, build and operate the facility. “You can produce an awful lot of fuel from the fibre that is cre -ated from railway ties, and Expander’s technology addresses that in spades. It’s really quite an elegant solution to a very complex problem. Dealing with railway tie disposal is not an easy thing to do,” Jackson said. Cielo has been a public company for just over a decade. Its own proprietary thermal catalytic depolymerization (TCD) tech -nology is still under development, which Jackson said Expander’s expertise will help accelerate. Expander’s Biomass to Liquids processes combine a biomass gas -ifier with a steam methane reformer, both producing syngas that is upgraded through the Fischer-Tropsch process. Bio-syngas is re-circulated in the process, and biogenic CO2 can be captured for utilization or sequestration. Under ideal conditions, which includes carbon sequestration, the resulting Bio-SynDiesel ® has a potential life cycle analysis carbon intensity of -44 gCO2e/MJ. The Carseland project will see a biomass gasifier installed adjacent to the existing Rocky Mountain Clean Fuels facility in Carsleand. The gasifier will take 78 tonnes per day of biomass – landfill debris, forestry and agricultural residue, sewage sludge, and so on – and turn it into hydrogen and carbon monoxide which will then be converted at the existing Carseland Fisher Tropsch facility into 150 barrels per day of Bio-SynDiesel ® . “It’s largely agnostic to the type of feedstock,” Crawford says. “One of the things we will be doing in the first 18 months of oper -ation is running a few selective alternative feedstock campaigns.” Pending a final investment decision expected soon, Crawford anticipates the Carseland Gasifier Project start-up in early 2026 with market rollout of the technology that same year. PATHWAY TO E-FUELS BEHIND THE TECHNOLOGY From size reduction to the perfect finished pellet, Schutte Hammermill has the system to meet your needs. From single units to complete turnkey systems, our custom configured hammer mills and pelleting equipment provide precision, energy efficiency and a superior finished product. Contact us today to find out how we can help you improve your process! [email protected] | 800.447.4634 www.hammermills.com Expander’s next generation biomass electrolysis to liquids (BETL™) technology is in development with Canadian Nuclear WINTER 2024 16 Canadian BIOMASS 2023-12-05 8:07 AM CB_Schutte_Winter24_CSA.indd 1
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