Bioprocess Technology
Upgrading the Value of Shale Gas on-site
with Innovative Syngas Bioreactors
ryan.johnson@curtislab.org
(215) 272-0564
Calyx Bioprocess Technology
• Scalable, low-capital cost bioconversion of syngas to chemicals
• Utilizing patented plastic-lined bioreactor
• High-value products for enhanced revenue
• Targeting unique biochemicals
• High Quality Lubricants (wax-esters)
• Petrochemical substitutes
• Cosmetics
Wax Esters
• Targeting stranded gas and remote shale wells
• Areas where gas infrastructure is uneconomical
• Profit from current gas flaring sites
• On-site gas liquefaction process
• Remotely monitored bioreactor
• No gas distribution infrastructure needed
Curtis WR, Growing cells in a
reservoir formed of a flexible sterile plastic liner,
U.S. Patent #6,709,862, March 23, 2004.
Potential increase in NG value per Billion cu. Ft.
$3,000 (Transport Fuels: 167%)
$60,000 (High Value Lubricants: 1,300%)
$200,000+ (Cosmetics: 4,400%)
How big is the opportunity?
• Market Characteristics
• Oil/gas Shale Boom
• Volatile market and record-low
natural gas prices
• Expansive shale reserves
• 100-200 Tcf recoverable
• Estimated 7 billion cubic feet of
natural gas flared in US (2011)
• Current wells out of production
• Many wells are not bringing gas
to market due to economics
• Decentralized and Remote well sites
• Topography and vast area of PA
prevents new gas distribution
infrastructure
Remote gas reserves
lacking infrastructure
eia.gov
Experienced Team
•
Management Team (Chemical, Industrial, Biotech, Energy Engineers)
– Dr. Wayne R. Curtis– President and CEO
• 25+ years algae and plant biotechnology experience
• PI on ARPA-E funded “Electrofuels” Project
– Ryan Johnson– Engineering Manager, Biz Development
• Bioreactor Scale-up, Process Control
• Involved in CALYX entrepreneurial activities since 2011.
• Product Quality Characterization
– Dr. Alex Rajangam– Molecular Biotechnologist
• 12+ Years experience in biomass energy, metabolic engineering of wax-ester biosynthetic pathways
– Nymul Khan– Intern
• Bioreactor Design Challenges
• Genetic Screening
•
Technical Advisors
– Dr. Harold Schobert– Renowned expert in gasification reactors and syngas conversion
Why are we doing it?
• Leveraging technology developed under ARPA-E Electrofuels
program fixing biofuels from H2 and CO2
• High-efficiency conversion of gas phase to high quality biofuels
• High-throughput chemical screening of genetically tailored organisms
• Current syngas to liquids is based on 100 year old technology
• Fischer-Tropsch liquefaction requires large-scale, high cost equipment
• Current syngas bioreactor systems produce alcohols
• Difficult product separation, lower value product line
• Our group has experience with fatty acid wax esters
• Wax esters are currently being marketed for high-value lubricants and
cosmetics
• Rapidly developing oil-shale with un-utilized “producer gas”
• Flared gas in the U.S. is exponentially increasing (increased by $315
Million in potential revenue from 2010 to 2011)
Technology Overview
• A low-cost trickle-bed bioreactor is poised
to be the only leading technology capable
of upgrading natural gas to liquids at such
a small scale
• Genetic modifcation of Clostridium
ljungdahlii with Jojoba wax ester pathway
• 97+% biological conversion of gas
• 87+% Conversion to product
• 13% used for biological functions
97%+ Syngas Yield Requires
1 ) Zero outputs except BioFuel
“Dead End Fermentation”
2) Ultra-Low Dilution Rate
“Growth Disassociated Fuel
Production”
3) Secreted Hydrophobic Product
Plastic-Lined Lab-scale Trickle Bed Fermenter
100 Liter for scale-up parameters
Who else is doing this?
Fischer Tropsch /
Thermochemical
Syngas / Methane
Fermenters
Qatar GTL
$150,000
Plastic-Lined
Trickle Bed
Carbon
Sciences
INEOS (Bio)
CapEx
($/BPD)
LanzaTech
Coskata
• On-Site Conversion
• High-value Product Line
• Highest Conversion Efficiency
High Temp
Alcohol Product
$10,000
100
10,000
Capacity (BBL/day)
100,000
Our Competitive Advantage
• Centralized, large-scale processing still requires natural gas
distribution infrastructure
• On-site liquefaction requires minimal gas handling
• Production of alcohol requires distillation
• Our continuous process phase separates our product through decantation
• Trickle-bed fermenters have ultra efficient gas-to-liquid mass transfer
with minimal operational cost
• Trickle-beds are much larger (90%) than conventional stirred tank fermenters
• Our patent allows us to have maximum efficiency with minimal capital cost
Want
This
kLa (1/hr)
1000
100
External Loop Airlift
Surface Aerator (HiFlux)
Bubble Column
10
Stirred Tank
Trickle bed (high power)
Trickle Bed (low power)
1
0.001
0.01
OPERATIONAL COST
Minimal capital cost
0.1
1
($/hr/m3)
Maximum efficiency per Energy Input
Economic Assessment
• Conventional Small Scale FT-GTL CapEx is uneconomical
• > 120,000 $/BPD
• 55% of CapEx for Syngas Production
• 35% of CapEx for Fischer-Tropsch
• 10% of CapEx for Product Upgrading
• 100 BBL/day commercial facility analyzed using ASPEN HYSYS
• 25,000 m^3 CH4 / day (@ $4.54 / 1k ft^3)
• 87% conversion of syngas to fuel
• $5.6 MM for “Conventional” Trickle Bed Reactor (370 m^3)
• Plastic Lined Reactor CapEx < $0.75 MM
• High-value product line enables strong ROI
• Operational + Fixed + Capital = $126/bbl
• High-value lubricant product lines allow for ROR of > 322%
• Does not include operational / capital of syngas reforming.
Business Model and Strategy
Stages
Phase I: Demonstration
Scale Operation of
“Showcase” Trickle-Bed
Fermenter
Timeframe
Deliverable
Summer/Fall
2013
100-1000 Liters
Continuous
Conversion of
Syngas
Funding
$300,000600,000
(Grant
Funding)
Phase II: Pilot Scale
Operation with
Strategic Partners
Commercialization:
Turn-key on-site
facilities with strategic
partners.
2015-2016
2016 +
Turn-key facility
for lubricant
and syngas
utilization.
Scalable
product and
expansive
customer base.
$2.5 Million
(Capital
Investments)
Investment
cost to be
determined.
Depends on
non-dilutive
funding.
Milestones
90+ % Gas Utilization
0.01 $/hr/m^3
Lubricant properties
of product
Patent applications
Fully Automated
97+% Gas Utilization
0.001 $/hr/m^3
Patents Granted
Commercial Prototype
First Revenues
Marketable product.
Nationally equipped.
Strategic Partner Possibilities
• Unique strategic partner for syngas production from methane
• Steam reforming of Methane to syngas has been cost prohibitive at small to
medium scale
• Reduction is CapEx for small scale autothermal methane reforming is necessary for
economics
• The high specificity of transgenic bacteria allow our group to tailor
products to our partners and customers
• We have modified our current product lines (fuels) to include higher value
lubricants.
• We will seek to partner with synthetic lubricant manufacturer (such as
Mobil-1)
• Enable wax-ester product lines during scale-up
• Further test product lines for higher value applications such as cosmetics
Shell GTL Facility
High Value Lubricants
Cosmetics Value Chain