Technology Integration
There are three major steps in converting abundant cellulosic biomass into products in the emerging biorefining industry. The first step involves growing, harvesting, baling, storing and transporting biomass to a biorefinery. The second step involves the conversion of the biomass into sugars and lignin. The third step is the conversion of sugars into industrial and consumer products. The PureVision technology platform focuses on the second step, leaving steps one and three to others.Planning to develop a biorefinery begins with identifying a year-round supply of cellulosic feedstock in a given location, typically not to exceed a 50-mile radius. This location should be able to provide one or more feedstocks such as wheat straw, corn stalks, wood, etc. to a well-situated biorefinery. Once the source of biomass feedstock is identified, the biorefinery developers must investigate the logistics and costing to acquire the feedstock for the proposed biorefinery. It is of critical importance to the economics of operating a biorefinery that transportation of feedstocks is minimized.
Once one or more cellulosic feedstocks are identified that will be able to supply a year-round stream of biomass to the biorefinery, PureVision has the expertise to conduct bench-scale and pilot-scale studies to convert the biomass feedstock(s) into sugars. Once PureVision determines a specific set of operating conditions to convert the biomass into sugars, process and economic modeling can be conducted by the company. PureVision has collaborators that have technologies that integrate well with the PureVision technologies and are able to convert the sugars into different industrial and consumer products.