CRII H 2 T e c h n o l o g y R e f i n e r y I n t e g r a t i o n

Globally, refiners have differing drivers for renewable fuel investments as factors such as government policies and regional/local

economic considerations influence the marketplace.

IH2 technology offers the refiner an opportunity to produce cellulosic, high-quality hydrocarbon fuels and/or blend stocks in the gasoline,

jet and diesel range having a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction greater than 94%.

The IH2 technology is a catalytic thermochemical process that has been estimated to provide a very

cost-effective route, ~$2.00/gallon, in 2012 dollars , to produce liquid transportation fuels from

renewable resources. Several of the IH2 technologys integrated unit operations are standard to the

refining industry. Therefore, depending on a refiners site specifics, the capital cost of integrating a

commercial scale 2,000 mt/day IH2 facility with the refinery may be reduced by ~30%, thereby

improving the production costs. A smaller-scale IH2 facility integrated with a refinery using exiting unit

operations would result in a proportionally larger reduction to the total capital cost.

This process was developed by the Gas Technology Institute (GTI). GTI has licensed the IH2

technology to CRI Catalyst Company (CRI) for exclusive worldwide deployment.

Technology OverviewThe IH2 process converts virtually any type of non-food biomass feedstocksuch as wood, agricultural residues, algae and aquatic plants.

High-quality hydrocarbon fuels and/or blend stocks in the gasoline, jet and diesel range have been produced by the IH2 technology in

tests at GTI using a broad spectrum of biomass feed. The IH2 products are fungible with fossil-derived fuels and are compatible with current

infrastructure. In this way the IH2 process differs from other biofuel technologies that produce crude or oxygen-containing intermediates

that need substantial further upgrading.

Figure 1. IH2 Process Technology graphic

The IH2 process has four major elements. The first is biomass conditioning (i.e., sizing and drying to 10-45wt% moisture). The second

element involves hydrodeoxygenation of the volatilized biomass to produce raw hydrocarbons over proprietary CRI catalysts in the

presence of low-pressure hydrogen. This serves to both remove oxygen and cap reactive free radicals to provide a stable hydrocarbon

product. The third element is essentially a fixed bed hydrotreater, which uses other custom CRI catalysts to polish the hydrodeoxygenated

1st stage product and provide a finished hydrocarbon fuel or blendstock. The fourth element is a Hydrogen Manufacturing Unit (HMU),

consistent with a small-scale steam methane reformer (SMR), which converts light gases generated in the 1st stage to renewable hydrogen

in sufficient quantity to supply all process needs. The individual elements are all commercial, which minimizes design risk and allows for

rapid implementation of the IH2 technology.

The IH2 process is largely self-sufficient, producing export steam, green carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide generated from the biomass

conversion), hot water, an ammonia/ammonium sulfate fertilizer concentrate and bio-char as co-products. IH2 Technology facilities can

be located anywhere that road, rail or marine access is available to ferry feedstock in and finished product out.

Evaluations Based on initial laboratory studies, capital estimations have been completed for full-scale design feed rates up to 2,000-tons/day.

Economics for the 2,000-ton/day woody biomass feed and 60.9 MM gallon/year facility were conducted by the National Renewable

Energy Laboratory (NREL), which has been validated by a global engineering and construction company. Based on the NREL economic

estimate, the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP), inflated to 2012 dollars, would be ~$2.00/gallon. By using a refiners existing

reformer and possibly a fixed-bed hydrotreater, significant economic synergy could be created by co-location of an IH2 plant with refining

operations. This could reduce MFSP to potentially approximately $1.50/gallon (2012). Using data from the U.S. Energy Information

Administration, a simplified average breakeven crude price estimate of $60/bbl was generated for the NREL techno-economic analysis

case for the gasoline and diesel produced.

Life cycle analyses were conducted by Prof. David Shonnard of Michigan Technological Universitys Department of Chemical Engineering

and Sustainable Futures Institute based on the laboratory data generated at GTI. This resulted in the renewable hydrocarbons produced

from woody biomass and various agricultural residues having a Greenhouse Gas Reduction of 96 and 93-97%, respectively, depending

on the specific agricultural residue relative to petroleum-based fuels. These materials meet and exceed the United States Renewable Fuel

Standard 2 (RFS-2) greenhouse gas reduction requirement of a Cellulosic Biofuel.

Pilot Plant IH2 Technology is being operated on a 50kg biomass/day pilot plant scale at GTI. In the year that the IH2 pilot plant has been online,

the basic design principles and key operating factors including the feed handling and supply system, the 1st and 2nd stage reactors,

and the separation systems for the residual ash, char and catalyst fines have been verified. Woody biomass and lemna, an aquatic

plant, have been successfully fed through the IH2 pilot plant and have been converted to gasoline, kerosene and diesel product with

below detection limit oxygen content and low Total Acid Number (TAN), comparable to those produced in the R&D project phase, based

on analysis by GTI. Subsequent testing will proceed with a variety of feed stock in support of U.S. Department of Energy projects and

potential technology licensors.

Demonstration IH2 Technology has been successfully licensed for demonstration-scale operations with the expectation that three to five more 5tpd

demonstration-scale license agreements are likely in the first half of 2013. These facilities span the biomass feedstock spectrum, including

wood, crop residues, algae, municipal solid waste and refinery integration with clients in North America, Europe and Asia.

The demonstration facilities are brown-field sites, integrating with existing operations. FEL-3 phase has been completed for a 5tpd

cellulosic demonstration-scale unit. KBR, CRIs engineering alliance for commercial scale, has completed the FEL-2 phase for 500 and

1,000 metric ton biomass/day wood-fed plants. Organizations furthest along the license agreement pathway were included in the

premise development for the basic engineering packages to facilitate rapid implementation at their specific sites in the 2013 time frame.

C R I c a t a l y s t . c o m

Conclusion The IH2 technology is a cost-effective catalytic thermochemical process developed by Gas Technology Institute (GTI) that converts biomass

directly to hydrocarbon fuels/blend stocks using proprietary CRI catalysts. The process is self-sufficient and self-sustaining with little impact

on the surrounding environment. The process requires only transport into and out of the site. The process technology is able to consume a

broad range of biomass either as a single feed stock, a mixed feed or a varied feed, including Municipal Solid Waste and algae. The

IH2 technology is scalable from 40 to >3,000mt/d feed and is currently in basic engineering for multiple feed demonstration units. Life

cycle analysis indicates that the resulting fuel is nearly carbon neutral (LCA >94% GHG reduction).

The pilot plant is operating at GTI where it is verifying operating and performance variables for the IH2 process. Licenses for demonstration

scale units have been signed, and construction based on basic engineering design is intended for 2013. To support CRIs license clients,

agreements have been completed with major engineering firms, and a strategy for fuel registration has been developed, with additional

refinement to be determined as the demonstration clients begin to register their products for Motor Vehicle Fuels and fulfillment of RFS-2.

The commercial implementation timeline is short, anticipated for 2014.

The IH2 technology is available for license exclusively from CRI.

For additional information please contact CRI by visiting www.cricatalyst.com

i Professor David Shonnard http://services.lib.mtu.edu/etd/THESIS/2012/ChemicalEng/maleche/thesis.pdf

Algae, which is not presently a commercial feedstock, is ~60% GHG reduction, depending on the associated processing assumptions.

ii Eric C. D. Tan http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/1059031/1059031.pdf