Our Optimization Plant
Range Fuels' inventor Bud Klepper built and operated bench scale and three pilot-scale cellulosic biofuels plants over an eight-year period to test the two-step thermo-chemical process of converting biomass to renewable fuels. Over 10,000 hours of testing were performed on the pilot plants, which processed over thirty different non-food biomass feedstocks, including wood waste, grasses, municipal solid waste and hog manure. The operation and information generated by these prior pilot plants informed Range Fuels’ design of our current pilot plant in Denver, Colorado, the Optimization Plant, which began operating in the first quarter of 2008.
The plant in Denver was designed to optimize the proprietary and patented thermo-chemical conversion process that Range Fuels will scale to commercial size in our Soperton Plant located near Soperton, Georgia. The fully integrated and automated plant has converted Georgia pine and hardwoods as well as Colorado beetle-kill pine to cellulosic biofuels. Thousands of hours of testing have been performed with the plant, and results from this rigorous environment lead to enhancements in the design of the commercial Soperton Plant.
