IH2 woody biomass to liquid transportation fuel technology licensed to Biozin

CRI/Criterion Catalyst Company (CRIUK) has awarded an FEL-2 license agreement for the IH^2* technology which converts biomass to liquid transportation fuels, to Biozin Holding AS (BZH).

CRI is a global catalyst company wholly owned by Royal Dutch Shell. It operates research laboratories, development facilities, manufacturing plants and business units throughout the world. Biozin Holding is a cooperation between Norwegian saw mill company Bergene Holm and Swedish oil company Preem, which intends to realise full scale biofuel production sites in Norway. The production facility is set to be located adjacent to the Bergene Holm sawmill in southern Norway.

The Front End Loading (FEL-2) package will be completed for the core IH² technology by global engineering and construction specialists KBR (KBR).  KBR is CRI’s preferred FEED engineering services provider for commercial scale IH² facilities. The IH^2*technology is a route to convert woody biomass and forest residues feedstock into renewable, low carbon, clean burning hydrocarbon transportation fuels. The process was invented by Gas Technology Institute (GTI) of Des Plaines, IL and scaled up by CRI Catalyst Company of Houston, Texas which holds exclusive worldwide licensing rights.

Biozin intends to utilise residues from Bergene Holm’s mill, and forestry residues from the region. The product will be refined by one of Preem’s refineries in Sweden.

According to a CRI statement, IH^2*hydrocarbons produced from woody biomass meet American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifications for their respective fuels, positioned for the US market as an E10 gasoline fully renewable product, or as a 100% renewable diesel.  Third party testing of the IH^2* woody biomass derived neat (R100) kerosene cut, for global jet specifications Jet A-1/JP8, indicates that the material meets these specifications for the properties tested to date.  

Ongoing research suggests minor adjustments of the technology will be able to provide drop in hydrocarbon fuels which meet European Standard (EN) specifications for drop in renewable petrol and diesel hydrocarbons from the Biozin intended feed slate.

^*IH² is a trademark of Gas Technology Institute