Web exclusive posted June 13, 2008 at 9:50 a.m. CST

Houston-based Endicott Biofuels LLC has entered into a long-term, multi-plant technical collaboration with London-based Davy Process Technology Ltd. to use DPT's esterification technology for feedstock-flexible biodiesel plants. Endicott expects to have its first 30 MMgy plant in production by 2010, with plans to develop more facilities.

Endicott Biofuels was one of 16 energy projects invited to submit full applications to the U.S. DOE for its loan guarantee program initiated in the 2005 federal energy bill. In its application, Endicott indicated the first plant would be built in the state of Virginia. Just before the DOE announced the companies who were being invited to apply for the loan guarantees, Endicott announced it had secured $40 million in equity financing from Houston-based Haddington Ventures LLC.

"Demand for biodiesel, as well as other biofuels, is expected to increase dramatically over the next few years as fossil based fuels continue to increase in price as international demand from rapidly growing countries such as China and India pressures supply," said Richard Wyatt, a principal with Endicott Biofuels. "At Endicott Biofuels, our goal is to build multiple plants in strategic geographic locations throughout North America to gain logistical advantages."

President of Davy Process Technology David Tomlinson said he is delighted that Endicott Biofuels has chosen Davy Process Technology's esterification technology for use in its North American biodiesel plants to be based on non-edible agricultural process waste products. This represents a new application for Davy Process Technology's proprietary esterification reactor which has been used in six plants to convert naturally derived fatty acids into natural detergent alcohols. In the process, methanol vapor passes counter-current to the fatty acid in a resin catalyzed esterification process. Several plants using the Davy Process Technology take the resulting methyl ester through a hydrogenation step conducted over a fixed catalyst bed to produce mixed alcohols which can be further refined. In addition, the methanol can be recovered and recycled.