June 16, 2021
BY ICM Inc.
ICM Inc. has signed an agreement with Visionary Fiber Technologies Inc. to be the exclusive distributor and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for their fiber reactor separation technology in the ethanol space.
VFT’s patented proprietary fiber reactor technology is a refinement process for feedstocks such as distillers corn oil, a coproduct of ethanol production. The continuous flow process is designed to extract significantly more impurities than traditional separation methods, resulting in a clean distillers corn oil that can be sold directly to renewable diesel refineries, bypassing pretreatment at their site. With VFT’s fiber reactor system, there is also less downtime and higher throughput, as well as a smaller footprint overall.
“ICM is the ideal channel partner for VFT in the ethanol industry — they recognize the vision and opportunity to create significant value for ethanol producers from renewable diesel,” said John Kinzer, CEO of VFT. “We are eager to see our technology broadly deployed to help ethanol refineries diversify revenue and related cash flow derived from the emergence of the renewable industry.”
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The fiber reactor features a small footprint, skid-mounted design with fast processing capability. “We’re excited to work with VFT and introduce customers to the benefits of adopting this new separation process for distillers corn oil,” said Tom Ranallo, ICM vice president of operations. “This collaboration naturally aligns with ICM’s purpose of continuously innovating to help our customers increase both efficiency and value.”
“With the recent increase in demand of feedstock for renewable diesel, this technology represents a great opportunity for ethanol plants to get more value for their corn oil production as prices in the market continue to climb to new highs,” Ranallo added.
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ICM will showcase a tabletop mini fiber reactor at the 2021 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo, July 13-15. Attendees may view the exhibit at Booth 821.
The licensing agreement between ICM and VFT was signed in May. ICM is already accepting orders for this innovative offering.
The USDA on April 14 announced the cancellation of its Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. Select projects that meet certain requirements may continue under a new Advancing Markets for Producers initiative.
The Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition and Green Marine are partnering to accelerating adoption of sustainable biofuels to improve air quality and reduce GHG emissions in Michigan and across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.
The USDA reduced its outlook for 2024-’25 soybean oil use in biofuel production in its latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, released April 10. The outlook for soybean oil pricing was revised up.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reduced its 2025 forecasts for renewable diesel and biodiesel in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, released April 10. The outlook for “other biofuel” production, which includes SAF, was raised.
FutureFuel Corp. on March 26 announced the restart of its 59 MMgy biodiesel plant in Batesville, Arkansas. The company’s annual report, released April 4, indicates biodiesel production was down 24% last year when compared to 2023.