Merrick, Genifuel land ACEC Grand Conceptor Award for Hydrothermal Processing Pilot System

In Colorado, the American Council of Engineering Companies gave its Grand Conceptor Award, presented for the overall best engineering project, was awarded to Merrick & Company of Greenwood Village, for the Hydrothermal Processing Pilot System.

Genifuel Corporation obtained the license from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for its technology to transform a mixture of 20 percent algae and 80 percent water into bio-crude oil and natural gas.  The laboratory had proven their technology at a lab scale and Genifuel was seeking to scale the system up to a pilot plant scale to process one wet ton per day of the feed.

To assist in the scale up and commissioning, Genifuel chose Merrick & Company to provide lump sum turnkey services that included engineering, cost estimating, procurement, fabrication/assembly oversight and commissioning. The scale of the pilot system was significantly larger than the lab scale demonstration.  As a first-of-its-kind application, Merrick & Company designed skids and specified a combination of standard vendor equipment and custom-designed equipment. Merrick & Company’s use of 3-D modeling ensured that the fully equipped skids would fit into standard shipping containers that can be easily shipped around the world.

The bio-crude oil can be refined by conventional processes into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, while the methane gas can be used to produce renewable electricity.

http://www.villagerpublishing.com/83911/special-sections/colorado-engineering-councils-top-awards/