Centre of Excellence

Print this page

In May 2008, GreenField’s Centre of Excellence in Engineering, Technology, and Research and Development opened in Chatham, Ontario.

The Centre contains a pilot unit of continuous hydrolysis and fermentation, as well as analytical lab space capable of supporting up to 12 continuous mashing and fermentation experiments.

The GreenField Engineering and Technology (GET) group at the Centre of Excellence has two main research goals:

1. Integrating new technology into the existing ethanol production process

According to Natural Resources Canada, the ethanol production process creates up to 55 per cent more energy than it consumes. This positive energy balance is expected to improve by up to 25 per cent over the next decade. At GreenField these improvements are already in progress.

Some of the group’s achievements include:

• increasing ethanol yield by genetically modifying industrial yeast to eliminate the need for keeping one fermentation column empty for cleaning purposes at the Chatham facility
• partnering with Vaperma to test its energy saving membrane technology at the Tiverton and Chatham facilities
• investigating new enzyme technologies to reduce energy costs and optimize the continuous bio-refinery process

2. Refining the biochemical conversion of plant fibers into cellulosic ethanol

GreenField’s research team is employing a unique approach to simplifying a commercially viable production process for cellulosic ethanol. They are meeting challenges in the areas of pre-treatment, enzymatic digestion and fermentation.

Their experiments include:

• discovering new enzyme conditions
• conducting advanced laboratory research on various types and combinations of feedstocks
• adapting hydrolysis and fermentation processes