Providing services for a Cellulosic Ethanol Demonstration Plant

Verenium Corporation, a leader in the commercialization of the production of biofuels, chose AMEC to provide a wide range of professional services at its 1.4 million gallon-per-year demonstration plant in Jennings, Louisiana. The Jennings plant will allow Verenium to demonstrate the commercial viability of their patented technology on a variety of feedstocks, including bagasse (sugar cane waste), energy cane and wood.

We’re proud to have a role in America’s first commercial demonstration scale, cellulosic ethanol plant. Through our assistance with site development, permitting, engineering, construction, and commissioning, we are helping Verenium make it happen in cellulosic ethanol."

James Reed
Business Manager

AMEC prepared the air permit application, conducted the critical issues review and negotiated the terms of the air permit. Because of our expertise in processing cellulosic materials and our reputation for achieving consistent project results in the chemical process industry, AMEC was selected to assist with site development, feasibility studies, process engineering, procurement, construction management, commissioning and start-up.

AMEC also assisted with the development of standard operating procedures, training manuals and operator training. AMEC’s training provides safety-driven production techniques to foster the highest performance possible from both facility staff and systems.

Verenium operates a Pilot Plant at the Jennings site, and AMEC provided process engineering and project / maintenance management services to support onsite research and development activities. Based on the experience with the Pilot and Demonstration Plants, AMEC was engaged to conduct conceptual design and preliminary engineering to scale up Verenium’s technology for a large-scale cellulosic ethanol plant.