US DOE: News update

Manufacturing internships

Applications are now being accepted for the new Advanced Manufacturing Internship program. Pellissippi State Community College, Knoxville, TN, developed the curriculum for Veterans with funding from the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO). The new course will engage 20 students for three semesters, provide, access to 3D printers, and supplement the class work with paid internships at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and local companies. A ceremony was held on 15 August to recognise the first 24 participants in the pilot internship program.

Consideration will be given to active and former US military servicemen and women, US FIRST Robotics participants, undergraduate students, and recent AAS/BS graduates. Participants must commit to the full, one year program. DOE is also looking at opportunities to replicate the program elsewhere in the USA, especially where military bases and community colleges can collaborate to train transitioning service members.

Project LIBERTY

DSM’s Project LIBERTY in Emmetsburg, Iowa, will celebrate its grand opening on September 3, becoming the first commercial scale cellulosic ethanol plant to use corn waste as a feedstock. Developed through a joint venture between POET LLC in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the DSM Royal, a Dutch enzyme manufacturer, the project uses biochemical conversion technologies to convert cellulosic biomass into transportation fuels.

The US DOE has supported Project LIBERTY since 2007, with an initial US$ 12.1 million grant for the design, construction, and operation of a cellulosic ethanol facility using corn waste, corncobs, and a biochemical conversion process. In 2012, Project LIBERTY was awarded an additional US$ 87.8 million DOE grant to allow the project to begin construction. The Bioenergy Technology Office (BETO) provided cost shared funding for POET to design, build, operate, and validate the technology and project.

The project will have an output of 20 million gal./y of cellulosic ethanol from corncobs, leaves, husks, and corn stalk harvested by local farmers in a 30 – 40 mils radius of the plant, creating enough energy to power the facility, as well as co located bioethanol plant. Project LIBERTY is co located with POET’s existing corn ethanol plant to allow the facilities to share staff and infrastructure, thereby improving economies of scale.

Edited from press releases by Claira Lloyd

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/01092014/us-doe-news-1-sept/