technology 
For many years, oxygenates, and in particular MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether) have been required as additives to gasoline. Oxygenates raise the oxygen content of gasoline and allow it to burn more completely, thus reducing harmful tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles. MTBE in particular has been used in U.S. gasoline at low levels since 1979 to replace tetra-ethyl lead as an octane enhancer and to help prevent engine knocking. However, health, environmental, and other factors led to an increased unpopularity and eventually the outright banning (by the EPA) of MTBE in over 20 states including New York and California. (A list of all states currently banning or phasing out MTBE can be found at: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/mtbeban/table1.html).
The potential market demand for an MTBE replacement in the U.S. will be greater than 1 billion gallons per year by 2005 which presents an enormous opportunity for the current industrial infrastructure. Ethanol replacement will reduce this need, however, CPS Biofuels believes that ethanol fuel replacement of the existing U.S. automotive fleet is unrealistic. Currently over 90% of ethanol production in the U.S. and Canada comes from traditional grain fermentation processes using corn, wheat, and barley. In the case of ethanol production, glycerol is a byproduct, and for biomass conversion to biofuel, glycerol byproducts also occur.
In considering possible alternatives for MTBE, one must also keep in mind the broader picture, and the popular political vision for the future of American fuel: the growth in use of “E85”, that is, a fuel which is 85% ethanol and only 15% gasoline (by volume). Such a fuel has the advantages of being largely renewable and domestically producible. E85 also has environmental benefits over traditional gasoline. However, downsides exist as well. Ethanol is more expensive than gasoline: on average E85 currently sells at a 30% premium over traditional 87 octane unleaded (measured on a BTU basis by the Alternative Fuel Index). E85 is less efficient for nearly all cars on the road today, because one gallon of E85 contains less energy than does one gallon of gasoline. In flexible-fuel vehicles (FFVs) produced before 2003, fuel economy is reduced about 30% when using E85. In those produced since then, it is reduced by about half as much (15%). Thus, unless new vehicles are made with larger gas tanks, drivers will be forced to fill their car’s fuel tank more often when using E85. Ethanol in general is not an optimal fuel for today's engines. Ethanol requires higher compression engines to burn optimally, so without modifying the engines, even the slightest amount of ethanol added can impact fuel economy and performance (this effect is further exaggerated in colder climates). Therefore, even using ethanol as an oxygenate in a standard engine (to replace MTBE) can present these issues. CPS believes that ethanol will be one of the key fuels to ween the world from petroleum, however, to use ethanol properly these new engines must be developed and marketed which will take many years.
The potential market demand for diesel and gasoline replacement in the U.S. is approaching 1 billion gallons per day. Ethanol has been purposed to replace around 15% of the gasoline volume. From our estimates, Biodiesel may replace 5% of the diesel market in the U.S. To date, vegetable oil based products have not been purposed to replace gasoline. CPS technology enables one to convert vegetable oil to products that work in today's gasoline engines, while using byproducts from both the biodiesel and ethanol industries.
CPS technology focuses on an entirely different production path from today's grain ethanol producers, i.e., CPS Biofuels Processing. Large agricultural processors can provide a relatively large amount of vegetable oil, which can be converted entirely to glycerol and free fatty acids. The glycerol can then be converted to Fischer-Tropsch product (low molecular weight olefins), and the fatty acids can be converted to paraffins. Large oil and petrochemical producers can provide a relatively large amount of low molecular weight olefins. Molecular averaging of low and high molecular weight olefins provides products in the distillate fuel range. Combined, the low molecular weight olefins derived from natural gas and glycerol, and the paraffins derived from decarboxylated fatty acids can provide a greater market penetration than either by itself. CPS can potentially revolutionize the biofuel industry by leveraging these two industries and our patent pending processes.
The basic CPS Biofuels synthesis process comprises 5 basic steps:
1. Triglyceride hydrolysis
2. Fatty acid decarboxylation
3. Conversion of glycerol to olefins
4. Molecular averaging of high and low molecular weight hydrocarbons
5. Converting glycerol to glycerol ethers and or olefins (MTBE substitutes)
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