Green Star showing its biodiesel reactor - sort of

Green Star Products of Chula Vista, California, on the outskirts of San Diego, has set up a showcase facility to display what it calls new proprietary biodiesel processing reactor technology.

But don't try to just drop by unannounced.

Due to the proprietary nature of its method, the company says, its unique reactors and control modules are only being showcased to the media and qualified joint venture partners who have signed non-disclosure agreements.

"We didn't have a lot of security at our plant in Bakersfield," Green Star President Joseph LaStella told the Cleantech Group. "People have done crazy things, like sneaking in at night, trying to take pictures."

What's got over one hundred companies in four months, according to LaStella, interested in its reactors and biodiesel plants?

Green Star claims its devices can process agricultural oils, including oil derived from algae through separate processes, into biodiesel ten times faster than known conventional processes. Each reactor can produce 10-million gallons of biodiesel per year, the company says.

"A regular reactor takes between an hour and an hour and a half to turn feedstock into biodiesel. We're doing it in less than 10 minutes."

One of the secrets, according to LaStella, is a continuous twenty-gallons-a-minute flow through the reactor, and new modern efficient heat exchangers that reuse the same heat over and over again. The system is totally closed, he said, producing no emission and requiring no water, therefore no air or water permits are needed, easing local approval processes.

These, plus other innovations LaStella was reluctant to detail, should yield a biodiesel cost per gallon from the reactors in the neighborhood of 30-40 cents, he said.

"We're showing the basics of it at our facility. It's not all of it, but it's the heart of the system."

Other companies, such as the larger and better-funded Imperium Renewables of Seattle (read the Cleantech Group's coverage of Imperium here), have also been exploring new ways to use technology to lower the capital and operational costs of biodiesel from agricultural oils.

The showcase facility was partially funded by Asian joint venture partners, said Green Star, who have also purchased three reactors which are currently being fabricated at the company's Glenns Ferry, Idaho facility.

Green Star is the company that entered into an agreement with de Beers Fuel of South Africa to build 90 reactor units over the next 18 months (see the Cleantech Group's Biofuel from algae startup on shaky ground.) While it has been involved with biofuels for some time, this is Green Star's first major scale proprietary technology development and manufacturing.

Green Star does not offer its plants or reactors for sale. Its plan is to enter into joint venture arrangements with customers who become the company's operating partners in each facility.

"We're a technology company. We want to build what we know best. Local partners will do all the grunt work we don't want to do. I don't want to put railroad sidings in. I don't need to build feedstock tanks or boilers," said LaStella.

Green Star has been resisting the temptation to simply sell its reactors for standalone uses.

"I've turned down some of the biggest companies in the United States. I won't mention names, but they're Fortune 500 companies."