See Publish Article at Brevardbusinessnews.com
John Sessa, an electrical engineer and local entrepreneur, has teamed with a
renowned plasma physicist in France to form Florida Syngas LLC, a start–up
business in Melbourne that has created a technology that converts waste glycerol — a green, renewable product — to electricity.
John Sessa, an electrical engineer and local entrepreneur, has teamed with a
renowned plasma physicist in France to form Florida Syngas LLC, a start–up
business in Melbourne that has created a technology that converts waste glycerol — a green, renewable product — to electricity.
“There is an interesting nexus happening in the marketplace with glycerol, of which there is a worldwide glut,” he says. “We’re capitalizing on a rising waste product created by the biodiesel industry. The biodiesel industry is starting to ramp up because America wants renewable energy. We are creating a clean, synthesis gas, which is a term
loosely applied to any combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.”

The production of synthesis gas has become something of a hot topic over the past few years. New technologies are changing the baseline economics of syngas production, making it an attractive feedstock for chemical synthesis and for the production of super–clean liquid fuels.

Florida Syngas plans to build generators that will produce distributed electrical energy. These will be small, stand–alone electric–generation units. Glycerol will be turned into synthesis gas, which the generator will convert into electricity.

The practice of installing and operating electric–generating equipment at or near the site where power is used is known as “distributed generation,” Sessa said. The process provides electricity to customers on–site or supports a distribution network, “connecting to the grid at distribution–level voltages.”

The traditional model of electricity generation in the U.S. consists of building and operating large power plants, transmitting the power over distances and then having it delivered though local utility–distribution systems.

Sessa said the generators will be sold to the distributed–energy market, such as biodiesel plants, among other potential customers, including Homeland Security. “I believe there is incredible potential to grow this venture,” said Sessa, whose company is looking to raise capital from investors. “We want to have energy that is self– sustaining and gets us off foreign oil. This isn’t a panacea, but it can be a small part of the solution in helping America become energy–independent.”

Glycerol is used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and candies. He says the biodiesel industry throws off glycerol by a 10–to–1 ratio. “For example, if you produce 555 gallons of biodiesel, you’ve also made 55 gallons of glycerol.”

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that can be manufactured from vegetable oils and animal fats. “Europe is several years ahead of the United States in the biodiesel arena. They are trying to find new ways to use glycerol,” he said. There are biodiesel plants in the Midwest and the Southwest. “We have a couple starting in Florida, too. One is in Lakeland.”

Florida Syngas, an abbreviation for synthesis gas, is a consortium of two companies — Sessa’s Brevard Research Inc. and Etudes Chimiques et Physiques (ECP), a French enterprise founded by Dr. Albin Czernichowski. “He’s one of the world’s experts on electrically generated plasma physics, which is one of the techniques we’re using to create the plasma. It helps reform the glycerol molecule to gas. We will use a very specialized and shaped electric field to rip apart the molecule,” said Sessa. The trademarked phrase is “Brute Force Physics.”

Sessa met Dr. Czernichowski at the National Hydrogen Association Symposium about 18 months ago in California. At the symposium, Dr. Czernichowski showed the audience pictures of a generator he had built. “He was standing on stage with a group of doctorate–degree holders showing photographs of the first ‘bread board,’ so to speak, he had built. It was an interesting apparatus.” Sessa says he built one in his garage using Dr. Czernichowski’s “techniques and methodology.”

Now they plan to manufacture a full–blown 100– kilowatt generator. “We are going to take glycerol and turn it into a synthesis gas, and then create electricity with this machine,” said Sessa, who recently traveled to south France to meet with co–founder Dr. Czernichowski at their company’s laboratory.

He adds, “Florida Syngas will first market the generator to biodiesel producers because we believe it will make their operations more efficient. They have all this waste product taking up inventory space. It has no value. Now, all of a sudden, it’s going to be making electrical energy and their plant is going to become more cost–effective. We see the biodiesel producers as our beachhead market.”

Initial pricing has been set at $120,000 per unit. Equipment costs for distributed–energy technologies are often quoted in terms of their cost per kilowatt of electricity produced, Sessa said. “Presently, distributed– energy equipment sells for $1,200 per kilowatt. Our product launch is going to be a 100–kilowatt unit, which comes in at $120,000 using the standard pricing model.”

With distributed generators, “you can back feed the grid regardless of where you are,” Sessa says. “In addition to having available power when hurricanes come through a region, you can energize a grid.” The state has mandated that designated gasoline stations along hurricane–escape routes have independent electrical–generation capability. “This kind of equipment could do the job. It could be used as a standby generator, too.”

The unit will stand about five–feet high. Since Florida Syngas focuses on engineering, quality control and sales, Sessa said his company will outsource all the assembly and machining to local businesses. Florida Syngas believes it can turn out a 5–kilowatt “proof–of– concept” generator within nine months. “We’re moving along at a good pace. We have created synthesis gas from glycerol. Now, we’re in the process of building the 5–kilowatt power generator, in preparation for building the 100–kilowatt beta unit that we expect to have in less than a year.”

Domestic electricity demand is projected to soar in the U.S. over the next 20 years, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Demand could increase by as much as 54 percent in 2030. “The market potential is huge for Florida Syngas,” said Sessa. His business is projecting to have 118 employees by 2011. He recently completed the “Roadmap to Success” workshop series put on by the Technological Research and Development Authority in Melbourne. The six–week program, taught by “serial entrepreneurs,” helps participants build financial and marketing models.

Florida Syngas is seeking $2.5 million from “accredited” investors. These are investors who have more than $1 million in net worth, as certified by the IRS. “We would love to have a couple of ‘angels’ who are familiar with the distributed–energy market. They could help make things happen quicker,” he said. Like venture capitalists, angel investors usually focus their attention within a specific company–growth segment or industry. Florida Syngas is also looking to hire a marketing director, “preferably someone who has experience in the energy fields.”

Distributed generation’s “claim to fame” is peak shaving, Sessa said. “When you have an industrial location or a large commercial location, they have to pay their electrical energy based on peak usage. They have a tiered structure of what they pay for kilowatt–hours.” When consumption goes over a particular threshold, the peak price of electricity is much higher, he said. “To reduce costs, they buy peak–shaving equipment, and we’ll be selling to them. We’ll have a market advantage because our fuel is glycerol, a green, renewable product.”

Glycerol, which is used in soap, toothpaste, shampoo and candy, has multiple names including glycerine and glycerin. There is an oversupply of glycerol in the United States and its price has plummeted.

“In 2003,” Sessa said, “glycerol was 93 cents a pound in the United States. In 2007, it’s 6 cents a pound (or 63 cents a gallon) and nobody wants it. There is a global glut of glycerol. In 1995, and in prior years, there was a supply–and–demand balance of glycerol being produced in the U.S.” Glycerol production in the U.S. averages more than 350,000 tons per year. In Europe, its production has tripled over the past decade to 600,000 tons a year, he said.