Hillsborough Alternative Energy Company Underwriting Princeton Study

It's almost an energy-dream-come-true: a source of low-cost, cleaner fuel that already fits into the developed petroleum distribution system and internal combustion engines.

But if Hillsborough-based Primus Green Energy is going to succeed in getting widespread adoption of its system for converting natural or methane gas to a high-octane—but cleaner burner—substitute for the gasoline in your car, the company will need to prove its method of gas-to-liquid (GTL) technology is not only sustainable but also economically viable.

To help find out, the company recently announced a grant to Princeton University's Christodoulos Floudas, Ph.D., an expert in chemical process systems engineering, with a specific emphasis on process synthesis and design, interaction of process design and control and process operations.

Dr. Floudas is conducting studies on synthetic fuels, including Primus' STG+ technology which the company says provides a replacement for high-octane gas and jet fuel that's ready to use. The company—which is currently building a demonstration plant at its Homestead Road headquarters—says it can produce the fuel for the equivalent of $65 per barrel, compared to petroleum's current price of more than $90 per barrel.

“Primus’ STG+ platform is a next-generation gas-to-liquids technology that has the potential to have a significant impact on process efficiency standards and economic viability in the alternative fuels industry,” Dr. Floudas, Princeton’s Stephen C. Macaleer ’63 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science, said. “As part of my research, I will be comparing STG+ to other leading GTL platforms against a variety of metrics, including financial, technical and sustainability.”

Primus' George Boyajian, vice president of business development, said the company looks for ways to support acadmic research on key issues that affect the company's planning, and noted Floudas is a leading expert in the field.

“We believe that his research will play a key role in identifying important developments and financial differentiators among GTL technologies, especially as they relate to our STG+ technology,” he said.

Floudas' research earned him the 2001 Professional Progress Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the 2006 Computing in Chemical Engineering Award from the CAST Division of AIChE, and the Presidential Young Investigator award from the National Science Foundation. He was elected in 2011 to the National Academy of Engineering.

Primus says its STG+ technology converts synthetic gas derived from natural gas and/or biomass into "drop-in" high-octane gasoline and jet fuel with "industry-leading process efficiencies," and that the fuels "are very low in sulfur and benzene compared to fuels produced from petroleum."

Importantly, unlike most other cleaner alternatives to petroleum-based fuels, the fuel produced by Primus can be burned in an engine as regular fuel without modification to the engine, and can be transported via existing fuel delivery infrastructure, such as trucks and pipelines.

Primus' Hillsborough demonstration plant is expected to be completed before the end of June, and the company expects to break ground on its first commercial plant in the first half of 2014.