Renewable chemical semi-works production facility for Segetis fully operational
Major Milestone Hit in Record Time
Minneapolis, Minnesota - (February 23, 2009) - Segetis, Inc. today has announced that its semi-works production facility, based in Minneapolis, is fully operational and is producing- green chemicals suitable for development and further commercialization. At its full capacity, the facility will produce up to 250,000 pounds per year of chemicals and chemical building blocks sourced from rapidly renewable resources.
Since June of 2008, Segetis has progressed from lab scale synthesis to engineering, designing and building a semi-works manufacturing facility that is producing materials for targeted applications. "The rapid development of these renewable chemical products is a testament to the strength of our technology and team," stated Jim Stoppert, President and CEO, Segetis, Inc. "The successful start up of our semi-works facility enables us to now move quickly into targeted, larger scale trials for products like polyol and plasticizers."
"Our manufacturing does not require fermentation, so our capital needs are below those of competing bio platforms and improves our speed to market, stated Sergey Selifonov, Segetis founder and Chief Scientific Officer and the inventor of Segetis technology." This manufacturing process enables the company to reach our vision of combining biomass derived carbohydrate building blocks, like levulinic acid and glycerol, to create entirely new chemical products."
"We have engineered and built a manufacturing process that enables us to participate in numerous global applications and markets," said Steve Donen, Director, Process Engineering and Development, Segetis. "A thermochemical conversion transforms these low-value inputs into novel and highly functional materials that deliver performance criteria desired by multiple market sectors"
In addition to building its semi-works manufacturing facility, Segetis has expanded its manufacturing and commercialization leadership team by appointing Steve Donen Director, Process Engineering and Development, Snehal Desai, Business Vice President and Dr. Cora Leibig, Ph.D, Director of Product and Application development.
About Segetis
Segetis delivers versatile, cost-effective chemical building blocks that harness the power and reliability of renewable resources. Our novel materials offer new functionality and competitive economics relevant to multiple billion-dollar markets. Segetis technology perfectly complements the emerging global biorefinery landscape and fundamentally changes the chemicals industry by moving it to a lower carbon footprint with products that replace the embedded petroleum in everyday items.
For more information, please visit www.segetis.com.
For More Information:
Steve Halsey
Gibbs & Soell
(212) 697-2600
