Pursuit Dynamics (AIM:PDX) has signed an agreement with Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX) to install a full scale production version of its PDX Ethanol Reactor Tower (‘ERT’) at Pacific Ethanol’s facility in North East Oregon, USA. According to Pursuit Dynamics the PDX bioethanol system achieved a 14% increase in bioethanol yield when compared to existing methods of production at a US-based pilot plant in December 2007, whilst reducing overall fermentation time by over 20%. The system has also been specifically developed to be retrofittable to existing bioethanol production facilities.

The agreement with Pacific Ethanol has been structured such that both parties work together during a 90 day trial period, followed by a 180 day optimisation period. The agreement envisages revenues based on a percentage of benefits achieved, which become payable in the period following the successful completion of the 90 day trial.

Pursuit Dynamics expects to ship the PDX bioethanol system in March 2008 and fit it at Pacific Ethanol’s Boardman, Oregon plant with the trial period commencing by June 2008. The Boardman plant has been operating since August 2007 and has the capacity to produce 40 million gallons of bioethanol annually.

Neil Koehler, CEO of Pacific Ethanol, said: “We are excited by the potential of this technology to further enhance the efficiency of our production facilities. Pacific Ethanol is committed to leading the industry with a cutting edge plant network and this is exactly the kind of step-change process to deliver heightened benefits to both our shareholders and the environment.”

The production-scale PDX Ethanol Reactor Tower is a 5.7 metre high, 1,050kg in-line system installed between existing slurry and liquefaction tanks. The process is entirely physical, with no additional chemicals required.

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