Centre-County Biofuel Company Partners with Erie-Based Firms to Produce Cost-Effective Biodiesel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  October 11, 2010

State College PA — Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania recently invested $140,000 to support the design, implementation, and testing of a continuous flow (5 gallons-per-minute) biodiesel production system.

The innovative approach taken by the design and development partners allows for the direct processing of low-quality feedstocks such as waste yellow grease.  The current production method, which has not proven to be economically feasible without government subsidy, typically uses expensive feedstock in the process.  The successful development of a process that utilizes lower quality feedstock and eliminates the time and expense of pre-treating is a significant breakthrough in this field.

An environmental engineering firm located in Centre County, Matson Biofuels, www.matsonbiofuels.com, has developed a continuous, solid catalyst to process the low quality feedstock and has partnered with two Erie, Pennsylvania companies:  Fluid Engineering www.fluideng.com and American Biodiesel Energy (ABE).  Fluid Engineering is working with Matson Biofuels as the EPC partner (engineering/procurement/construction) to design and build the complete system.

Fluid Engineering has 35 years experience designing and manufacturing pilot systems and filtration devices. The company holds ten United States patents, three international patents, six additional patents-pending, and five registered trademarks.  Currently, Fluid Engineering has representatives in 74 countries and plans to begin marketing this production method to a group of its select customers once the process and design have been fully tested.

American Biodiesel Energy (ABE) has agreed to be the initial installation site and upon completion of the system and optimization testing, the company will also house the commercial operation.

For further information, contact:

Jim Kosco/ Ben Franklin Technology PArtners CNP
814-898-6539
jimkosco@psu.edu