Jatro Renewables, Inc845 North Main Street, Miamisburg, Ohio, United States

Jatro Renewables is a 14-year old integrated engineering and manufacturing company in the chemical mass transfer processing industry specializing in biofuels technologies and primarily on biodiesel and renewable diesel. Jatro Renewables is capable of designing and building biofuels plants from as small as 5 million to 200 million gallons per year capacities (a plant’s nameplate).

• Jatro Renewables was founded in 2004 with partners
• Built first biodiesel plant near Dayton, OH and operated four years
• 2007 began installing biodiesel plants and mass transfer modular systems
• 2010 adapted “esterification” to allow use of lower cost oils containing up to 15% free fatty acid (FFA). Typically, only to 3% FFA could be processed.
• By 2012 the company developed a patented technology using Supercritical theory to process oils with up to 100% FFA
• Supercritical process lowers opex by about 35%
• Supercritical process provides for the use of inexpensive high FFA oils such as trap grease, jatropha and off spec. high FFA oils
• In 2015 company began offering a wider range of engineering services
• 2016, the first biodiesel plant using Supercritical technology was commissioned in Illinois and owned by CHS, Inc. and is co-located with a 110 million gallon per year (MMgy) ethanol plant
• Another Supercritial plant is under construction at a 59MMgy ethanol plant. In 2017 the project was awarded a $3.8m grant from California Energy Commission.
• In 2017 Jatro Renewables began offering a patented Renewable Hydrocarbon Diesel (ASTM D975) plant. One commercial system is currently running (since 2016) and another (formerly operating) has been moved to another location and currently under construction
• 19 biodiesel plants built and operating since 2004.

U.S. Based Company

With headquarters in Miamisburg (near Dayton) Ohio, Jatro Renewables’ team of engineers have decades of industrial experience and knowledge, these competencies include process design; equipment design; process equipment manufacturing; system integration; plant design; plant modification; automation; and, turn-key project management for a complete biofuels plant from design to construction through operator training and system commissioning. On a consultancy basis, Jatro Renewables offers  process consultancy; developing or co-developing new technologies, and case studies.

New Technologies (reduce cost, expand feedstocks)

• Supercritical Biodiesel - For customers in the U.S., Canada and overseas the company has built or re-engineered many greenfield and existing biodiesel plants using economical modular and component process designs. However, it’s the heart of the process that counts, and in 2016 the company’s first commercial use of “Supercritical” technology for producing biodiesel was introduced and commissioned at a plant in Illinois. The hallmark for adopting Supercritical is no catalyst is used saving  chemical costs and increasing the market value of the by-product glycerin. However, more importantly the process allows 100%  free fatty acid (FFA) feedstocks to be processed which greatly expands the choice and typically at far less cost.
• Renewable Diesel  - (also referred to as Drop-in Diesel or Green Diesel) Jatro Renewables offers a complete, commercially proven biofuels plant that produces renewable diesel. The system includes a steam methane reformer to produce the needed hydrogen to keep the main reactors cool. Producing renewable diesel employs “hydroprocessing” to convert the same types of feedstocks used for making biodiesel and with the same capability to handle up to 100% FFA feedstocks. A plant in the midwest has been operational for since December 2016; another ran for two years and was recently repositioned and is currently being reestablished (2018).  

The Modular Advantage

Modular construction of plants are essentially complete process units, pre-fabricated, to the maximum extent possible, in a module fabrication shop remote from the customer’s plant site. By integrating key aspects of a job (design, fabrication, and installation) it allows Jatro Renewables to have closer control over an entire project’s value chain from plant permitting through start-up and commissioning, and managed this way projects typically have a far better chance of coming in on schedule and budget.  If an entire plant is envisioned, regardless of size, a typical pre-fabricated modular system can include the columns (in sections), reactors, decanters, heat exchangers, pumps and various types of process equipment to be mounted within steel frame structures or on skids. What can not be contained on a skid or frame, is transported to the customer’s site separately for installation and integration there (such as feedstock and finished fuel storage tanks).

Complete System Capability

After all process equipment is installed within the frame structure (or separately on-site), piping components, field instrumentation and electrical wiring are completed.  Also, tracing, thermal insulation, lighting, control system and safety and fire protection systems are installed in the module at the assembly shop phase. Testing is conducted of all components before shipment to the customer’s site, and their mechanical specifications and guidelines are followed closely to insure that the system will meet all customer requirements.

Supercritical Biodiesel 

The Supercritical (Super™) biodiesel process is patented and was developed by Jatro Renewables over a two year period.  The process differs substantially from “traditional” methods of producing biodiesel in that it uses no catalyst and is able to process up to 100% free fatty acid (FFA) feedstocks.  The process is also easy to operate as without the catalyst no soap can form eliminating the clean-up labor and system down time cost.  Also, by not needing a catalyst, the by-product glycerin (8-11% of total production) is worth about double the value of glycerin produced at traditional biodiesel facilities.  The Super™ process reacts the feedstock and methanol at approx. 700C. and under about 2,700 psi pressure.  Final distillation removes sterols and metal contaminates and renders the biodiesel perfectly clear.