Company Name
HCL Cleantech

Company Web Site
http://www.hclcleantech.com/

Headquarters
Israel

Latest News
June 2, 2009
HCL CleanTech, an Israel-based company that says it's found a new way to apply old technology to convert cellulose to sugars for biofuel production, has gotten a nod of approval from noted green technology backer Khosla Ventures and other investors.

Khosla and Burrill & Co. joined in the Series A round with HCL's previous seed investor Zohar Gilon, a managing partner of Israeli VC firm Tamar Ventures, and the company's founders, the company reported Monday.

While HCL did not disclose the size of the investment, Israel-based business news website Globes [online] put the amount at $5.5 million.

HCL says it has found a cost-effective way to apply a technology to use concentrated hydrochloric acid to convert cellulosic materials like wood waste into sugars. From there, converting sugars to biofuel is a well-known process.

HCL said it will use the Series A funding to continue research in Israel and to build a U.S. pilot plant next year. The company was founded in December 2007 by Israeli industrial chemical scientists Avraham Baniel and Ari Eyal.

Khosla Ventures'list of biofuel investments includes cellulosic ethanol makers Mascoma, Range Fuels, Coskata and Lanza, as well as so-called "future fuels" technology developers Amyris, LS9, Gevo and KiOR. (Khosla also backed corn-to-ethanol company Cilion, but doesn't talk about it much nowadays).

The Khosla-backed cellulosic ethanol startups have different angles for making cellulose into biofuel, with varying degrees of success (see Mascoma Starts Up Cellulosic Ethanol Demo Plant and Verenium Plans Cellulosic Ethanol Plant in Florida). Many engage in what's essentially a two-step process - turning cellulose into sugar, and taking that sugar and making it into biofuel.

HCL's approach - concentrating on turning cellulose into sugar - is part of what analysts see as a growing trend of companies choosing to specialize in separate parts of that process

Funding
At least $5.5 million from Khosla, Burrill & Co., Zohar Gilon, and the company's founders.

Technology
The HCL-CLEANTECH technology for HCl recovery from aqueous solutions that contain it provides for economic use of fuming hydrochloric acid to catalyze the hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose and, generally, all poly-carbohydrates to their constituent monomers. Hydrolysis yields are over 95% and Lignin solids are recovered practically intact. Laboratory check and engineering evaluation of production costs for any prospective feed are straightforward.

The overall scheme is outlined in the flow diagram. The recovery of hydrogen chloride as HCl gas is complete, ensuring its recycle to hydrolosis; concentration in hydrolysis can be maintained at an adjustable optimum. The water that the hydrolysate carries compensates for lignin wash-waters and for water contained in cellulosic feeds and thus eliminates the need for pre-drying.
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HCL CleanTech (http://www.hclcleantech.com), an Israeli company co founded by Prof. Avram Baniel and Prof. Ari Eyal has developed a proprietary full HCL recovery process, which makes an old, industrially-proven German Cellulosic to fermentable sugars and Ethanol process economically very attractive. The new technology can also "clean" and improve other HCL dependant industries. Modern Chemical technology makes the implementation straightforward and immediate.

The study and development of chemical processes which use acids for the conversion of Lignocellulosic material (biomass) to fermentable sugars and ethanol have been going on for about a century. The main reason none of them have been economically viable is that in most of them yields are low due to the formation of useless by-products at a significant percentage of the desired sugars. There is however one particular process that provides near 100% conversion to constituent sugars and that has been fully proven through years of operation on a large industrial scale. The only reason that this excellent process (usually named Bergius after its Nobel Prize winning developer) was used extensively only during World War II period were the high operating costs. The use of fuming acid (HCL gas) in the Bergius process ensures high yields, but the costs of recovery and reconcentration of the HCL has made the process costs too high for economic viability - until now.

HCL-CleanTech proprietary technology changes this Lignocellulosics to Ethanol process and makes it economically attractive by dramatically reducing the most costly part of the process. Recovering HCl in gaseous form directly from its solutions, by means of the HCL-CleanTech proprietary process provides for drastic costs reduction while preserving the high yields of the industrially proven Bergius cold hydrolysis.

This concept allows for a large variety of feedstock, requires very little water and is virtually self sufficient energetically. Calculations done by a US Chemical Engineering company in a study for HCL CleanTech indicate that costs per 1 gallon of Ethanol manufactured using this concept will be below $1 (US).

HCL CleanTech's technology for the recovery of HCl from aqueous solutions and industrial processes based on the core technology can provide complete acid recovery solutions to HCL dependent industries (such as the PVC industry). This would not only significantly reduce operating costs, but would make those industries far more environmentally friendly.