Guiding Scale-up of Sustainable Technologies

an interview with Michael Schultz published first at Proofing Future: Bridging People + Ideas on 15 Aug 2022

“I help companies navigate the bumpy road of scale-up, providing process development services to validate key technical concepts, optimize the right parameters, and derisk the technology. I also enjoy working with clients to build capability. Going beyond producing deliverables, I view a project as a success, if I can transfer my knowledge and learnings so that I am finally no longer needed,” says Dr. Michael Schultz, Principal at PTI Global Solutions.

Dr. Michael Schultz enjoys the challenge of solving difficult engineering problems to reduce carbon footprint and to deliver economic value. As Managing Director of PTI Global Solutions, Michael works with companies in the sustainable technology space to help accelerate commercialization, reduce risk, and get the greatest value from these great ideas. 

Previously, Michael held positions at LanzaTech, Battelle Science and Technology Malaysia, and UOP, leading process R&D and scale-up across a broad range of chemical and biological technology areas.  Michael holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts.  He received the 2015 EPA Greener Synthetic Pathway award from the US EPA and the 2005 Haden Freeman Award for Engineering Excellence from IChemE.  Mike has been granted more than 45 US Patents in his career.

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Contact Michael Schultz with your interest in Scale-up of Sustainable Technologies.

Sebastian Klemm: You recently presented “Practical Guidelines for Scale-up of Sustainable Technologies” at the Process Development Symposium in Philadelphia. What are the cornerstones of these guiding principles of yours?

Michael Schultz: The challenges with scale-up of sustainable technology are to effectively reduce the time, cost and risk of scale-up. These are often competing objectives.

Typically, the scale-up timeline is the most critical of these. Often we must accept some risk to move quickly. The key is to understand risks, mitigate where possible, perhaps with some strategic overdesign and investing in R&D at all stages of scale-up.

To effectively move quickly while managing risk, we need creative engineering, effective experimental programs with critical data gathering at each stage, and useful modeling efforts. 

Sebastian Klemm: How can you concretely support companies through scale-up challenges of new products & process technologies?

Michael Schultz: I help companies navigate the bumpy road of scale-up, providing process development services to validate key technical concepts, optimize the right parameters, and derisk the technology.

I am currently working with a company producing a novel polymer additive as they look to scale-up their technology. Having proven product manufacture at the lab scale, I am working with them to define and build their process technology at larger scales.

I also help clients better assess and understand their technology, by providing an internal engineering review of their technology, and guiding the team in a scale-up risk assessment. 

I also enjoy working with clients to build capability. Going beyond producing deliverables, I view a project as a success, if I can transfer my knowledge and learnings so that I am finally no longer needed! 

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Sebastian Klemm: How do you think the Inflation Reduction Act just passed in the U.S. can help turn the tide in favor of investing in sustainable technologies and clean energy solutions?

Michael Schultz: The Inflation Reduction Act[1] provides a number of financial mechanisms to stimulate further adoption of clean energy and sustainable technology in the United States.

The IRA is a predominately technology neutral approach, providing incentives across sectors such as power (wind, solar, nuclear), electric vehicles, transportation fuels, clean hydrogen, buildings and households. The IRA also provides much greater incentives for US manufactured content and prevailing wage requirements, providing a mechanism for US based manufacturing jobs to support this growth in clean energy.

Sebastian Klemm: Could you elaborate on how the scale-up of sustainable technologies interfaces with financial instruments?

Michael Schultz: The most successful sustainable technology scale-up efforts rely on many financial instruments to support scale-up and commercialization.

This can include grants from various public and private sources, joint development partnerships, venture capital funding, and for larger, first of its kind demonstration or commercial projects, specialized loan programs to support project capital investment.

In the past, I have provided technical due diligence support for various organizations making financial transactions in sustainable technology. This has included the US Department of Energy – reviewing applications for funding to support pilot and demonstration projects for the production of next generation biofuels, the US National Science Foundation – evaluating applications for early stage projects for sustainable chemicals, and a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) who was pursuing an acquisition of a commercial, or nearly commercial stage company in the sustainable technology space.

I am currently working with an early stage company with a novel technology for producing petrochemical alternatives from renewable feedstocks. I am helping them develop a process design for a pilot plant, and using this as a basis to estimate a preliminary, order of magnitude capital cost. This cost estimate will enable my client to plan and evaluate options to determine the best approach for financing for this project.

For each of these assignments it has been critical for me to assess the state of the technology in question, review technical and financial projections, and provide an assessment of any technical risk that should be taken under consideration.

Sebastian Klemm: You just recently completed a book chapter themed “Process Scale-up for Bioproducts: Enabling the Emerging Circular Economy”. Which particularities and crunch points do you address?

Michael Schultz: This chapter addresses the emergence of fuel, chemical, and food products produced from biobased feedstocks, using biobased catalysis and a combination of both of these elements. Similarities and differences in the scale-up of bioproducts compared to the scale-up of more conventional thermochemical processes using petroleum-based feedstocks will be presented, along with a case study and commercial success stories for the scale-up of bioproducts.

We see opportunities to contribute to a circular economy by producing products from renewable feedstocks and waste carbon. Challenges associated with the scale-up of bioproducts include:

• the availability of feedstock

• the lack of established data and a knowledge base for these new technologies

• new optimization criteria that include metrics such as carbon intensity and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors

However, with recent success stories such as the growth in drop-in, bio-based transportation fuels such as Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and renewable diesel, new bioproducts such as polylactic acid (PLA) and bio-based replacements of conventional petrochemicals such as  1,4 butanediol and 1,3 propanediol (precursors to many polymers and other materials we use every day), the future is bright for continued growth in bioproducts.

For instance, the European Bioplastics Organization estimates that the global production of bioplastics will increase from 2.4 million tons in 2021 to 7.5 million tons by 2026.[2] Production of bio-based transportation fuels[3] such as biodiesel, renewable diesel, ethanol, and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)[4] is expected to increase as well in the coming years.

Sign up to meet Dr. Michael Schultz on August 25 to discuss “Financial Instruments for Scale-up of Sustainable Technologies”

Contact Dr. Michael Schultz with your interest in Scale-up of Sustainable Technologies..

References

↑1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation_Reduction_Act_of_2022↑

2https://www.european-bioplastics.org/global-bioplastics-production-will-more-than-triple-within-the-next-five-years/↑

3https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/global-biofuel-production-in-2019-and-forecast-to-2025↑

4https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/pages/SAF.aspx

Practical Technology Scaleup

The Key to Launching Sustainable Technology

We are in the midst of a global crisis with the need to reduce carbon across all industries in order to limit global warming to 1.5 deg C above pre-industrial levels, as established in The Paris Agreement[1].  This drives a need for breakthrough technologies across all industries that can both reduce carbon and create value.  We can draw on past experience to reduce the time, cost and risk of technology scaleup, through some guidelines and practices that are the key to Practical Technology Scaleup.   This increases the chance of success for individual technologies and will enable us as a society to meet these aggressive climate targets. 

I have had the chance to scale-up and launch new products and technologies across a range of industries including sustainable fuels, renewable chemicals, bioprocessing, petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, distillation, and catalysis, and in my 23 years of industrial experience have developed a series of rules and guidelines to scaling and launching new technology.  The challenge with each has been to:

·       reduce technology risk

·       reduce time to market

·       reduce cost

·       maximize value

These are often competing objectives, and usually reducing time to market and reducing risk win out.  Of course, if the capital and operating cost are too high then we will not be successful, so we cannot ignore these criteria either.   

It is critical to ‘start with the end in mind’ using a Technology Concept (or Process Concept) that is used as a framework to drive new technology development, scale-up and commercialization.  This technology concept is not set in stone, and, in fact, should be reviewed and updated as we progress throughout the scale-up effort.  We establish the technology concept to drive the scale-up effort, not just inform it. This then enables us to direct the innovation to create the greatest value from breakthrough and disruptive ideas, as we identify challenges early, fail fast when it is cheaper and quicker, and make sure our efforts are focused on solving commercially relevant problems.

The technology concept is developed, and iteratively revised, through a combination of Creative Process Engineering, Multi-scale Experimental Data, and Modeling and Analysis. 

Creative Process Engineering:  The flow scheme is developed, the material balance is estimated, and key process design decisions are identified so that we can establish the best process flowsheet for the technology.  

Modeling & Analysis:  A good model can save time and $$ in the lab.  Coupled with the right analysis, this can be used to prioritize objectives in the lab, pilot, and demo units.   Cautionary note--useful models are more important than perfect models!

Experimental Data:  We need the right data to prove out breakthrough ideas, secure partners and investors, and develop engineering data for equipment design.  Mutli-scale data is critical to this effort, and with good planning, multiple assets and external resources can be leveraged.

The key benefits to this approach are:

•               Prioritization of R&D to de-risk and optimize a new technology.

•               Identification of cost reduction opportunities throughout the scale-up effort.

•               Anticipation of engineering needs as early as possible. 

In this way we can reduce risk and optimize economics of our new design, while efficiently managing the time and cost of our efforts.

In future posts I will elaborate on the key concepts presented in this introduction. 

[1] https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement

Fake it 'Till You Make It? Better Yet, Understand Your Risks

Great read here on #Theranos and the recent fraud charges filed by the SEC.  The 'fake it till you make it' culture is real, not only in Silicon Valley but with inventors across the world.  Early in my career I had the opportunity to co-develop a first of its kind distillation technology.  The lead engineer on the project, and inspiration behind the idea said we had to find all of the curmudgeons in the company who could tell us what we were doing wrong.  After several humbling working sessions that left me licking my wounds we were able to address their concerns and ultimately come up with a more robust product.  Lesson learned--if you don't know what's wrong with your idea, someone else will figure it out.   Startups and inventors owe it to themselves, their employees, their investors, and their partners to understand the risks and better yet explain what you are doing to mitigate those risks.