Gaming Realms Regulatory News (GMR)

10 Jan 2008 07:01

Pursuit Dynamics PLC10 January 2008 10 January 2008 Pursuit Dynamics plc ("Pursuit Dynamics" or "the Company") Biofuels Update - External and Commercial Validation Pursuit Dynamics plc (AIM: PDX), the developer and exploiter of the PDX platformtechnology, is pleased to provide an update on the progress of Phase 3 of itsBiofuels Programme following the completion of external validation. Thiscommenced on 3 December 2007, as previously notified at the time of thePreliminary Results on 27 November 2007. Key Findings • A PDX bioethanol system, similar to the design that will shortly be commercialised, achieved a 14% increase in bioethanol yield • System designs shown to be robust, controllable and reliable • PDX bioethanol system unlikely to increase overall energy consumption • Enzyme usage reduced by around 50% • Overall bioethanol fermentation time reduced by over 20% This third phase of the Biofuels programme, conducted at a highly respected,independent pilot facility in the US Midwest, was designed to determine orconfirm a number of key areas relating to the PDX reactor technology inbioethanol production: • To confirm that the yield improvements indicated during our in-house trial programme could be replicated in the full ethanol manufacturing process, under the supervision of a reputable, independent third party • To confirm that the system designs proposed for commercial installation were valid and robust and to identify any changes required to further optimise the designs • To confirm the energy requirements of the PDX technology • To confirm the reduction in enzyme usage when using the PDX technology • To investigate the downstream impact, in the fermentation and distillation processes, of feedstock treated by the PDX reactors The results of the trials show the following: • A PDX reactor system, similar to the design that will shortly be commercialised, produced consistently higher ethanol yields than the conventional trial baseline control. An improvement of 14% over the conventional technology trial baseline was achieved, with considerably higher individual trial results being noted. We anticipate further improvement when the PDX reactor system is optimised for production in an operational plant environment. • The system designs were shown to be robust, controllable and reliable. Data was captured that will help further optimisation of the designs and these changes, minor in nature, are currently being incorporated in the manufacture of the first full scale PDX bioethanol system. • Investigation of the energy required by the PDX technology is still ongoing and we have not yet had the opportunity to fully analyse the energy balance of the system. In addition, full energy requirement data is unlikely to be captured until the system is in full scale production. However, our current understanding of the energy requirements of the system show that there will be little, if any, net increase in the amount of energy required to operate the PDX bioethanol system. • In the trials that demonstrated the highest yield improvements, enzyme usage was around 50% of the conventionally required dose. • The performance, in the fermenter, of feedstock previously processed through the PDX reactors was excellent. In addition to the higher ethanol yields referred to above, a reduction in fermentation time of over 20% was noted in all the trials we undertook. Furthermore, a reduction in liquefaction time of 75% was noted in a number of trials. John Heathcote, CEO of Pursuit Dynamics commented: "These are excellent resultsthat have conclusively proved the advantages of the PDX reactor technology inbioethanol production and the commercial viability of our system. The reductionin fermentation and liquefaction times came as a pleasant surprise and will alsoprovide existing ethanol plants with the opportunity to increase throughput at amuch lower cost than is currently available. "We are continuing to move towards a commercial installation of the PDXbioethanol system and look forward to issuing an update in due course." By way of background, in 2006 Pursuit commenced an intensive research programmeinto the possibility of enhancing ethanol yields in conventional (starch toethanol) bioethanol production by using modified PDX reactors. By September 2006yield equivalents considerably in excess of those produced by currenttechnologies were being achieved. To give some insight into the scale of theprogramme undertaken by Pursuit at its Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire facilityduring 2006 and 2007, the trial series covered almost 500 individual trial runsduring which 3,500 samples were taken for analysis. The programme employed tenof our personnel on a full time basis for its duration. We believe that thisrepresents the most extensive ethanol yield enhancement research programmeundertaken in Europe to date. For Further Information, please contact: Pursuit DynamicsJohn Heathcote, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0)1480 422050 Redleaf CommunicationsEmma Kane / Paul Dulieu / Richard Girling Tel: +44 (0)20 7822 0200 Cenkos Securities plcIan Soanes Tel: +44 (0)20 7397 8924 Notes to Editors • Pursuit Dynamics PLC (AIM: PDX) owns and commercialises the PDX fluid processing reactor whose benefits include significant reductions in energy usage, process acceleration and result enhancement for industries such as Food & Drink, Brewing, Fire Suppression, Decontamination and bioethanol production. • Pursuit Dynamics is headquartered in Huntingdon, UK and has an office in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA. Pursuit Processing Equipment Limited, the processing equipment division of Pursuit Dynamics, operates from its own facility in Brooklands, Surrey, UK. • Further information is available at the Company's website: www.pursuitdynamics.com • Publication quality photographs are available from Redleaf Communications. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange