Cant sleep, here are the pages of this old overview. It was on the website last year, while there was still the possibility to make private placements at ACMG.
"Introduction
While organic chemistry based on renewable natural resources had been the main focus until the dawn of the
20’st century, the attention had shifted to coal during the early 1900’s and by the 1930’s petroleum, due to its
abundance and low cost, had become the raw material of main interest for the chemical industry in general.
Today, chemistry based on petroleum is well understood and the petrochemical industry is a well geared
machine.
An abundance of studies conducted within the past two decades have warned that we will deplete petroleum
reserves by the end of the present century and see a significant shortage and significant increase in crude
costs as early as 2040. Today, almost half a century ahead of any prediction, we have undoubtedly reached
the point where we can see the end of “cheap fossil fuels” and its approaching depletion is becoming a
reality. Furthermore, we have become increasingly aware of the environmental impact caused by
petrochemicals as well as the use of petroleum derivates within the chemical industry in general.
Experience shows that different alcohol groups derived from biomass and biomass in itself are an excellent
source for chemical processes. Several surveys show that we are presently only transforming 5% of available
organic waste. These aspects, highlighted by the barrel of crude climbing past the $50 mark evidence the fact
that the chemical industry needs urgent rethinking, which is exactly what we at ACMG did by developing
our petroleum independent manufacturing process.
Company
Alcar Chemicals Group (OTC ticker symbol: ACMG)’s unique proprietary technology, evaluated at $86M,
allows for economical and environmentally friendly manufacturing of polymer raw materials, conventional
and advanced plastics as well as bio-fuels, utilizing exclusively renewable natural resources (more
specifically non food crop) and organic waste such as agricultural and food-industry waste.
Furthermore, ACMG’s innovative continuous manufacturing process is designed to allow producing directly
at the source of available biomass, significantly reducing transport costs, but most importantly, ACMG can
expect above-average profitability as its production costs are highly economical and because its modular
reactor concept minimizes the required investment. ACMG’s proprietary production process, being entirely
petroleum independent, will remain unaffected by future shortages and sharp rises in petroleum costs.
Technology
The following diagram shows a general overview of the process and reactor schematic employed by ACMG
to manufacture polymer raw materials and bio-fuels. In addition, the closed loop system allows continuous
production to finished plastic products without interruption.
(One graph I cannot copy showing the process)
Several advantages characterize ACMG’s technology, among these we can list:
- size
- modular concept
- closed loop continuous production
- uses non-food crop and organic waste feedstock
- applicable for small volume as well as big scale production
- extremely environmentally friendly operation
- highly economical production
- transportable
It represents today’s most advanced plastic and polymer raw materials manufacturing method. Furthermore,
this technology will allow ACMG to expand into the energy market by economically producing ethanol and
ethanol based biodiesel, excellent alternatives to increasingly expensive petroleum based fuels.
Related Technologies
The main technological advantages of ACMG’s process, when compared to other manufacturers, translate
into economy:
• Lower investment required: $22M for a 120,000 Ton production capacity vs. $100M
• Lower operating cost through:
• high conversion rate and efficiency
• lower pressures and temperatures
• non-food crop and organic waste as main feedstock
Products
Management has restructured its initial plans and opted to abandon a vertical integration within the plastics
manufacturing industry for a horizontal integration concentrated on its biomass conversion technology.
Initial production will concentrate on polyols (of which the market is accusing a serious shortage) with
subsequent additions for the bio-fuel market. Production consists of the following raw materials:
- Glycerol
- Ethylene glycol: (or 1,2 Ethanediol polyol) this product may be employed in applications for
polyurethane manufacturing, for polyester and polyethylene synthesis.
- Propylene glycol: may be used for polyester, alkyd resins, paints and coatings manufacturing in
addition to polyurethane formulations. The high purity product resulting from this process can
find several other uses for the food and pharmaceutical applications.
Taking advantage of the enormous flexibility of ACMG’s technology, organic waste and renewable natural
resources are converted into ethanol and oil, than further reacted into Biodiesel. Biodiesel, synthesized from
ethanol and vegetable oil will yield a high quality fuel grade product with a cleaner burning and lower
freezing point properties than the methanol obtained counterparts.
Business Aspect
ACMG’s approach:
• Minimized initial investment through:
modular reactor systems
economical production (at the site of available biomass)
• Rapid growth rate by:
high margins
expanding capacity to accessible amounts of biomass in each location
Licensing of the technology outside Canada
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Production (tons) 2,500 30,000 60,000 120,000
Average Production cost (/ton) $685 $523 $507 $498
Investments (Equipment) $6M $4M $4M $4M $4M
Table I: Projected production capacity and costs vs initial investment and reinvested profits.
Initial 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter Total
Investment $0.5M $3.0M $2M $0.8M $6.3M
Engineering and Patents $250K $600K $0.85M
Facility & Peripherals $1.3M $750K $400K $2.45M
First Reactor Module $850K $1.0M $1.85M
Operating Capital $250K $250K $250K $400K $1.15M
Table II: Financing required and use of proceeds.
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Revenues $0 $3.3M $56.7M $118.1M $236.3M
Gross Margin % 34 49 51 53
EBITDA -$0.31M $24.5M $50.8M $101M
Net Profit -$0.25M $17.8M $36.6M $72.9M
Net Profit % - 7 31 33 34
Table III: Financial Highlights through 2010."
