NEWSLETTER, Winter 2008

This year, 2008, Prado & Associates will celebrate the 30^th anniversary of its establishment in the State of Florida. During this period of time, many other engineering companies have come and gone. Our longevity is testimony to our hard work, dedication to the chemical engineering profession, dedication to our clients, and perhaps a bit of good luck! As the year 2008 commences, we are faced with a very large amount of work, both in terms of volume and challenge. We plan to celebrate big.

One major area of activity is our involvement with the biomass to liquid fuels business. We have revived the old Fischer-Tropsch process to convert synthesis gas to liquid hydrocarbon fuels, except that instead of using coal as a source for syngas, we are using biomass. This work is being done in cooperation with Dr. John Wolan, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Florida. However, the university is not directly involved in the projects. At this time we are working on two projects, one in upstate New York for the production of jet fuel using wood chips as biomass supply. The second project, on behalf of a client in southeast Asia, involves the production of syngas from natural gas currently being flared on off-shore platforms in the South China Sea.

In the area of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, we are also involved in other pending projects for the production of methanol and ethanol from wood chips. This work is being done in conjunction with Pearson Technologies of Mississippi. These projects will be implemented in the South of the United States, where there is an ample supply of wood from extensive southern yellow pine forests.

All of the energy projects we have undertaken in the past few years make us one of the world’s leading experts in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. This technology, which started in Germany in the 1920’s and was re-established in South Africa in the 1970’s, may well become a common source of energy in the near future, not only in the USA, but worldwide. The use of biomass instead of coal makes this technology “carbon neutral” and may well make it a preferred source of fuel. Tino Prado and Dr. John Wolan will present a paper on this subject at the annual meeting of the AIChE in Clearwater, Florida in June.

We are also back in pulp & paper mill engineering, with a current tall oil recovery project for a major producer in southern Chile. Tino will travel there in March to review construction progress.

We are also continuing a long term bioenergy project with a major multinational energy company based in Europe. However, secrecy agreements prevent us from disclosing any details. We will be happy to report this activity once commercialization is well underway.

While working on energy projects, we have not abandoned our traditional field of phosphates and phosphoric acid. PCS Phosphate, located in White Springs, Florida, has kept us busy with several process and environmental projects. This work marks a return to the detail engineering we used to do several years ago. Detail engineering is an activity in which we have a long tradition, and our return to it is in response to the needs of our clients.

We also have a pending phosphate fertilizer project in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, where there are massive phosphate rock deposits. This phosphate rock, while chemically similar to that of Florida, is very different from a mineralogical point of view and is known as “hard western rock”. In Florida we are used to loose unconsolidated fluoroapatite phosphate rock which is relatively easy to process and beneficiate. We did a feasibility study for this client several years ago, but because of low phosphate prices, the project was never implemented. Now, due to high prices, the project is being re-opened, and we will bring the study up to date.

We regret to announce the death of our colleague and friend James Tavrides of Lakeland, Florida. Jim was a civil engineer and well known phosphate mining expert. In fact, his company (Vulcan Engineers & Contractors) and ours had a very large pending phosphate project in Venezuela. Because of Jim’s passing and the current political situation in Venezuela, the future of that project is uncertain.

Because of our increased workload and need to hire additional staff, we are expanding our office space on the north side of Tampa. In fact, our new offfice will be located on Fletcher Ave. just west of Florida Ave. and I-275.

If you received this newsletter via "snail mail" it means that we do not have your e-mail address. If you wish to receive future editions via e-mail, please let us know at tp@pradotec.com. If you have access to the internet, you can visit our web site at http://www.pradotec.com. See you!

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