Aduro provides update on NGP pilot plant

Aduro Clean Technologies Inc., a London, Ontario-based company developing a process to chemically recycle plastic as well as heavy bitumen and oils, says work on its Next Generation Process (NGP) pilot plant is advancing on schedule.

The NGP pilot plant is a key step in Aduro’s scaleup pathway, it says, and is designed to validate its Hydrochemolytic technology (HCT) in continuous operation, establish operating parameters across target feedstocks and produce product samples and quality data for customer evaluation.

Aduro says the plant will confirm mass and energy balances, yields and controllability; supply data to support environmental assessments and life cycle analyses; support standard operator training and procedures; and generate data to inform the design and integration approach for the company’s previously announced demonstration plant, which it says till have an initial capacity of 8,000 tons per year.

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Aduro says the pilot plant, located in London, is progressing under a coordinated plan with major workstreams advancing in parallel, adding that equipment supplied by the original equipment manufacturers, process-skid fabrication and automation and controls integration are being readied for delivery to the site for installation, system integration and the start of a commissioning program in September.

According to the company, the pilot plant is comprised of three main systems:

• an extruder that prepares and delivers feedstock;
• a reactor system that converts plastics; and
• a product recovery system that purifies and cools the liquid product

The commissioning process will take place in phases, with two systems scheduled to begin in September, followed by the third in October. Commissioning will follow a structured program that includes precommissioning, cold commissioning, phased systems integration, wet runs and initial operating campaigns.

Site preparations at the London laboratory facilities that will host the pilot plant are complete. Work included modifications to HVAC and electrical infrastructure to meet applicable process and safety standards and regulatory requirements.

Additionally, the company has expanded its office and laboratory space to accommodate the pilot plant and the respective personnel growth, which includes recent hires in operations and engineering. Preparation of operating documentation and training materials is progressing as well, and includes standard operating procedures, commissioning checklists and safety-critical procedures.

Factory acceptance testing on the extruders, the final long-lead items for the pilot plant, has been completed by the original equipment manufacturer, Aduro says, confirming functionality against specifications and readiness for site delivery. Following delivery, the extruders will enter cold-commissioning checks and site acceptance activities, including fit-up, equipment calibration, logic verification and operator training before integration with other systems.

Zeton Inc., which has led the site’s design and fabrication efforts, has received all major long-lead components for the reactor and cooling and separation systems, and Aduro says assembly of the modular process skids is well underway at its fabrication facility. Siemens Canada is supplying advanced control systems and engineering systems at the plant, and Aduro has shipped critical long-lead automation and electrical components, with integration work on control hardware, software and the data environment on schedule with the project plan.

Aduro reports that feedstock preparation is underway with partner NexGen Polymers, which is securing and qualifying plastic scrap streams, catalyst and other process inputs for start-up and early operating campaigns, informed by coordinated logistics, specifications and laboratory evaluations, including customer engagement program- (CEP-) identified materials.

“Progress on the NGP pilot plant remains on schedule and reflects outstanding coordination and execution across engineering, fabrication and site readiness,” Aduro CEO Ofer Vicus says. “This milestone marks and important step in our commercialization pathway as we advance Hydrochemolytic technology toward continuous operation. Our goal is to produce customer-relevant samples and generate operating data that will inform the design and integration of the next scale.

“I want to acknowledge the contributions of our team and our partners, including Zeton, Siemens and our suppliers, for their continued focus on safety and quality. We plan to continue construction and integration work in the weeks ahead to remain aligned with our target of initiating the commissioning program in the third quarter of 2025.”