Renewable energies | Pyrovac: Heat to better transform

Scientist Christian Roy has devoted a large part of his life to pyrolysis. Thanks to this thermal decomposition technology, the Quebec entrepreneur has great ambitions. At the head of the SME Pyrovac, he multiplies projects intended to revolutionize the transformation of industrial, agricultural and forestry waste into bioproducts and alternative energy solutions.

Stephane Champagne
special collaboration

Before founding Pyrovac in 1995, Christian Roy, doctor in chemical engineering, was professor of engineering at Laval University. The sum of his knowledge and the research work he carried out or supervised on pyrolysis can be found today in the foreground.

With its 30 patents, Pyrovac develops and manufactures reactors (approximately 20 ft by 12 ft) that ingest and spit out value-added material. Called “advanced pyrolysis”, the company’s technology allows “the full recovery of organic waste by transforming it into solid and liquid products of commercial value”.

After experiencing ups and downs, Pyrovac is now on a roll. Since 2020, its technology has been used in Merced, California, near the Central Valley. In this region where intensive agriculture is king, waste is varied and in astronomical quantities.

Thanks to a factory built in collaboration with the American company Corigin, Pyrovac transforms almond shells into biochar. This charcoal, in powder form, is added to the soil or compost and promotes water retention, as well as the capture of minerals, summarizes Christian Roy.

The Corigin-Pyrovac tandem also produces Coriphol, an aqueous product (composed of 85% water) which promotes plant growth. This biostimulant, which partially replaces chemical fertilizers in agriculture, is approved by the FDA, underlines the researcher-entrepreneur.

Satisfied with its relationship with the Quebec SME, Corigin now wants to build a plant four times larger, still near the Central Valley, in order to process more agricultural residues. If all goes as planned, a first sod could be possible by the end of 2022, argues Christian Roy.

Here in Quebec, Pyrovac and the Norwegian company Elkem are putting the finishing touches to a $40 million pilot plant. The Quebec SME will manufacture biocarbon briquettes there. In the short term, the facility will process two tonnes of forest residue (black spruce) per hour. Eventually, it will be 15 tons per hour.

The biocarbon obtained by pyrolysis will be used to supply the Elkem plant in Chicoutimi, where ferrosilicon alloys are produced, intended in particular for the automotive industry. The goal: to reduce GHG emissions and replace fossil coal from China or the United States. Elkem has 11 ferrosilicon plants around the world. Enough to fill Pyrovac’s order book for the next few years.

Pyrovac is also preparing to move up a gear. She has just acquired a 375,000 sq.^⁠2 in Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon to build new facilities.