BenchMark Energy Corporation And University of North Dakota Extend Research Agreement Through July 2013

WOODLANDS, Texas, Aug. 1, 2012

Originally signed on November 1, 2011, the contract calls for UND to study the impact of adding glycerin to coal upon combustion performance.  The study will ascertain the benefits that could be obtained from the co-combustion of Benchmark Energy's glycerin product with coal.

BenchMark Energy hopes that these studies will show that the benefits of glycerin, a renewable fuel resource, in co-combustion may include reduction in the C0₂ footprint (pounds of fossil C0₂ emitted per KW generated).  BenchMark Energy also hopes to see an increase in combustion efficiency (KW generated per pound of fuel consumed), along with a reduction in HAP (hazardous air pollutant) emissions.

UND combustion researchers will conduct a series of experiments in which BenchMark's high purity glycerin is co-combusted with three different types of coal - an Eastern U.S. bituminous, a Western U.S. sub-bituminous, and a North Dakota lignite. 

The studies will be conducted in a self-sustaining large laboratory scale combustor whose residence time/temperature profile scales to commercial boilers.  The goal is to quantify these benefits of co-combustion and for increased combustion efficiency and reduced emissions.

The work will be conducted by the Sustainable Energy Research Initiative and Supporting Education (SUNRISE) center at the University of North Dakota.  SUNRISE is a student-centered, faculty-organized supercluster consisting of 38 faculty in 13 academic departments at the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University, and Mayville State University.  SUNRISE research focuses on three areas: the technologies to enable the environmentally sustainable use of coal, the production of fuels, chemicals, polymers, and composites from renewable sources, and the harvesting of energy from diffuse sources (wind/solar/hydrogen).

About BenchMark Energy Corporation: www.benchmarkenergy.com.  While the demand for glycerin has remained stable, the demand for refined glycerin, technical grade and higher, has risen. BenchMark Energy has focused its attention on distribution and refinement of glycerin in the energy and pharmaceutical industries.  For more information on BenchMark Energy, Energy Partners, LLC, glycerin, its uses and benefits, please see our website.