PureVision Technology, Inc. is a privately held corporation organized to research, develop, and commercialize cellulosic biomass conversion technologies. PureVision created PureHemp Technology LLC as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2014 to commercialize the PureVision Technology specifically for processing industrial hemp.

PureVision has successfully scaled up its technology from a continuous process development unit capable of handling 120 pounds per day (50 kg) of biomass, to a half-ton per day continuous pilot-plant operation.

To demonstrate commercial applications, PureVision and PureHemp are planning to break ground on its first 4-ton per day small commercial hemp refinery in Colorado during 2016 followed by a scale-up program that will begin in 2017. The project will convert industrial hemp into pulp, lignin, sugars and extracts, all used to manufacture hemp-based consumer and industrial products. Once proven out at the 4-ton per day scale, plans are in place to expand refining capabilities to a 40-ton per day continuous countercurrent reactor (CCR).

The proposed Colorado 40 ton per day CCR is projected to be profitable and will also provide the critical information necessary to complete the design and engineering specifications for larger, commercial scale 250-1,000 ton per day biorefineries.

Mission

PureVision is developing and licensing advanced biorefining technologies to rapidly convert diverse non-food biomass into value-added resources to manufacture biobased consumer and industrial products.

Transition to a Renewable Future

PureVision is one of the only companies in the world with a new, more efficient pulping technology utilizing agricultural residues. The worldwide pulp market is largely made up of large corporations using wood and the Kraft pulping technology employed in more than 80% of pulp mills today. Their reliance on wood results in deforestation, a major driver of global warming that is responsible for up to 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, PureVision has developed an environmentally friendly pulping process that has value-added co-products of lignin and sugar, creating the opportunity to develop smaller and decentralized refineries.

Vision

PureVision is devoted to perfecting and commercializing its innovative biomass conversion technologies in order to actualize the vision of economically providing bio-based products to the world, transitioning to a carbon neutral and more sustainable future.

History

Since 1992, PureVision has researched, tested and developed technologies for converting cellulosic biomass into pulp, lignin, sugars, ethanol and other bio-products. During 1993 and 1994, the company began to focus on converting waste paper to sugar and ethanol. In 1996, PureVision was awarded a contract from the U.S. Postal Service to conduct an investigative study on converting postal wastes into ethanol to fuel postal vehicles.

During 1999, the company's Chief Scientist Dr. Dick Wingerson developed the PureVision Technology with a focus on producing a purified pulp from biomass. In 2002 Dr. Wingerson received a process patent regarding the unique continuous countercurrent process that removes hemicellulose, lignin and other biomass components from the cellulose. 

During 2001, PureVision began working with Western Research Institute in Laramie, Wyoming to undertake bench-scale tests using first- and second-generation batch reactors, which led to designing and building a continuous countercurrent reactor (CCR) process development unit in 2003. Over the next ten years, with financial assistance awards from Colorado and U.S. government agencies and with private sector contracts, CCR development continued with a variety of feedstocks and processing configurations for producing pulp, lignin and sugars from biomass. 

In 2012, PureVision completed construction of its continuous half-ton per day CCR and pilot plant at its Fort Lupton, Colorado headquarters. PureVision is currently engaged in client funded programs and internal R&D targeting the conversion of selected species of biomass into products and determining commercial-scale capital and operating cost estimates. 

In 2014, PureVision organized PureHemp Technology LLC as a wholly owned subsidiary to advance and commercialize the PureVision Technology specifically for processing industrial hemp. Recent trends legalizing the cultivation of industrial hemp provide new economic opportunities for this highly versatile crop, not grown commercially in the U.S. for over 78 years.