U.S. Patent No. 12,595,340 B1 · issued April 7, 2026

Newly patented densification technology — a force multiplier for the PIPE™ platform.

On April 7, 2026, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 12,595,340 B1, covering Permanente's novel technology for value-adding waste cellulosic biomass through ammonia treatment and densification. Invented by the father-and-son team of the Seidner family of inventors, this mobile, modular, and scalable technology materially extends the reach of the Permanente patent portfolio and multiplies what the PIPE™ platform can economically do with every ton of cellulosic biomass it processes.

Download Document 02 → See the PIPE™ platform

01 / How the process works

Closed-loop anhydrous ammonia penetration treatment — with full recovery and recycling.

Process mechanics

A PIPE™ reactor configured for densification operates as a closed-loop system for liquid anhydrous ammonia penetration treatment with full recovery and recycling of ammonia gas. Inside the reactor, the process reconfigures the molecular, chemical, and mechanical structures of cellulosic biomass: the hydrogen bonds of lignin — the natural binder of all cellulose fiber — are broken, plasticized, and reformed, producing a mechanically compressed cell structure of the desired shape, permanently reformed with no spring-back memory.

The reformed fiber emerges with markedly improved strength, hardness, durability, dimensional stability, fire retardancy, and cosmetic appearance. The density of most wood fiber can be more than doubled, with a proportionate increase in strength and a reduction in cubic volume. From there, the densified fiber may be torrefied with higher efficiency through a second PIPE™ reactor stage into biocoke, biocoal, or biochar, or pyrolyzed into syngas and condensed into bio-oil for production of GRC88® marine fuel.

Density change

2×+INCREASE

Wood-fiber density more than doubled, with proportionate strength increase and reduction in cubic volume.

Process loop

Closed—

Anhydrous ammonia penetration treatment with full recovery and recycling of ammonia gas.

Reformation

ZeroSPRING-BACK

Permanent mechanical compression with no spring-back memory — structural reformation is final.

Deployment profile

MobileMODULAR

Scalable and co-locatable with feedstock source — the technology goes to where the waste is.

02 / Applications & benefits

Why it matters — four application areas where densification unlocks measurable value.

Application 01

Resolving the wildfire and forest-health crisis

Logging slash leaves waste fiber on the forest floor, where it endangers forest health and feeds catastrophic wildfires. Diseased and dead trees are left standing because they have no economic value. California alone holds hundreds of millions of tons of dead and dying standing fiber and waste forest residues across the Sierra Nevada and North Coast.

All of this fiber should be reconfigured into building products, sustainable carbon-neutral green energy, and CO₂ sequestered as biochar — turning today's fire-and-life-safety burden into financially beneficial products for energy and utility.

Application 02

Obsoleting conventional wood pellets

North America produces and exports over twelve million metric tons of conventional wood pellets per year. Wood pellets are low-energy-density (approximately 7,800 BTU/lb) and require specialized dry-bulk handling. They are obsolete.

Permanente's densified, reshaped, and carbonized fiber briquettes and cubes deliver approximately 12,500 BTU/lb — roughly 60% greater energy density — while reducing shipping costs, increasing power-plant efficiency, requiring no special handling, and burning cleanly.

Application 03

Turning forest-management costs into revenue

Value-adding waste fiber through Permanente's technology overcomes the historical economic barriers to removing and managing forest waste. What has long been a public-safety expense — borne by landowners, utilities, and taxpayers — becomes, for the first time, a revenue stream of energy and utility products produced at industrial scale.

Application 04

Structural lumber and green energy from juvenile fiber

Engineered wood products are at demand capacity, and pulp-and-paper mills are closing. Millions of tons of juvenile fast-growth trees are left without a market each year, jeopardizing the economics of future cultivation.

Permanente's treatment of juvenile fiber creates utility as structural lumber, while the processing by-product becomes green-energy fuel. This is a winning proposition for the sustainable forest cultivator and for the green-energy user alike — a path along which sustainable carbon reduction and environmentally protective economic practices can flourish together.

Co-processing: next step → Download Document 02