Ethanol refinery best practices
From P2RxWiki
A COMPILATION OF WEBSITES AND ARTICLES WITH THE BEST PRACTICES IN THE ETHANOL INDUSTRY (DRAFT)
P2RIC---OMAHA, NEBRASKA
This is a DRAFT compilation of Best Practices. We welcome your input and your comments on this topic.
“Building an Ethanol Plant in Illinois”
Source: State of Illinois EPA Focus Area: Dry Milling and Wet Milling
Author: State of Illinois EPA Date Published: 2007
Web Site: http://www.epa.state.il.us/agriculture/building-an-ethanol-plant.pdf
Brief:
This document contains an informative list of the best practices for building an ethanol plant (p. 28). The best practices list is focuses on energy, environment, and improving efficiency in ethanol plants. The information can be used for both Dry Milling and Wet Milling ethanol plants. This is an informative resource for best practices in the ethanol industry.
Ethanol to Use New Coal Technology
Source: Rural Cooperative Focus Area: Dry Milling and Wet Milling
Author: Stephen Thompson Date Published: 2006
Website: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KFU/is_2_73/ai_n16420255
Brief:
Stephen Thompson, assistant editor at the United States Department of Agriculture, writes about how to use new clean burning coal technology in ethanol plants. The reason for using this clean burning coal technology is the continuing rise in natural gas prices. Thompson also discusses the future use of coal technology in the ethanol industry. The benefit of this technology is it can be modified to burn bio-mass in the future if the plant sees this as a necessary change.
Jump-Start Your Plant’s Energy Savings With Quick Plant Energy Profiler
Source: U.S. Department of Energy Focus Area: Dry Milling and Wet Milling
Author: U.S. Department of Energy Date Published: 2007
Website: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/quickpep_tool.html
Brief:
The U.S. Department of Energy has produced software that is used to analyze the energy use in industrial plants. The article gives a general idea of how this software can be used and the benefits of this software. According to the U.S. Department of Energy by improving the energy efficiency of the plant, it is possible to increase profitability and to prevent energy waste. There is potential for this software to be applied to existing ethanol plants to help them run at maximum energy efficiency.
Improving Process Heating System Performance
Source: U.S. Department of Energy Focus Area: Dry Milling and Wet Milling
Author: U.S. Department of Energy Date Published: 2007
Website: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/pdfs/proc_heat_sourcebook.pdf
Brief:
The U.S. Department of Energy has produced this document to promote or in order to encourage increasing the heating system performance in industrial operations. This is an informative document in the discussion of heat recovery and heat loss minimization in the ethanol industry.
Maximizing Electrical Investment: The Financial Impact of Motor Selection
Source: Ethanol Producer Magazine Focus Area: Dry Milling and Wet Milling
Author: Doug Post Date Published: 2004
Website: http://www.ethanolproducer.com/article.jsp?article_id=1237&q=best%20practices&page=1
Brief:
Doug Post, the President of Interstates Engineering, writes about how updating the electric motors in a plant can have significant energy savings. Post also writes about how the sizing of the motors in the plant can help improve the efficiency of the motor and save in energy costs. This article has some excellent information about how to save money and improve efficiency in industrial motors.
A New Alternative for Evaporator Cleaning
Source: Ethanol Producer Magazine Focus Area: Dry Milling and Wet Milling
Author: Ben Williams Date Published: 2005
Website: http://www.ethanolproducer.com/article.jsp?article_id=929&q=improving%20efficiency&page=1
Brief:
Ben Williams is a research chemist for Jones-Hamilton Co. here he writes about a new way to clean evaporators. This new ‘cleaning-in-place process’ can replace the traditional two part cleaning process (that involves a caustic cleaning and acid wash), and improves the efficiency in the plant by maintaining heat transfer efficiency. This one-step cleaning process eliminates the need for an acid wash to clean the caustic cleaning solution from the evaporator. Williams advocates the ‘cleaning in place process’ because this is one application for treatment, their by reducing the downtime of the plant and increasing productivity.
Rethinking Ethanol Co-products
Source: Distillers Grains Quarterly Focus Area: Wet Milling
Author: Tony Lohrmann Date Published: 2006
Brief:
Tony Lohrmann is the Vice President of animal health and nutrition at Quality Tech International. He writes about the practice of Hydro-milling in Wet Milling plants, and what it can do in the distillers’ gains industry. Hydro-Milling allows for the clean separation of the starch from the kernel, and also eliminates SO2 from the milling process (which makes it the plant more cost friendly). Lohrmann explains well how the implementation of this technology can increase the quality of distillers’ grains and make the ethanol process more environmentally friendly.
Energy Efficiency Improvement And Cost Saving Opportunities For The Corn Wet Milling Industry
Source: Berkley Lab Focus Area: Wet Milling
Author: C. Galitsky, E. Worrell, M. Ruth Date Published: 2003
Website: http://industrial-energy.lbl.gov/node/76 (Then click download document at the bottom of the screen)
Brief:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsored this study done by the Berkley Labs on energy efficiency in the Corn Wet milling industry. The report focuses on energy saving practices that can be implemented in the Wet milling industry. Wet Milling is the most energy intensive processes for producing ethanol. The Berkley lab team emphasizes that energy efficiency must be a priority in order to maximize profit.
Energy Star Corn Refining Energy Performance Indicator
Source: Energy Star, EPA Focus Area: Wet Milling
Author: G.A. Boyd Date Published: 2006
Website: http://energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=in_focus.bus_corn_refine_focus
Brief:
The EPI scores the energy efficiency of a single wet corn milling plant in the U.S., and compares it to that of the entire industry. Developed by EPA and supported by the analytical skill of Duke University in cooperation with the wet corn milling industry, the EPI uses basic inputs unique to a plant and provides a percentile ranking of the plant’s energy efficiency, comparing it to the industry’s average and “efficient” (defined as the 75th percentile) plants. Rating the energy efficiency of plants starts a process that will enable companies to reduce energy usage and set aggressive improvement goals.
Combined Heat And Power
Source: National EPA Focus Area: Dry Milling
Author: National EPA Date Published: 2007
Website: http://www.epa.gov/chp/markets/ethanol.html
Brief:
The Environmental Protection Agency published this report about the use of combined heat and power (CHP) in dry mill ethanol plants. The Practice of CHP uses the heat that is a byproduct of energy generation to heat the ethanol plant. Plants using this technology have won awards in Missouri and Illinois for reducing their energy use by more than 12%. This is high-quality technology that can be implemented into dry mill ethanol plants.
Compressed Air Best Practices
Source: U.S. Department of Energy Focus Area: Dry Milling and Wet Milling
Author: U.S. Department of Energy Date Published: 2007
Website: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/compressed_air.html
Brief:
The U.S. Department of Energy gives best practices when dealing with compressed air. There are places in the ethanol places where compressed air is used. Implementing best practices in the plant can improve efficiency and provide for a reduction in energy use. The U.S. Department of Energy gives many different tips on how to improve the use of compressed air in industrial operations.
Molecular Dehydration
Source: Ethanol Producer Magazine Focus Area: Dry Milling and Wet Milling
Author: Jerry W. Kram Date Published: 2007
Website: http://ethanolproducer.com/article.jsp?article_id=3338&q=&page=1
Brief:
The article describes a new technology used for dehydration in the ethanol industry. The molecular dehydration technology was developed in the alcohol industry in Europe and is currently being implemented in the United States. This patented technology has the ability to reduce energy consumption in ethanol plants and can improve the quality of the product that is produced.
Applications of Low-Temperature Regenerative Thermal Oxidizers to Treat Volatile Organic Compounds
Source: ASCE Focus Area: Dry Milling and Wet Milling
Author: Cheng, Chou, Lee, Huang Date Published: 2002
Brief:
This technical paper describes how Regenerative Thermal Oxidizers are used in industrial operations. The technical paper describes how thermal oxidizers work and how treat Volatile Organic Compounds. Thermal Oxidizers are currently used in some ethanol plants and should be used in more plants. VOC’s are harmful pollutants and need to be treated to prevent pollution from entering the air.
P2RIC Contact: jgrafton@unomaha.edu or 402-554-6258
