Poet Ethanol uses a low-energy BPX fermentation process, called cold-cook, that eliminates heat from fermentation. The corn oil is captured on the back end of the process after BPX and marketed under the name Voilà. The technology has been installed in six Poet plants, with more on the way this year. The combined production of the six plants will total 12 million gallons of corn oil per year for use as a biodiesel feedstock by the end of 2011.
Valero Energy completed modifications on its first plant for corn oil extraction in November, and is capturing 1½ lb. to 2 lb. of oil per bushel of corn. The Fort Dodge, Iowa, facility is the first of four plants that will be modified with ICM Technologies’ Advanced Oil System to capture corn oil. In this process, the oil is separated after the slurry is cooked, before fermentation and distillery.
The cost to update each of Valero’s plants is about $4 million, says Bill Day, communications representative for the company.
The decision on whether to convert more of Valero’s 10 ethanol plants will be made early this year, he says.
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SkunK
OPINION - If you cannot handle it do not read it - lol
The claim of "2#" of corn oil/ bushel is rather unique, since if I was paying attention in COES school a bushel of corn only contains 2# of oil to start with. 100% extraction . . . . . hmmmm, I wonder if someone got something incorrect here. Buzz Aldrin may have planted the American Flag on the moon, but the SkunK plants the BS Flag right here. [All you college boys know that BS stands for "Bachelor of Science" - right?] I am not saying they are wrong - but all of a sudden I am from Missouri - show me!
If they were getting 100% extraction I wonder if the decision to implement in all the plants would still be in question?
Hmmmm.... A 100mmgy ethanol plant, recovering 1.5#/bu, at current oil prices, would pay off $4mm capital investment in around 5 months, not 2 years.
ReplyDeleteAren't theses the same systems that got rejected by the patent offices.
ReplyDeletevalero press release last september said 1/2 pound per bushel: "The investment will allow the Valero Renewables plants to recover more than one-half pound of corn oil per bushel of corn processed, giving the plants an additional source of revenue besides ethanol and distillers grains."
ReplyDeletehttp://green.autoblog.com/2011/09/20/biofuel-breakthrough-valero-to-extract-corn-oil-during-ethanol/