Product category:
Plantwide control
News Release from: Pavilion Technologies | Subject: Ethanol distillation control
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 08 December 2005
Glacial Lakes deploys ethanol control
Glacial Lakes Energy deploys Pavilion Technologies' process control products to reduce variable costs and capitalise on record-high ethanol prices.
Glacial Lakes Energy has deployed Pavilion Technologies' process control products to reduce variable costs and capitalise on record-high ethanol prices The control system was deployed on the distillation column and molecular sieve
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 30 Jul 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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As a result of the four-month project, Glacial Lakes has increased its capacity by up to 10%, boosted yield by 0.2% and reduced energy use by up to 2%.
This marks the second control project Glacial Lakes has deployed in less than nine months.
Glacial Lakes Plant Manager David Culver said: "Pavilion enables us to control the distillation columns and molecular sieves processes, which are challenging to manage optimally and yet critical to achieve our operating objectives of more, high quality ethanol for less".
"Furthermore, we are able to reduce continuously our energy usage".
In January, Glacial Lakes deployed its first control project on the dried distiller grains (DDGs) dryer to reduce moisture variability and increase overall profitability.
In five months, Glacial Lakes was able to reduce plant energy cost per gallon by 4%, increase DDG yield by 1%, reduce DDGs variability and achieve improved control over emissions from the thermal oxidiser.
Because of this, Glacial Lakes deployed the second control project on the distillation and molecular sieve process to boost overall yield while driving down costs.
In four months, Glacial Lakes has realised project benefits and expects a payback in less than six months.
Pavilion's ethanol distillation control application provides predictive and dynamic capabilities so that manufacturers can tightly control the distillation towards the optimal moisture impurity levels.
This is achieved by adjusting beer feed, steam and reflux rates to reduce moisture variability.
Continuous control can be used either to push ethanol capacity to its limit through control at higher distillation purity and maximum sieve capacity, or to push specific energy to its minimum through more efficient distillation and sieve operation.
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