2016 July Ethanol Producer Magazine

Page 1

INSIDE: NEW TOOLS FOR INSPECTION, CIP, LABORATORIES JULY 2016

BOOSTING CARBON CONVERSION White Dog Labs Touts Mass Yield Improvement

Page 46

Maintenance Matters

Page 28

New Cleaning Technologies Page 34

Underappreciated Cooling Towers

Page 40

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CONTENTS

JULY 2016 VOLUME 22

DEPARTMENTS 6

EDITOR'S NOTE

7

AD INDEX

8

THE WAY I SEE IT

9

EVENTS CALENDAR

10

VIEW FROM THE HILL

12

DRIVE

FEATURES

Maintenance, Compliance Now Conflux By Tom Bryan

Corporate Cronyism By Mike Bryan

Realities of the Market By Bob Dinneen

28

MAINTENANCE

34

CLEANING

New Levels in Upkeep Planning

New Solutions

40

46

Plants keep one step ahead of maintenance and compliance issues By Ann Bailey

Two companies introduce new cleaning technologies to the ethanol industry By Ann Bailey

Advocating for America’s Success Story By Emily Skor

14

GRASSROOTS VOICE

16

GLOBAL SCENE

Power, Passion and Performance By Brian Jennings New Face for Canada's Biofuels, Biobased Sectors By Andrea Kent

18

BUSINESS BRIEFS

20

COMMODITIES

22

DISTILLED

70

CLEARING THE AIR

74

ISSUE 7

Helping Tell Ethanol’s Real Story By Dave VanderGriend

MARKETPLACE

COOLING TOWERS

Conserving Cooling Power Proper maintenance avoids costly downtime By Holly Jessen

TECHNOLOGY

Sugar Plus CO2 Equals More Ethanol White Dog Labs introduces mixotrophic fermentation By Susanne Retka Schill

CONTRIBUTIONS

54 INSPECTION

62 SANITATION

New tool in the arsenal optimizes cleaning procedures By Andrew Ledlie

Naturally occurring, strong acid provides effective scale removal By Brian Hoskins

Video Borescoping Technology

New Acid Solution Improves CIP Programs

58 SAFETY

66 SOFTWARE

Coordination and training aids efficient maintenance operations

Laboratory information management systems aid in interpreting volumes of data By Trish Meek

Simplifying Safety During Planned Shutdowns By Chris McKinnon

Preventing Production Problems in the Lab

ON THE COVER

Bryan Tracy, CEO of White Dog Labs, led the team that discovered a bacteria that consumes C5 and C6 sugars, along with carbon dioxide, to achieve high mass yields. PHOTO: WHITE DOG LABS

4 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

Ethanol Producer Magazine: (USPS No. 023-974) July 2016, Vol. 22, Issue 7. Ethanol Producer Magazine is published monthly by BBI International. Principal Office: 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. Periodicals Postage Paid at Grand Forks, North Dakota and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Ethanol Producer Magazine/Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203.

EDITOR'S NOTE

Maintenance, Compliance Now Conflux Often, plant maintenance is needed when you’re least excited about it being performed. Summer gives producers total access to their campuses,

Tom Bryan

President & Editor in Chief tbryan@bbiinternational.com

inside and out and long working days to knock out tasks large and small. But it’s also when ethanol plants tend to run full throttle with limited personnel. Fortunately, summer upkeep is made easier and quicker by specialized service providers offering predicative maintenance, optimization and compliance support. In “New Levels in Upkeep Planning,” on page 28, we discover how many ethanol plants turn to service providers to manage specific and interrelated maintenance and compliance issues. EPM Associate Editor Ann Bailey reports that those two things— maintenance and compliance—have become increasingly interwoven services in the ethanol industry. After all, even the most innocuous crack, failing seal or inoperable component can lead to unplanned shutdowns, noncompliance and hefty fines if not addressed quickly and correctly. Beyond spot-and-repair services, ethanol plants are receiving prescriptive maintenance plans based on the life expectancies of storage tanks, pressure vessels and other major assets. Ultimately, most ethanol plants utilize third-party maintenance and inspection companies for these services because it’s a cost-effective way to maximize plant reliability while staying in compliance with increasingly complicated regulations. Our annual dive into plant maintenance continues with “New Solutions,” on page 34, also written by Bailey. Anytime you think you’ve seen it all in the ethanol industry, something new comes along. Plant cleaning tech is no different. Bailey reports on how one cleaning company is blending the strengths of dry and wet cleaning practices, deploying super-efficient hydroblasting—using water when it’s needed most—and applying rotarybased, wet cleaning practices with dry mediums. The story also introduces us to a company supplying large brewers, including Anheuser Busch, with surfactants that reduce calcium oxalate buildup. It’s a proven solution that appears applicable to ethanol plants. Freelance writer Holly Jessen further whets our interest in plant reliability with “Conserving Cooling Power,” on page 40. Cooling tower performance should be, but usually is not, a subject of conversation this time of year. These critical systems do their real work from June through September, and that’s also when these “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” assets tend to fail. As Jessen reports, deferred, or scant cooling-tower upkeep can result in curtailed production. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of companies offering cooling-tower optimization and maintenance services, and the Cooling Technology Institute also is there to help when needed. We turn to production technology in our page-46 cover story, “Sugar Plus CO2 Equals More Ethanol.” In this in-depth profile, EPM Managing Editor Susanne Retka Schill explains how White Dog Labs is using a microorganism for mixotrophic fermentation to convert carbon from both sugar and gas into ethanol. That word—mixotrophic—is used to describe the dual conversion process. The science is complex, but suffice to say that the company claims it results in a 50 percent increase in mass yield, with applicability to both first- and second-generation ethanol plants.

FOR INDUSTRY NEWS: WWW.ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM OR FOLLOW US: 6 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

TWITTER.COM/ETHANOLMAGAZINE

ADVERTISER INDEX

VOLUME 22 ISSUE 7

EDITORIAL President & Editor in Chief Tom Bryan tbryan@bbiinternational.com Vice President of Content & Executive Editor Tim Portz tportz@bbiinternational.com Managing Editor Susanne Retka Schill sretkaschill@bbiinternational.com Associate Editor Ann Bailey abailey@bbiinternational.com News Editor Erin Voegele evoegele@bbiinternational.com Copy Editor Jan Tellmann jtellmann@bbiinternational.com

ART Art Director Jaci Satterlund jsatterlund@bbiinternational.com Graphic Designer Raquel Boushee rboushee@bbiinternational.com

PUBLISHING Chairman Mike Bryan mbryan@bbiinternational.com CEO Joe Bryan jbryan@bbiinternational.com

SALES Vice President of Operations Matthew Spoor mspoor@bbiinternational.com Sales & Marketing Director John Nelson jnelson@bbiinternational.com Business Development Director Howard Brockhouse hbrockhouse@bbiinternational.com Senior Account Manager/Bioenergy Team Leader Chip Shereck cshereck@bbiinternational.com Account Manager Jeff Hogan jhogan@bbiinternational.com Circulation Manager Jessica Tiller jtiller@bbiinternational.com Marketing & Advertising Manager Marla DeFoe mdefoe@bbiinternational.com

EDITORIAL BOARD Ringneck Energy Walter Wendland Little Sioux Corn Processors Steve Roe Commonwealth Agri-Energy Mick Henderson Pinal Energy Keith Kor Aemetis Advanced Fuels Eric McAfee Poet Scott Teigen Western Plains Energy Derek Paine

2016 Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo Biomass Engineering & Equipment Buckman Cloud/Sellers Cleaning Systems D3MAX LLC Delta Cooling Towers, Inc. DuPont Industrial Biosciences Fagen Inc. Fluid Quip Process Technologies, LLC GEA Group Growth Energy Hengye Inc. Hydrite Chemical Co. Hydro-Klean LLC ICM, Inc. Interra Global Corporation J.C. Ramsdell Enviro Services, Inc. Kelso Technologies, Inc. Kelvion Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits Leaf - Lesaffre Advanced Fermentations Louis Dreyfus Company McC Inc. Mist Chemical & Supply Company Mole Master Services Corporation MonitorTech Corporation MPW Industrial Services Nalco Water New Age Cryo North American Industrial Services Group Phibro Ethanol Performance Group PITSolutions POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels Premium Plant Services, Inc. RPMG, Inc. Seneca Companies Solenis LLC Sukup Manufacturing Co. Sumitomo Drive Technologies Summit Swedish Exergy AB Syngenta: Enogen Thermal Refractory Tower Performance, Inc. U.S. Grains Council Valicor Separation Technologies Veolia Water Technologies Victory Energy Operations, LLC Westmor Industries, LLC

26-27 32 44 38 75 64 76 17 3 39 2 18 68 60 9 19 66 49 31 52 48 65 22 43 51 25 69 33 5 45 13 59 73 56 50 42 11 71 61 23 57 15 63 24 67 30 55 36-37 53

Customer Service Please call 1-866-746-8385 or email us at service@bbiinternational.com. Subscriptions to Ethanol Producer Magazine are free of charge to everyone with the exception of a shipping and handling charge of $49.95 for anyone outside the United States. To subscribe, visit www.EthanolProducer.com or you can send your mailing address and payment (checks made out to BBI International) to: Ethanol Producer Magazine Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You can also fax a subscription form to 701-746-5367. Back Issues, Reprints and Permissions Select back issues are available for $3.95 each, plus shipping. Article reprints are also available for a fee. For more information, contact us at 866-746-8385 or service@bbiinternational.com. Advertising Ethanol Producer Magazine provides a specific topic delivered to a highly targeted audience. We are committed to editorial excellence and high-quality print production. To find out more about Ethanol Producer Magazine advertising opportunities, please contact us at 866-746-8385 or service@bbiinternational.com. Letters to the Editor We welcome letters to the editor. Send to Ethanol Producer Magazine Letters to the Editor, 308 2nd Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203 or email to sretkaschill@bbiinternational.com. Please include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity and/or space.

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JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 7

THE WAY I SEE IT

Corporate Cronyism By Mike Bryan

I was dumfounded by an article written by George Banks and published in the Argus Leader on April 26, titled “Corn Ethanol Mandate Harmful to the Environment.” There are so many

contradictions in the article that he should print a retraction. Banks is vice president of the American Council for Capital Formation. According to its website, “Founded in 1973, The American Council for Capital Formation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization advocating tax, energy, regulatory and environmental policies that facilitate saving and investment, economic growth and job creation.” Now that’s a plough that covers a lot of ground in one pass. When I read his article, and then read the association’s “job description,” I couldn’t help but think that ethanol ticks every one of the boxes that the ACCF espouses. Yet it seems bent on promoting the agenda of the oil industry, especially when it comes to oil exports. It seems at cross-purposes to be an environmental advocate while at the same time supporting the exportation of fossil fuel, because we have too much here in America. It could be that I just have a sensitive nose, but I smell the oil industry influence in this article and the organization as a whole. There seems to be disconnect between the stated mission of the ACCF and the U.S. ethanol industry, because it appears that the ethanol industry should be tops on its list of industries to promote, yet it is painfully obvious the oil industry has already taken that spot.

Mission of the ACCF to Advocate Policies on:

US Ethanol Industry Contributions:

• Taxes

 Millions of dollars in taxes paid

• Energy

 Renewable energy

• Environment

 Clean burning

• Investment

 Billions of dollars invested

• Economic Growth

 Strong rural economic growth

• Jobs

 Hundreds of thousands of jobs

So, let’s stop pretending that the ACCF is this credible organization that represents investment, the environment and all of those good things. It represents the oil industry, and its opinion on the ethanol industry should be given zero credibility. I have looked at some past articles of the ACCF and, not surprisingly, I found one article on the fact that the oil industry still receives billions of dollars in subsidies while they has been stripped away from ethanol. So, Mr. Banks, if you and the ACCF are looking for a poster child for corporate cronyism, look no further, you work for it. That’s the way I see it!

Author: Mike Bryan Chairman, BBI International mbryan@bbiinternational.com

8 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

EVENTS CALENDAR ACE Annual Conference August 8-10, 2016 Loews Hotel Minneapolis, Minnesota ACE’s annual conference is unique in the world of renewable fuels because it is specifically tailored to the interests and needs of the people of ethanol—the folks in the trenches. It’s a gathering of ACE’s commitment to connect ethanol producers with farmers, researchers, retailers, and support businesses to continue what all of them started a long time ago. It’s also an excellent place to learn and share ideas. And it has all the fun of a family reunion. Join us Aug. 8-10 at the Loews Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. 605-334-3381 | www.ethanol.org/conference

2017 International Biomass Conference & Expo April 10-12, 2017 Minneapolis Convention Center Minneapolis, Minnesota Organized by BBI International and produced by Biomass Magazine, this event brings current and future producers of bioenergy and biobased products together with waste generators, energy crop growers, municipal leaders, utility executives, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, project developers, investors and policy makers. It’s a true one-stop shop—the world’s premier educational and networking junction for all biomass industries. 866-746-8385 | www.biomassconference.com

2017 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo June 26-28, 2017 Minneapolis Convention Center Minneapolis, Minnesota From its inception, the mission of the event has remained constant: The FEW delivers timely presentations with a strong focus on commercial-scale ethanol production— from quality control and yield maximization to regulatory compliance and fiscal management. The FEW is also the ethanol industry’s premier forum for unveiling new technologies and research findings. The program extensively covers cellulosic ethanol while remaining committed to optimizing existing grain ethanol operations. 866-746-8385 | www.fuelethanolworkshop.com

Ethanol Producer Magazine Webinar Series Ethanol Producer Magazine offers complimentary webinars to attendees looking to expand their knowledge of the ethanol industry. Please visit the website to view upcoming and past webinar topics. 866-746-8385 | www.ethanolproducer.com/pages/webinar/

icminc.com/epm

VIEW FROM THE HILL

Realities of the Market By Bob Dinneen

In May, as the U.S. EPA released its draft renewable fuel standard (RFS) and renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for 2017, EPA spokeswoman Laura Allen said the agency “set volumes that are ambitious, yet achievable given the realities of the market.” Really? The ethanol industry has demonstrated the ability

to produce more than 15.3 billion gallons annually. What’s ambitious about setting the standard 500 million gallons below what the industry can produce? The reason, of course, is that EPA has bought completely into the narrative of the oil industry regarding the blend wall, believing “the realities of the market” preclude the agency from setting the RVO for conventional biofuels above 10 percent of the market. There are two glaring problems with EPA’s logic. First, the law does not allow the agency to use waiver language specifically designed to address shortages in supply to be used to respond to perceived infrastructure limitations and biofuel demand. Indeed, EPA’s conflating of supply and demand is the subject of the industry’s ongoing lawsuit over the agency’s 2014, 2015 and 2016 RVO rule. We remain confident the court will appreciate the difference between supply and demand. But more importantly, the EPA proposed rule reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of the RFS, which was designed to change the “realities of the market” and the way oil companies do business, to spur investment in cleaner, low-carbon, renewable fuels and the infrastructure to accommodate higher blends. It was designed to give consumers more choices at the pump, lower gas prices and move beyond today’s market reality where biofuels are only used as gasoline additives to boost octane. The RFS was intended to create a wholly new market reality. The second point, however, is that even if the agency could consider infrastructure and demand, there is no reason to set the standard for conventional biofuels below 2017 statutory levels. There is quite literally no circumstance in which any obligated party would be unable to meet its requirement. Prior to the release of the proposed rule, the Renewable Fuels Association met with EPA and the Office of Management and Budget to provide our assessment of how easy it would be to meet the 15 billion gallons standard in 2017.

10 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

It is important to recognize at the outset that other biofuels qualify for D6 renewable identification numbers (RINs). Renewable diesel, some biodiesel, E15 and E85 contributed approximately 800 million gallons toward last year’s 14.5 billion gallons standard for undifferentiated renewable fuel. Also, because of USDA’s infrastructure grant program and the Prime the Pump initiative, E85 and E15 sales are climbing at an unprecedented rate. Gasoline demand is rising in response to low prices and a recovering economy. The 15 billion gallons requirement easily could be met. One final point. Even if our conservative demand estimates prove to be wrong, there is a 2 billion-plus surplus of D6 RINs that could be tapped, if necessary, by any obligated party finding itself short on its obligation—the ultimate insurance policy for a 15 billion gallons RVO. If this administration wants to encourage investment in new technologies as it says, maximize greenhouse gas reductions consistent with its climate change rhetoric, boost a flagging farm economy and lower consumer gasoline prices, it will return the RFS to the statutory levels and finally begin to change the “realities of the market.” Author: Bob Dinneen President and CEO, Renewable Fuels Association 202-289-3835

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DRIVE

Advocating for America’s Success Story By Emily Skor

As the new chief executive officer of Growth Energy, I am thrilled and humbled to join such a great team of passionate individuals to advance one of America’s most dynamic and forward-looking industries. And I am excited to work closely with our membership

who are thoroughly invested in the effort. As people in the industry already know, ethanol is truly a great American success story. To continue that progress, it is vital that we help our neighbors and policymakers better understand and believe in the value of American biofuels and to act upon those beliefs. Our message isn’t a hard one; we have so many great examples to highlight in communities around the country. Every single day, ethanol is working to slash greenhouse gas emissions, so we can all breathe a little easier. It replaces toxic additives that have been linked to cancer and smog. It powers our cars and keeps our engines running smoothly. And it reduces America’s reliance on oil from hostile nations in the Middle East. My top goal will be to amplify that message with consumers, retailers, industry allies and, of course, policymakers by every means available. These are the type of consumer-focused public relations battles I have spent decades fighting. Before joining Growth Energy, I served as Consumer Healthcare Products Association vice president for communications and CHPA Educational Foundation executive director. Day-in and day-out, we leveraged smart, strategic communications and a broad base of stakeholders to make our voices heard in major regulatory and legislative debates. By harnessing these assets, I have worked to defeat more than 100 state proposals aimed at limiting consumer access to over-the-counter medications. At Growth Energy, the challenge is similar, though greater in scale, and I’ll use every tool in our arsenal to expand our base of supporters, amplify voices of American consumers and evangelize the immense benefits of ethanol. We will continue to fight for commonsense polices like the renewable fuel standard (RFS) and market access for E15, including the Reid vapor pressure waiver. We will build upon programs

12 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

like Prime the Pump, which promotes domestic ethanol consumption by facilitating the construction of new blending infrastructure. I also hope to expand the reach of our world-class industry into new markets at home and across the globe. Like you, I know that consumers will choose ethanol if given the choice. We will continue to engage with the international community to open new export markets for ethanol and its coproducts. Growth Energy’s mission will not be limited, however, to advocacy in Washington or outreach to consumers. As part of a holistic approach, we will work to educate Americans about the benefits of a strong domestic ethanol industry, expanding the visibility of our contributions beyond the D.C. Beltway and the Corn Belt. With the public on our side, there’s no limit to what our industry can achieve. Of course, none of this would be possible without the strong base of support that Growth Energy has built during the course of several years. I am inspired and awed by all Tom Buis accomplished during his tenure as CEO. We will carry forward his passion and unwavering commitment to doing right by the people in this industry and always advancing the cause. We are fortunate he will serve as co-chair of the board of directors so we will continue to benefit from his wisdom and experience. It may take a little time, but I look forward to meeting all Growth Energy members, hearing their stories and sharing in their ambitions. Together, along with all stakeholders in the industry, we will ensure that ethanol remains the model against which all energy technologies are judged, by policymakers, business leaders, environmentalists, consumers and loving parents everywhere working to build a brighter future. We will change the terms of the debate and the result will be more gallons of ethanol produced, a larger marketplace, a cleaner environment and greater energy security. The industry already has made great strides, and I look forward to working with everyone to build on that success and take it to new heights. Author: Emily Skor CEO, Growth Energy 202-545-4000 eskor@growthenergy.org

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GRASSROOTS VOICE

Power, Passion and Performance By Brian Jennings

Nearly 70 members of the American Coalition for Ethanol traveled to Washington, D.C., this spring as part of our 8th annual fly-in. We met with staff in more

than 125 congressional offices representing 36 states, conveying the importance of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) and bipartisan, bicameral legislation (H.R. 1736 and S. 1239) to extend Reid vapor pressure (RVP) relief to E15 and higher blends (which have more ethanol but fewer evaporative emissions than E10 and gasoline) during the June 1 through Sept. 15 summer ozone season. During the two-day fly-in, we ran back-to-back, full-page ads in Roll Call, a popular Capitol Hill publication with a circulation of more than 22,000. The ad buy highlighted the RFS and RVP relief legislation using the real-life stories of Charlie Good, an ASE-certified mechanic and C-store owner who wants the U.S. EPA to let him sell E15 year-round, and Delayne Johnson, CEO of Quad County Corn Processors, whose company is the first to successfully commercialize cellulosic biofuel from corn kernel fiber. Our opponents constantly are telling Congress the RFS must be repealed and that using E15 places cars and station owners at risk. Retailers helped us counterpunch during the fly-in by sharing first-hand experiences with their customers who are buying low-cost, high-octane E15 and flex fuels, thanks to Congress standing strong on the RFS. Fly-in participants met with Trevor Reuschel, USDA acting deputy director, who provided an update on the status of the Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership program. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., also spoke to the group regarding his legislation (H.R. 1736) to extend the RVP waiver to E15 and higher blends. Finally, our attendees heard from Lindsey Erb and Tom Sleight of the U.S. Grains Council, who shared their perspective on global demand for ethanol. ACE is a new member of the USGC and we’ve invited Erb and Sleight back to our conference in Minneapolis to give an update on activities designed to promote additional sales of U.S. ethanol and DDGS worldwide. Speaking of ACE’s conference, I encourage everyone to join us Aug. 8-10 at the Loews Minneapolis Hotel for our “Power, Passion,

14 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

Performance” themed event. We think those three words fittingly describe the strengths and future of the ethanol industry. The world is going on a low-carbon diet and having seconds on octane, and that makes ethanol an essential ingredient. Many of our conference topics will delve into what the people of ethanol are doing to capitalize on the high-octane, low-carbon future. For example, we have a panel discussion titled “Octane’s Value Proposition and Regulatory Path Forward,” which will cover how refiners calculate for the octane value of ethanol and the federal regulatory pathways that must be navigated to eventually get a higher-octane fuel with more ethanol approved. Keeping with the ACE conference theme, speakers will explain how ethanol producers can reduce their plants' carbon intensity through a better understanding of data from the field, energy inputs and optimizing plant operations, while other presenters will provide an overview on the Paris climate agreements and legal insight on exports, policy and regulations. Leading retailers around the country who are making the switch to E15 and flex fuels will be on the ACE conference stage to share why and how the industry can move even more gallons by increasing our share of the retail fuel market. Our keynote address will be from Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the Oil Price Information Service, with his always insightful analysis of energy markets. You won’t want to miss his presentation. Finally, Kristy Moore, one of the industry’s top technical experts, will lead a session discussing why ASTM membership is important to ethanol producers and how to join and participate in the ASTM process for developing fuel specs. Moore also will explain EPA’s proposed fuel quality specifications for blends containing 16 through 83 percent ethanol. ACE is grateful to the members who support our grassroots flyins and we invite you to join us in Minneapolis in August for our annual conference. Author: Brian Jennings Executive Vice President American Coalition for Ethanol 605-334-3381 bjennings@ethanol.org

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GLOBAL SCENE

New Face for Canada’s Biofuels, Biobased Sectors By Andrea Kent

It is an exciting time for Canada’s renewable fuels and biobased product sectors. Industry leaders are impacting the

energy landscape greatly, building the nation’s biobased economy and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To reflect this, the national voice of Canada’s biofuels sector has rebranded from the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association to Renewable Industries Canada. The change reinforces our 32-yearold association’s mission to promote the use of value-added products made from renewable resources. RICanada’s mandate now goes beyond renewable fuels to include advanced biofuels and policy programs that will support greater research, development and commercialization of renewable and biobased industrial products. For us, this is a natural extension of who we are and what we do best. I can’t think of a more fitting time for our association to update itself. After all, just take a look at what renewable fuels producers are doing. Our industry and member companies have been hard at work growing their businesses and diversifying their products beyond liquid transportation fuels for some time, while governments increasingly are searching for ways to reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change. As important as we believe these changes to our brand are, biofuels always will be a core focus of our work and a proud part of who we are. RICanada will continue to work with all levels of government to increase biofuel content requirements, open new market opportunities for renewable fuels and ensure producers of GHG-reducing fuels and products are recognized fairly in carbon pricing models. Biofuels helped start the transition to low-carbon fuel and remain a valued and needed part of any successful low-carbon strategy going forward. They are the quickest route to GHG emission reductions within the transport sector, accounting for

16 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

approximately 23 percent of Canada’s total emissions. Canadian biofuels producers already have helped remove the equivalent of 1 million cars worth of carbon emissions from Canada’s roads every year. More can be done. Liquid fuels will be required for years to come, while the potential of other renewable energy sources and electric vehicles are being harnessed sufficiently, and biofuels are a simple solution to help governments meet emission reduction targets. They also may be the only option for the heavy-duty sector to reduce its emissions in the longer term. The more renewable fuels we use, the greater the emission reductions from the transportation sector will be. With that in mind, RICanada is proposing a strategy to reduce emissions by another 4 million metric tons, whereby the mandated amount of ethanol blended into Canadian gasoline is increased from 5 to 10 percent and the biodiesel content of diesel fuel is increased from 2 to 5 percent. This would bring the total emission reductions from biofuels in Canada to almost 9 million metric tons, removing the equivalent emissions of another 1 million cars from our roads. As many of Canada’s ethanol producers already have shown, growing beyond biofuels is not only possible, it’s essential. I’m proud to say that Renewable Industries Canada has followed suit. Together, we will continue to grow the industry to the benefit of all Canadians for years to come. Author: Andrea Kent President, Renewable Industries Canada 613-594-5528 a.kent@ricanada.org

BUSINESS BRIEFS People, Partnerships & Deals

Murex LLC has executed a multi-year ethanol marketing agreement with White Energy. The agreement calls for Murex to market all three of White Energy’s production locations, two in Texas and one in Kansas, totaling 295 million gallons of permitted ethanol production annually. Cellulosic Sugar Producers Cooperative, an Ontario-based farmer’s cooperative, has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Comet Biorefining to collaborate on the development of a sustainable agricultural biomass supply chain in southwestern Ontario. Comet Biorefining recently announced Sarnia, Ontario, as the location of its commercial-scale biomassderived sugar facility. The plant will process more than 60,000 metric tons of corn stover or wheat straw per year into dextrose sugar. The production of these sugars and coproducts will support the production of bioproducts such as biochemicals and biofuels. Ecolab Inc. has changed the name of Nalco, its water and process services business, to Nalco Water. The new name more clearly communicates Nalco’s water management expertise as water scarcity is becoming a major global challenge and an increasing constraint to business growth. Ametek Inc. has completed the acquisition of Brookfield Engineering Laboratories, a manufacturer of viscometers and rheometers, and ESP/ SurgeX, a provider of energy intelligence and power protection solutions. Hydro-Thermal Corp. has to reorganized its staff into industry-specific teams in response to increasing sales and the everchanging complexity of its business. The teams cover newer applications as well as established markets, including food and beverage; ethanol, starch and sweetener; and industrial. Sales staff previously were divided by geographic territory, with segments broken out for U.S. and Canada and

18 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

international. Sales, engineering and marketing staff were affected by the reorganization. All sales staff now will have a specific, dedicated industry. Existing sales relationships will be transitioned gradually to their new contacts and the team will work together to ensure that all current sales opportunities are properly serviced. Green Plains Inc.’s board of directors has appointed Ejnar Knudsen as an independent director. Knudsen is founder and managing partner of AGR Partners, where he oversees the firm’s investment process. He serves on the board of two AGR portfolio companies, Ridley Corp. and Opal Foods. He is the co-founder and director of Materra and currently serves on the board of Western Milling. He is also chair of the Dairy Club, director on the California Ag Leadership Foundation board and chair of its finance committee, and a member of the Farm Foundation. Jeanne McCaherty became CEO of Guardian Energy Management LLC in May, leading its ethanol operations headquartered in Prior Lake, Minnesota. McCaherty McCaherty most recently worked at Cargill as vice president, regional director for North and South American regions for the texturizing business unit. In that role, she led a $480 million business and a team of 400 in all aspects of the business from origination and manufacturing to marketing and human resources. Before that, she held numerous leadership positions, including global director of the cultures and enzymes business as well as several leadership roles in global research and development. The Renewable Fuels Association has received a Transcaer National Achievement Award for hosting a series of seminars last year on ethanol safety and emergency responders. This is the fourth year

BUSINESS BRIEFS¦

RFA has been awarded this honor by the Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response initiative. The award is given in recognition of extraordinary achievement by an individual person, company, organization or a team in support of the Transcaer initiative. Transcaer is a volunteer coalition that works to ensure emergency responders and their communities are educated with the most up-to-date information and are prepared to handle hazardous material incidents. In 2015, RFA held 15 ethanol safety seminars and two trainthe-trainer events. Those events collectively trained 541 first responders. In addition, Missy Ruff, technical services manager of RFA, received a Transcaer Individual Achievement Award for her work last year in planning the ethanol safety events. Midwest AgEnergy Group has named Jeff Zueger as its CEO. MAG owns Blue Flint Ethanol in Underwood, North Dakota, and Dakota Spirit AgEnergy, in Zueger Spiritwood, North Dakota. Both are 65 MMgy ethanol plants. MAG is owned by Great River Energy and other accredited investors, including ag producers and businesses. Zueger worked for Great River Energy from 1993 to 2006 in engineering and operations at the cooperative’s two power plants in central North Dakota, Stanton Station and Coal Creek Station. He was leader of generation and operations support when Great River Energy began to explore building an ethanol facility to utilize unused energy at Coal Creek Station. He became general manager for Blue Flint Ethanol in 2006 and led construction, startup and overall business activities. In 2012, Zueger became chief operating officer for Midwest AgEnergy Group as the business prepared to build Dakota Spirit AgEnergy. In that position, Zueger managed all aspects of the business for Midwest AgEnergy Group.

Cassie Mullen has joined the Renewable Fuels Association as director of market development. She primarily will focus on working with the supply chain to facilitate expansion of infrastructure capable of offering higher-level ethanol blends to consumers. Mullen has been working with fuel retailers for more than two decades, conducting station equipment evaluations, providing equipment recommendations and helping them build new stations. She is well-versed in environmental compliance, EMV and major oil branding and marketing agreements, and has owned retail stations during her career. Mullen spent nearly six years as business development/manager for Kansas-based fuel equipment business P.B. Hoidale and nearly 10 years as director of sales and marketing for Missouri-based Neumayer Equipment Co. Most recently, she worked as an executive for Seneca Companies, managing a 17-state territory of retailer accounts. Green Biologics Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of U.K.-based Green Biologics Ltd., announced two distribution agreements in early April. The company is currently retrofitting a corn ethanol plant in Little Falls, Minnesota, to produce renewable nbutanol and acetone. The first distribution agreement is with Texas-based Nexeo Solutions. Nexeo Solutions will become Green Biologics’ national distributor of n-butanol and acetone to U.S. customers in several key markets, including coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers; household, industrial and institutional cleaners; personal care intermediates; and energy chemicals. The second distribution agreement was signed with Acme-Hardesty, a division of Jacob Stern & Sons Inc. and leading supplier of biobased chemicals. AcmeHardesty will focus its efforts on marketing Green Biologics’ n-butanol and acetone for high-value applications in food ingredients, cleaning products and biolubricants.

SHARE YOUR INDUSTRY NEWS: To be included in the Business Briefs, send information (including photos and logos, if available) to Business Briefs, Ethanol Producer Magazine, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You may also email information to evoegele@bbiinternational.com. Please include your name and telephone number. JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 19

COMMODITIES

Prices & Market Analyses

Natural Gas Report

Natural gas use will burn hot this summer May 23—With natural gas demand in a lull, weather forecasts for the coming summer came into focus in late May. The consensus among meteorologists is for a warmer-than-normal season wrought with more Atlantic hurricane activity than in recent years. The once-strong El Nino that contributed to the warmest winter on record in most of the U.S. has collapsed quickly and is poised to flip to La Nina by fall—a key consideration for forecasters of temperature and precipitation anomalies as well as hurricanes. With production moving away from the Gulf during the past decade, the market no longer views the Atlantic hurricane season, which stretches from June through November, as quite as prominent of a risk to energy supply. However, a major storm that damages Gulf production and transportation infrastructure could have a significant impact on natural gas supply, supporting price volatility. North Carolina State University predicts more activity than normal this year, with 15 to 18 named storms and three to five major hurricanes and one to three Gulf hurricanes. This summer already is poised to be a banner year for natural gas burn for power and hot weather would ratchet up demand. The

by Andy Huenefeld

National Weather Service forecasts strong probability of warmerthan-normal weather from June through August. Natural gas demand for power generation peaked last July at nearly 34 Bcf per day. A combination of widespread heat and relatively inexpensive natural gas could push demand higher this summer, potentially testing the all-time record of 34.9 Bcf set in July 2012.

Corn Report

Corn follows soy complex in May market

by Jason Sagebiel

May 23—The late May corn market followed the soy complex amid production concerns in the Southern Hemisphere and a global vegetable oil deficit. A weakening U.S. dollar helped spur export demand, which could be a result of issues with Brazil’s second corn crop. The late-March acreage report also led the soy complex. The USDA lowered the corn carryout in the May report due to an increase in corn exports, which jumped by 75 million bushels. Food, seed and industrial use increased by 11 million bushels while imports increased by 5 million bushels. Overall carryout declined by 79 million bushels—a market surprise. The May report revealed the USDA’s first projections for the 2016-’17 marketing year. The USDA pegs yield at 168 bushels per acre versus 168.4 last year. Demand expectations increase next year with feed and exports up 300 and 175 million bushels, respectively. Corn for ethanol production is expected to increase by 50 million bushels to 5.3 billion bushels. Carryout is projected at 2.153 billion bushels, up from 1.803 billion this marketing year and, if realized, the largest carryout since 1990. Global corn carryout in the current year declined slightly; however, the 2016-’17 projected carryout is 207.04 million metric tons (mmt), in- Brazilian corn crop. Argentina corn production declined 1 mmt to 27 line with the previous year. Brazil production for 2015-’16 decreased mmt and the 2016-’17 crop is already projected at 34 mmt. Brazil is from 84 to 81 mmt due to a poor growing conditions for the second projected at 82 mmt. Comments in this column are market commentary and are not to be construed as market advice.

20 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

Regional Ethanol Prices ($/gallon) Front Month Futures (AC) $1.604

DDGS Report

DDGS market boosted by soymeal prices, Chinese buying May 23—As Memorial Day approached, the DDGS market was influenced by prices of soymeal and Chinese buying, up $15 to $25 per ton from April. Nearby markets were tight, and the deferred months were being quoted at a discount. Most users in the U.S. have DDGS in the rations to the maximum and we’re beginning to see that in overseas markets as well. Domestically, the futures run-up that occurred in mid-May gave buyers some pause, putting a hold on their buying. With the pipelines running thin, they were collectively coming to the market for their next week’s needs and pushing the market up on themselves. Nearby values were a premium, a dynamic that held for quite a while. In the export markets, buyers were even more in denial about prices moving higher than domestic folks. Export buyers

Region

Spot

Rack

West Coast

1.755

1.850

Midwest

1.600

1.768

East Coast

1.680

1.851 SOURCE: DTN

by Sean Broderick

were scrambling to find alternatives in a market where few existed. In China, there was talk about a release of some of the corn it has in reserve—at market prices— but that has yet to be seen. With the price of soymeal, demand was coming in from most of the Pacific Rim countries. They feed many more monogastric animals (hogs and poultry) that are in need of protein, and DDGS is a viable alternative. Overall, it feels like the market will stay elevated. Higher DDGS prices are increasing ethanol plant margins and we would expect to see full production. Higher soymeal prices are expected to remain the driver for a while, but eventually buyers’ attention will be turning to Chinese buying decisions. Soon, crop conditions will be the focus of attention.

Regional Gasoline Prices ($/gallon)

Front Month Futures Price (RBOB) $1.635 Region

Spot

Rack

West Coast

1.546

1.985

Midwest

1.783

1.532

East Coast

1.533

1.565 SOURCE: DTN

DDGS Prices ($/ton) LOCATION

Jul 2016

Jun 2016

Jul 2015

Minnesota

135

120

160

Chicago

168

140

185

Buffalo, N.Y.

160

140

175

Central Calif.

200

179

214

Central Fla.

170

155

204 SOURCE: CHS INC.

Corn Futures Prices (July Futures) Date

close, bu.

close, ton

May 20, 2016

3.945

140.893

April 20, 2016

3.998

142.768

May 20, 2015

3.600

128.571 SOURCE: FCSTONE

Cash Sorghum ($/bushel)

Ethanol Report

by Rick Kment

Seasonal demand sparks price rally in gasoline, ethanol May 23—Strong gains developed in ethanol and RBOB gasoline markets through the month of May as firm buyer support kept corn futures near $4 per bushel in front-month contracts, while the summer driving season neared. The Memorial Day holiday is typically the start of the summer vacation season and indicates when holiday travel begins. Prices for gasoline and ethanol have rallied 8 to 10 cents per gallon in frontmonth futures contracts during the past month in anticipation of growing demand and tightening supplies. The stronger de-

mand is causing inventory levels of both gasoline and ethanol to move back to much more manageable levels than seen earlier in the year. If these levels hold, firm price support is expected to continue throughout early summer. Ethanol markets are not an isolated island though, as strength in the crude oil market and in world economies unifies solid support through the entire energy complex, allowing widespread market support to develop through the end of spring.

Location

May 20, 2016

April 22, 2016

May 15, 2015

Superior, Neb.

3.29

3.12

4.41

Beatrice, Neb.

3.21

2.97

3.91

Sublette, Kan.

3.11

2.92

3.66

Salina, Kan.

3.20

3.02

4.36

Triangle, Texas

3.30

3.02

3.91

Gulf, Texas

3.82

4.19

5.57

SOURCE: SORGHUM SYNERGIES

Natural Gas Prices ($/MMBtu) LOCATION

May 20, 2016

March 31, 2016

May 21, 2015

NYMEX

2.062

1.959

2.949

NNG Ventura

1.815

1.805

2.905

Calif. Citygate

1.870

1.990

3.055

SOURCE: U.S. ENERGY SERVICES INC.

U.S. Ethanol Production (1,000 barrels) Per Day

Month

End Stocks

Mar 2016

994

30,812

22,301

Feb 2016

989

28,678

23,004

951

29,489

20,865

Mar 2015

SOURCE: U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION

JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 21

DISTILLED Ethanol News & Trends

Renewable fuel volume requirements 2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

33

123

230

312*

n/a

Biomass-based diesel (billion gallons)

1.63

1.73

1.90

2.00

2.1*

Advanced biofuel (billion gallons)

2.67

2.88

3.61

4.0*

n/a

16.28

16.93

18.11

18.8*

n/a

Cellulosic biofuel (million gallons)

Renewable fuel (billion gallons) * PROPOSED VOLUME REQUIREMENTS SOURCE: U.S. EPA

EPA releases 2017 RFS proposal On May 18, the U.S. EPA released a proposed rule to set 2017 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) under the renewable fuel standard (RFS), along with 2018 RVOs for biomass-based diesel. The agency has proposed to set the 2017 RVO for cellulosic biofuel at 312 million gallons, with the advanced biofuel RVO at 4 billion gallons and the RVO for total renewable fuel at 18.8 billion gallons. The 2018 RVO for biomass-based diesel has been proposed at 2.1 billion gallons. The proposed percentage standards call for renewable fuel to comprise 10.44 percent of the transportation fuel pool next year. The cellulosic standard would be 0.173 percent, with the biomass-based diesel standard at 1.67 percent, and the advanced biofuel standard at 2.22 percent. While many in the biofuel industry commended the EPA for the timely release of the proposed rule, the agency has been criticized for its interpretation of the waiver authority provided in statute to reduce RVOs below statutory levels. The EPA’s interpretation cites infrastructure concerns as a reason to reduce RVO levels.

22 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

Indiana funding supports blender pump deployment The Indiana Office of Development and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council awarded more than $789,000 in April to fuel retailer Family Express under the Hoosier Homegrown Fuels Blender Pump Program, supporting the deployment of 45 blender pumps across eight counties. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, 34 of the stations already offer E85 and will be adding E15. Three stations will be new and offer E15 and E85. The goal of the HHF program is to expand the availability of higher ethanol blends in areas of the state where they are limited or not available. It is jointly funded by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council. This is the second round of grant announcements under the HHF program. “Family Express, 2015 Chain of the Year, has been a leader in offering ethanol-blended fuel options to their customers for years and this announcement demonstrates their commitment to providing Indiana consumers with choices at the pump,” said David Gottbrath, Indiana Corn Marketing Council president and farmer from Washington County.

DISTILLED

Comet, BioAmber sign offtake agreement for dextrose feedstock Comet Biorefining Inc. has an offtake agreement to supply high-purity dextrose feedstock from its proposed facility in Sarnia, Ontario, to BioAmber Inc., which operates a biobased succinic acid plant in Sarnia. The dextrose will be produced from agricultural residues. The offtake agreement includes provisions for Comet to supply dextrose to future BioAmber facilities and provides BioAmber with exclusive rights in the fields of succinic acid, 1,4-butanediol (BDO) and tetrahydrofuran (THF). According to Comet, the offtake agreement is the culmination of development work performed by both companies as part of BioIndustrial Innovation Canada’s recently completed cellulosic sugar study. BioAmber provided an equity investment in Comet last year and BioAmber CEO Jean-Francois Huc has joined Comet’s board of directors. “We have tested many second generation sugars and Comet offers dextrose that is on par with dextrose from corn, both in terms of quality and price,” said Huc. “Comet has proven this by operating a large demonstration plant in Italy, setting them apart from others. Comet has also put together a unique value chain in Southwestern Ontario, bringing together farmers, technology, offtakers and government. We are looking forward to participating in their exciting growth prospects.”

Net RINs generated during Q1 2016 (in millions) D3

30.15

D4

650.25

D5

12.60

D6

3,676.04

D7

0.11

SOURCE: U.S. EPA

EPA releases first quarter RIN data U.S. EPA data has shown more than 4.37 billion renewable identification numbers (RINs) were generated during the first quarter of the year, including a net total of 30.15 million D3 cellulosic biofuels RINS. More than 1 million D3 RINs have been generated for cellulosic ethanol so far this year, along with 17.83 million for renewable compressed natural gas and 12.7 million for renewable liquefied natural gas. In addition, a net total of 114,835 D7 cellulosic diesel RINs were generated in March for cellulosic heating oil. A net total of 12.6 million D5 advanced biofuel RINs were generated during the first quarter of 2016, including nearly 6.2 million for ethanol. Nearly 3.68 billion D6 renewable fuel RINs were generated during the first three months of the year. The majority, 3.6 billion, were generated for ethanol. In addition, approximately 650.25 million D4 biomass-based diesel RINs were generated during the first quarter.

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JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 23

DISTILLED

RFA releases analysis of LCFS data The Renewable Fuels Association recently released an analysis of California Low Carbon Fuel Standard data, noting grain-based ethanol provided approximately half of the greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions achieved during the first five years of the program. The RFA analysis of the raw LCFS data indicates regulated parties have reduced the carbon intensity (CI) of the state’s transportation fuels by 16.55 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases (GHGs) since LCFS enforcement began in 2011. Grain-based ethanol generated 7.58 million metric tons of CI reductions during that time, accounting for 46 percent of total LCFS credits and nearly 75 percent of credits in the gasoline pool. Sugarcane and molasses-based ethanol resulted in 0.88 million metric tons of CI reductions, or less than 5 percent of total LCFS credits. Overall, the RFA notes liquid biofuels have accounted for 87 percent of LCFS

California LCFS carbon credit generation, 2011-2015 Ethanol

51%

Renewable diesel

17%

Biodiesel

17%

Fossil CNG

5%

Electricity

4%

Bio-CNG

3%

Bio-LNG

2%

Fossil LNG

1%

Other

0%

SOURCE: RENEWABLE FUELS ASSOCIATION

credits, including 51 percent for ethanol, and 17 percent each for renewable diesel and biodiesel. Fossil-CNG and fossil-LNG accounted for a respective 5 percent and 1 percent, while bio-CNG and bio-LNG accounted for 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Electricity accounted for approximately 4 percent. Other sources of fuels, including hydrogen, accounted for less than 1 percent.

UAI: Court decision on MOVES Model a temporary setback The effort to stop the U.S. EPA from implementing a model that unfairly blames ethanol for increased emissions hit a temporary setback this spring, said officials from the Urban Air Initiative. In April, the U.S Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed a lawsuit filed by UAI along with the state of Kansas, the state of Nebraska and the Energy Future Coalition to require EPA to stop the Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator for 2014 (MOVES2014 Model) from being imple-

24 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

mented. The court dismissed the petition on grounds that Kansas and Nebraska do not yet have standing to challenge the computer model, which states are required to use to meet air quality standards. According to the UAI, the court did not rule on the claims that the model’s estimates of ethanol’s emissions effects are fundamentally flawed and that EPA failed to invite and consider public comment on the model as required by the Administrative Procedure Act.

DISTILLED

Iowa rail facts Gallons of ethanol produced in Iowa during 2015, with the majority shipped by rail

4 billion 3,851

Miles of railroad-owned track in Iowa

8

Railroads hauling crude or biofuels in Iowa SOURCE: IOWA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Iowa study focuses on improving ethanol, crude oil rail transport safety The Iowa Department of Transportation and Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management have released a study that reveals insights into the transportation of biofuels and crude oil by rail around and through the state. The study used a series of interviews and meetings with government agencies, railroads, emergency response personnel, emergency managers, rail shippers and biofuels producers to cover four main topic

areas: prevention of spills, preparedness in the event of a spill, response to an incident, and recovery from an incident. The study outlines actions that can be taken within the state to improve prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. Overall, the study identified 22 specific challenges and outlined several specific recommendations and improvement actions for each.

Aemetis to acquire Edeniq and its cellulosic technology In May, Aemetis Inc. announced it has entered a definitive agreement with Edeniq, under which Aemetis will acquire all of Edeniq’s outstanding shares in a stock-pluscash merger transaction. The transaction was expected to close during the second quarter. Upon completion of the transaction, Edeniq will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Aemetis. Edeniq has developed patented technology that uses a combination of mechanical and biological processes to unlock cellulosic and starch sugars. To date, 29 of the company’s Cellunators have been installed at six U.S. ethanol plants. The company has

also signed several license agreements for its Pathway technology, which integrates the mechanical Cellunator equipment with cellulase enzymes to convert corn kernel fiber to cellulosic ethanol. “The acquisition of Edeniq will further Aemetis’ plan to lead the deployment of technology to transition traditional biofuels plants into the production of valuable advanced biofuels, upgrading the existing infrastructure found at the 210 ethanol production facilities operating throughout the United States,” said Eric McAfee, chairman and CEO of Aemetis.

JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 25

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JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 27

PHOTO: ZACH KOBRINKSY

28 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

MAINTENANCE

NEW LEVELS IN

Upkeep Planning Facing 10-year checkups, ethanol facilities turn to service providers to help stay ahead of maintenance and compliance issues. By Ann Bailey

Many ethanol plants built during the industry’s boom years are at, or approaching 10 years of operation. The new set of challenges—how to spot issues in tanks and pipes,

discontinued parts, planning upgrades for outdated systems, keeping compliant with regulations—calls for a new level in maintenance planning. “Plants all run differently and they all have their own mindsets in their management teams, so we can set up a plan for them, but that plan is dynamic,” says Paula Emberland, ERI Solutions account manager. ERI, based in Colwich, Kansas, has added nondestructive testing and inspection services in recent years to complement its work with safety inspections and regulatory compliance. The maintenance plan ERI Solutions designs for plants is flexible, Emberland says. “It’s not a hard, fast, set plan because that just doesn’t work,” she says. “If plant managers see something they think might be having an issue with or their efficiencies are poor, they may call us and say ‘You know what, we really want to get these evaps done this time versus next time.’” The goal of ERI’s maintenance plan for its ethanol plant customers is to ensure that the plants are in compliance with U.S. EPA regulations, Emberland says. “Sometimes we get out there and see some pretty seriJULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 29

MAINTENANCE

UPGRADE PLANNING: Shown is an example of an upgraded chemical feed system for use in ethanol facilities.

ous issues that need to be taken care of right away—for example, the tanks. They’ll have a problem with their floating roof that could be an EPA issue or they’ll have a crack in one of the welds in the floor that could, again, be an EPA issue if that tank leaks.� ERI Solutions recommends plants have contractors on-site or on call before it arrives for inspection. That way, if ERI identifies a problem during an inspection, the contractor can fix it and then ERI can do another inspection, Emberland says. “We’ll reinspect the welds or the problems and ensure that they are repaired correctly and that the plant then can go back into operation or put that tank back in use.� Besides identifying nearterm problems, ERI’s inspection also helps plants determine the longevity of its tanks, Ember-

PHOTO: US WATER

land says. “The other thing all this testing does is that it allows the plant to come up with an estimated lifetime expectancy, so on the tanks, for example, if there are certain things found, we can provide them with an expected lifetime expectancy so they can preschedule repairs if they need to. If they don’t need to do them this year, maybe they need to do them in five years. That allows managers to plan for the future and determine which tanks and pressure vessel issues they need to take care of and budget for.�

Mechanical Integrity

Lincoln, Nebraska-based Olsson Associates, which provides engineering services to a variety of industries, also provides inspection schedules for ethanol plants, says Shawn Zablocki, Olsson Associates indus-

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30 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

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trial program leader. “We can help them develop an actual mechanical integrity program that applies to their pumps, their control devices, their safety devices, to the standards required within the procedures, plus a written document as to how you are going to perform those mechanical integrity inspections and what you’re going to follow,� Zablocki says. “We can help put together an integrity inspection schedule for the tanks.� For ethanol plant managers faced with meeting the requirements of myriad rules and regulations, hiring an outside company to monitor and address their maintenance needs can not only bring clarity to what can be confusing, but also save money, Zablocki says. For example, there are several standards that apply to ethanol plants, one set being from the American Petroleum Institute. “A lot of people will default to API standards for smaller tanks and vessels when they really don’t need to. So they’ll hold themselves to a standard with respect to what’s expected and also with respect to a more frequent inspection schedule.�

HIDDEN WEAR: Nondestructive scanning methods help with identifying difficult-to-see issues. Floor scans, for instance help spot corrosion caused by groundwater on the underside of the floor. PHOTO: OLSSON ASSOC.

“API has a couple of different standards. API 653, which is for large atmospheric tanks. API 510 applies to pressure vessels and also to vacuum vessels. Where plants have columns that are run under vacuum systems, we’ll inspect to API 510. API

570 applies to piping systems—all of the pipe racks and pipe systems. The Steel Tank Institute has a code that generally applies to the smaller atmospheric tanks. So for things like a flash receiver or flash vessel that are not under pressure and basically shop-fabri-

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SAFETY FIRST: Certain inspection jobs require special training to do thorough inspections of hard-to-reach or hazardous areas. PHOTO: OLSSON ASSOC.

cated tanks, STI would apply. That’s a much less stringent code than the American Petroleum Institute standards.� Olsson Associates strives to ensure that its ethanol industry clients are compliant with the proper codes and standards so they aren’t spending more than they need to on the testing programs and can apply that money to other projects, Zablocki says. There also is some confusion regarding EPA and OSHA regulations for process safety management or a risk management plan, he says. “They specify that plants should do integrity testing. Sometimes people think that EPA or OSHA is providing the inspection code or standard, and they do not. They simply say the plant should test to applicable codes and standards, which then goes back to the API and Steel Tank Institute.� “Basically, the plants need to do inspections at appropriate intervals and we do provide that special service,� Zablocki says.

Water Treatment Plus

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32 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

In addition to water and process technologies, U.S. Water provides long-term maintenance and inspection services to customers, including ethanol plants, across the United States, says Mitch Manstedt, U.S. Water, strategic business leader. “U.S. Water has a lot of different areas that we touch on in ethanol facilities,� Manstedt says. “We can impact a lot of ongoing day-to-day maintenance and also the longer-term liability and upgrade due to aging equipment. “We are on call as needed. Typically, someone in U.S. Water is available 24/7 for emergency response, inspections, etc. Also, we’re in these facilities on a routine basis because our sales and services representatives are going to these facilities either weekly or monthly to conduct analytical testing, system integrity checks, inventory monitoring. They look at any issues and long-term problem areas that need to be addressed and resolved.� “Most of the maintenance is centered on pretreatment equipment, which would be up-front of the water systems in these facilities. Pretreatment equipment is what we could consider a consumable item�, Manstedt says. “There are items in there that go bad, due to age or due to poor water quality that need to be looked at, addressed,

MAINTENANCE tested and identified on a regular basis,” he says. Pretreatment equipment could be considered the “life blood” of the water treatment system, he notes. If it is operating efficiently and maintained properly, the rest of the system runs seamlessly. As ethanol plants age and technology advances, providing services to ethanol plants may mean melding the old with the new, Manstedt says. “When I first started with U.S. Water 10 years ago, some of these pieces of equipment didn’t have the ability to interface with the current ethanol plant control system. They were single standalone pieces of equipment that really didn’t have any eyes, ears or data being able to be captured from them. “With advancements in automation today we can seamlessly integrate those controls and automation packages into the plant control system they’re operating at their facility,” Manstedt says. “They can control it, they can trend it, they can collect the data. They can have programs that officially monitor how well the systems are operating and really get a good idea of what needs to be done and be proactive for scheduled maintenance, for scheduled cleaning. U.S. Water provides its ethanol clients with the expertise to keep the plants’ old and new technology and systems running efficiently, Manstedt says. “By looking at these pieces of equipment and understanding the life cycle, we can predict when replacement or upgrade is needed to reduce downtime, increase efficiencies and positively impact the bottom line.” U.S. Water, like ERI and Olsson Associates, offers its clients short-term and long-term plans to address their maintenance needs. “Depending on what the facility has for equipment or items that needed to be addressed, we have monthly, quarterly and yearly checks done on certain pieces of equipment, maintenance or analysis of those pieces of equipment and those are checked to make sure that we are keeping the system up-to-date and operating efficiently,” Manstedt says. For example, about 40 percent of the ethanol facilities built in the past 10 years have a certain piece of software equipment. U.S. Water recently learned that the company that makes the software is going to start

discontinuing a certain line of products, Manstedt says. That means that U.S. Water needs to be proactive and plan how it will acquire spare parts and make them available to their clients and then determine the next step. “Once they discontinue a line, how do we keep that line operational for future years?” Manstedt asks. “Or do we come up with a whole new upgrade or replacement?” Each plant will choose differently, he says. “Some, for example, may want to continue using their current operating system, while

others may decide to wait three years and then implement a new technology. Every plant is handled on a case-by-case basis understanding what’s best for it and, hopefully, what’s best for that piece of equipment.” Author: Ann Bailey Associate Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine abailey@bbiinternational.com 701-738-4976

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JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 33

NEW

Solutions Companies introduce new approaches to keeping ethanol facilities clean. By Ann Bailey

WORKING CLEAN: Innovative Plant Solutions has developed unique tools and processes with the goal of reducing time requirements at ethanol plants by up to 20 percent. PHOTO: INNOVATIVE PLANT SOLUTIONS

34 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

CLEANING

JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 35

TRUCK SERVICE: Launched in early 2016, Hibbing, Minn.-based Innovative Plant Solutions travels to ethanol plants throughout the Midwest to provide state-of-the-art cleaning services that combine wet and dry cleaning processes. PHOTO: INNOVATIVE PLANT SOLUTIONS

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CLEANING

Long-time companies know that one of their keys to success is to be flexible, so they not only meet the demands of loyal customers, but also attract new ones. Two industrial cleaning services are examples of companies bringing new technologies to the ethanol industry. Arizona-based Clear Solutions USA LLC serves customers in the brewing and food industries, including 12 U.S. Anheuser Busch production facilities. The company owns eight patents and has three pending for specially formulated cleaning solutions. Innovative Plant Solutions is a new company with a sister firm well-known in the ethanol industry, Premium Plant Services. Both based in Hibbing, Minnesota, Premium Plant Services primarily serves customers in Minnesota and Iowa. Innovative Plant Solutions serves customers throughout the Midwest. Both provide a variety of cleaning services including dry ice blasting, hydroblasting, industrial vacuuming and sponge blasting. The companies are working to bring new dry and wet cleaning technologies to the ethanol industry. Ethanol Producer Magazine talked to the CEOs about their companies and what they offer the ethanol industry. Here’s an edited version of what they had to say:

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CLEANING Mark Parenteau Innovative Plant Solutions

“Premium Plant Services, the sister company of Innovative Plant Solutions, decided that before it began to offer other services to the industry, even vac services, that we were going to perfect the hydroblasting side of it, and we did. We created an industry standard of the cleaning ability for hydroblasting. “Steve Farris, Innovative Plant Solutions vice president, approached me about getting an idea to the industry where we could effectively combine the dry and the wet cleaning in a very efficient manner, getting the best of

both worlds. You don’t have all water, but use it where you really need it. But it’s hard to replace the benefit of the horsepower that comes with hydroblasting and the advantages of dry. For example, if there is construction going on in the area, it isn’t as messy and the cleanup isn’t as difficult with the dry side. “What Steve Farris and Innovative Plant Solutions have done in water cleaning is to develop rotary tooling where in water, you use tooling that’s not manned. Why it’s so much more effective is, you take 350-horsepower and put on a tool and get out of the way. It’s automated and it rotates 360 degrees and gets inside vessels and inside ductwork.

Tankman™

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“If you can take that concept and apply it in dry cleaning, that’s very innovative. It’s never been done in the ethanol industry. We are going to be, as far as I know, the first people that will be providing a rotary method for dry cleaning. “On the water side, what we want is for IPS to be doing innovative cleaning work and customize our tooling. We’re really good at hydroblasting—there’s a lot of physics that go into hydroblasting. We understand fluids and pressure. Steve Farris has come up with a process in hydroblasting where we can be more efficient with the water by tooling and we can reduce the water by 30 percent. We’ve taken away a lot of the reasons people don’t like hydroblasting methodology for their shutdowns. “If we then bring in the process of dry, where we are more efficient and effective, we think the customers are going to end up getting the best of both worlds. At the end of the day, the plant is getting the best of the technology offered, by both dry and water. “One of the biggest problems right now that we’re having, matter of fact, is trying to keep the throttle regulated on demand. It needs to grow, but we’ve got to grow under control or this whole thing can be washed down the stream. One of the biggest mistakes I have seen in this industry, in my 15 years, is people overcommit. Premium has had that experience. We’re guilty of that same thing. We learned years ago of the consequences of that.”

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“In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, the magic, if that was the right word, was cleaning with liquid—with caustic soda and sodium gluconate. Sodium gluconate is pretty well-designed as a chelator that takes into account hard water. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, when phosphates were taken out of detergents, the industry tried to compensate with a product called phosphonate. Primarily, it is an environmentally friendly substitute for phosphate. “In the early ‘80s we started working with the brewery people, explaining why phosphonates were used in addition to gluconates. They started with dry gluconate product and when they found that the dry wasn’t very soluble and caustic, they made a liquid. “As we moved forward to the late ‘80s and very early ‘90’s we came across beer stone, basically the buildup of calcium oxalate. I think that the ethanol producers know about that build up very well, depending on the area of the country.

“It was pointed out to me by one of the people at Anheuser Busch that the calcium oxalate phenomena not only was a cleaning problem because it builds up, but it also had an effect on the shelf life of the beer. I was summoned by the corporate office of Anheuser Busch in St. Louis and asked if I could fix the buildup problem. “This buildup, much like plaque on your teeth, is very hard to clean. We set out to solve the problem of beer stone and Anheuser Busch was good enough to allow us to trial our original product at breweries in Fairfield, California. “It took two or three years, because companies move very slowly, to incorporate it totally in their system. We did this at Miller and Busch. We worked through several versions of that product, which is basically a surfactant to reduce surface tension, to make it more wettable. When you make something more wettable, all sorts of things happen. We generally say we can use about half the amount of product in half the time with far better results. “We’ve done this now for quite some time with several improvements. The last revision we had was in 2002 and the patent was issued in 2005. That version we still use today. “It doesn’t make any difference what you’re cleaning in the food and beverage industry. You could take milk, cheese, ice cream, potato chips. What we basically do is to take an individual look at each plant and formulate for that company. You must know the temperatures it operates in, the water hardness and, particularly, if it changes. We also must know the final concentration of the working solution, which in most places in the ethanol industry we see somewhere around 5 percent. What that means is they can take the caustic soda they currently use and dilute it down to about 5 percent. It’s pretty dramatic. There are some other factors involved that are a little bit different than the beer industry, but that’s how it works. There’s nothing like this product in the ethanol industry. “We’re excited to bring this product to the ethanol industry and to come to the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Milwaukee.”

Corn Oil Recovery Yields Profits for Producers Adding a GEA RSE 220 separator to your plant can provide a new revenue stream by recovering valuable corn oil. Efficient and economical, the separator pays for itself within a year of installation. Besides the income generated by the corn oil, the process reducess energy consumption during drying for further savings. VOC emissions aree also decreased. • Easy retrofit at the back-end of the plant • Fast ROI • Energy savings • Reduced VOC emissions for plant safety. To learn how you can use the most sought after ter corn oil separator to increase profitability and improve plant efficiency, email sales.unitedstates@gea.com, call 800-722-6622, or visit us online.

2219T

Author: Ann Bailey Associate Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine abailey@bbiinternational.com 701-738-4976

JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 39

40 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

COOLING TOWERS

CONSERVING Cooling Power Neglecting cooling tower maintenance can curtail production, especially in the hot summer months. By Holly Jessen

When it comes to optimization projects, an ethanol plant’s cooling tower typically doesn’t even make the list. In fact, many

facilities don’t perform regular cooling tower inspections, says Frank Foster, vice president of Tower Performance Inc. “Run to failure is kind of what happens,” he says, adding that cooling towers simply aren’t considered a priority piece of equipment. “If people hear the fan turning, motor running and water falling, they assume everything is OK,” he says. “It just doesn’t get the attention that some of the other equipment gets.” TPI, which is headquartered in New Jersey, provides repairs and upgrades to cooling towers and new cooling tower installations. As chairman of the membership committee of Cooling Technology Institute, a not-for-profit technical organization for owners and operators, suppliers and vendors of cooling towers, Foster knows it’s an issue that isn’t limited to the ethanol industry. It’s the same in the other industries that utilize cooling towers. “They don’t really notice it until it’s really catastrophic or it’s really limiting production,” he says. Rick Hollendieck, owner of Sys-Kool LLC, a cooling tower company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, characterizes the attitude as, no news is good news. “They are a neglected piece of equipment because they aren’t inside the plant, they’re outside the plant out by themselves, and probably aren’t running at prime capacity,” he says. Sys-Kool specializes in analyzing cooling tower operations and then servicing, upgrading or modifying the equipment.

PHOTO: ZACH KOBRINKSY

JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 41

COOLING TOWERS

INSPECTION SCHEDULE: Experts recommend weekly screen cleaning and monthly walk-around inspections to look, listen and feel for problems. More thorough inspections should be part of shutdowns, to check areas inaccessible during operations. PHOTO: SUSANNE RETKA SCHILL, BBI INTERNATIONAL

Neal Jakel concurs, saying many don’t understand the basic principles of cooling tower operations. Before managing an Illinois ethanol plant, he spent 15 years building, designing and engineering corn wet mill plants for Cargill Inc., including modifying cooling towers. He now is vice president of strategy and technology for Fluid Quip Process Technologies, which, among other things, does cooling tower optimization projects at ethanol plants. Understanding how cooling towers work, how they are integrated into the plant’s whole cooling system and how to optimize those systems are learning opportunities for the ethanol industry, Jakel says. He also believes it’s critical that the details of

tower design are understood before operational changes are made. Foster also believes there is a general lack of understanding of cooling tower principles. “I’ve found that they really don’t understand what the cooling tower’s purpose is other than getting cold water,” he says. One thing companies can do is to invite an expert to the plant to talk about cooling tower basics, he suggests To learn more about cooling tower operation, Foster recommends companies join CTI, which was established in 1950 to set standards, guidelines and best practices for cooling towers. At the website, members and nonmembers alike can access technical papers, some free and some for a fee, or use

the “ask the expert” feature to get help for a specific problem. CTI also can make recommendations on good service and equipment companies, helping companies avoid those that may not have their best interests in mind. “It’s just one stop to find out anything you want to know about cooling towers,” he says. For Foster, one of the key benefits of becoming a member of CTI is networking with other owner operators. It offers companies the opportunity to speak to other members, some of whom may have already solved an issue they need help with, which can help save a lot of money.

Keys to Better Operation

Keeping the fill material, sometimes also known as packing, inside a cooling tower clean is important for efficient operation, Hollendieck says. The first step in chemical treatment is to discourage growth of things like algae and bacteria. It’s also important to deal with fouling from dirt and other particles that end up in the cooling tower. “Cooling towers are what I call great air scrubbers,” he says. “Anything that is flying in the air gets sucked into the cooling tower.” When fill material is fouled with dirt and calcium, it can be as heavy as 80 or 100 pounds. In comparison, a new 2-foot-by2-foot-by-6-foot pack of fill weighs only about 20 pounds. Removing and replacing

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fouled fill improves performance. “They might be running at 70 or 80 percent efficiency because it’s all fouled, and then when we get done, we put it back to 100 percent� Hollendieck says. Water and air distribution is another area that is vital to cooling tower performance. Hollendieck sometimes sees cooling towers with too much water pumped through them, or overpumping, because operators think the more water flow, the better. On the other hand, some operators under pump. In both cases, air contact with water is reduced, which lowers heat transfer efficiency. Another misunderstanding about cooling tower operations is that the colder the water is, the better, Jakel says. The reality is that Midwest cooling towers should typically operate at about the same temperature in the summer and the winter. If a cooling tower freezes up, it can cause dangerous ice buildup on the structure and more. “Ideally, during winter operations the water should not be below 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the tower basin,� he says. “If the water gets too cold, then the amount of water needed through the entire plant is reduced, causing a cascade of issues.� A couple of examples are damage to cooling tower packing and fouling and mineral buildup on heat exchangers. In the summer, to keep water evaporating at a high rate, and therefore providing

PERFORMANCE: Regular maintenance on fill packs, along with attention to water and air distribution, improves performance. PHOTO: SUSANNE RETKA SCHILL, BBI INTERNATIONAL

maximum cooling, it’s important to make sure the cooling tower is performing at maximum design air flow. To measure this, operators should look at the horsepower or amp draw on fan motors, Jakel says. If fans or blades are rated for higher cubic feet per minute of air flow than what they are drawing, this can be adjusted by changing the

pitch of the blades for increased air flow. However, operators should keep in mind that air flow can be set too high, sometimes causing packing to lift up, Jakel cautions. “Understanding the details of the tower design is critical before making any fan blade adjustments.�

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UNDERAPPRECIATED: Often located far from the main action, cooling towers are often overlooked, until they become the limiting factor in hot summer conditions. PHOTO: SUSANNE RETKA SCHILL, BBI INTERNATIONAL

Cooling tower or full cooling system optimization projects offer ethanol producers many opportunities for overall operational efficiency. In fact, Jakel believes cooling tower inefficiency is curtailing production at many ethanol plants. “A lot of plants still struggle in the summertime with effectively cooling the fermenters, which dramatically impacts not only rates, but yield and throughput,” he says.

Foster concurs. “It’s a gradual thing,” he tells EPM. “They learn to compensate for lack of performance from the tower. They really don’t go and see if the tower is the culprit for a lack of production.” Often, when he asks people about their cooling towers they say it’s working fine. Then he asks about what happens in the summer and they reply, “Oh, no. It’s awful in the summertime.”

Some chemical companies focus on this

The summer season, from June to September, is when cooling towers are pushed to provide maximum cooling. “This is one of the reasons why it goes out of sight out of mind,” Foster says. “After they get past the summer season, you can’t tell if the cooling tower is efficient, because it’s so cold, you don’t need it.” Thermal performance tests, or testing water temperature, is an excellent way for

or that

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44 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

tailoring chemistries to boost production and increase profitability — from evaporator efficiency to corn oil recovery to water treatment issues. To find out more or to schedule a system audit, contact your Buckman representative or email ethanol@buckman.com.

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COOLING TOWERS producers to identify cooling tower problems, Foster says. It’s like going to the doctor for a regular checkup. A thermal performance test can set a baseline for how a cooling tower is operating and help determine if it is meeting its original thermal design parameters.

In Sight, In Mind

Hollendieck, Jakel and Foster all stress the importance of regular cooling tower inspections. Different types of inspections should be performed yearly, monthly and sometimes even weekly. Unfortunately, the reality is that many cooling tower operators simply aren’t doing this. Foster estimated it was as high as 80 or 90 percent. “People just don’t put that cooling tower on a priority list,” he says. “Until it breaks and then they will do anything to get it up and running.” In some ways, Foster understands why cooling tower inspections have fallen through the cracks. He points to the many cutbacks across all types of industries. “Years ago, plants used to have a guy that was in charge of the tower, that’s all he did,”

he says. “Now, that person has 16 other roles.” Still, Foster urged cooling tower operators to put a preventative maintenance program in place. At least once a year, the structure, including mechanical equipment and internals, should be thoroughly inspected. “You’ve got to get inside, because you really can’t tell what’s going on when it’s operating,” he says. He also recommends monthly walkaround inspections to look, listen and feel for problems. One thing operators should watch for is unequal water flow in the air inlets, which can signal an internal problem. Hearing abnormal noises or feeling excessive vibration can point to a pending mechanical failure. “Like with your car when you hear it clank and clunk, it’s not supposed to do that,” Foster says. “Same thing with a cooling tower.” Jakel also talked about the importance of inspecting water flow and distribution, including periodic visual checks and more extensive checks during maintenance shut downs. He noted that setting water diffus-

ers too fine also can cause issues. “This will be evident by excessive misting of water out the top of the tower,” he says. “Some or very little misting is common, but not rain.” Inlet screens, which prevent debris from entering pumps, should be inspected and cleaned weekly, Jakel adds. If debris enters the water system it can cause multiple problems, including plugging and lowered efficiency. “If the screens get plugged up the water will back up in the tower basin and can overflow,” he says. “A high basin water level is usually an indication that the screens need to be pulled and cleaned.” Author: Holly Jessen Freelance Writer hollymjessen@gmail.com

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TEAM LEAD: Bryan Tracy, CEO of White Dog Labs, led the team that discovered a clostridia species that converts C5, C6 sugars and carbon dioxide into ethanol. PHOTO: WHITE DOG LABS

46 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

TECHNOLOGY

SUGAR Plus CO2 Equals More

Ethanol

A microorganism found capable of mixotrophic fermentation converts carbon from both sugar and gas into ethanol. By Susanne Retka Schill

Talking with Bryan Tracy about the underlying science for White Dog Lab Inc.’s technology is an immersion into the molecular level of carbon accounting while simultaneously taking a 30,000-foot view of the challenge of replacing petroleum with renewables. As co-founder and CEO, Tracy leads the White Dog Labs team that has developed fermentation technologies trademarked MixoFerm and MixoFermPlus. Tracy describes it as the fermentation technology of the future based on a clostridia microorganism that consumes both C5 and C6 sugars and the subsequent CO2 produced to make ethanol or, if genetically modified, other chemicals. Clostridia fermentations are not new, having achieved commercial scale a century ago to produce acetone, butanol and ethanol. In World War I, the British ability to manufacture gunpowder was hampered by German control of calcium acetate mines, the primary source of acetone for cordite gunpowder. A major breakthrough came with Chaim Weizmann’s isolation of a clostridia strain for ABE fermentation (acetone, butanol, ethanol). The process was scaled up quickly, taking over a distillery north of London to supply the British army. Limited fermentation yields, however, ultimately meant the process didn’t compete well with cheaper petroleum sources for those chemicals in succeeding decades.

JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 47

TECHNOLOGY

RESEARCH DIRECTORS: Randy Phillips, director of fermentation technology, left, and Shawn Jones, director of micro and molecular biology, have worked with CEO Bryan Tracy, center, on developing White Dog Lab technology. PHOTO: WHITE DOG LABS

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The biggest challenge in competing with petrochemicals is the limitation in mass yield, Tracy explains. Traditional ethanol fermentations require 2 tons of sugar to make 1 ton of ethanol, a 50 percent yield. This is because sugar has a lot of oxygen, and to dispose of the unneeded oxygen, CO2 gas is generated and released. Thus for every molecule of ethanol produced, one molecule of CO2 is produced and released. The quest for cellulosic ethanol has focused on modifying yeasts or finding organisms to convert C5 sugars as well as C6, but the same mass yield limitation still holds. A second approach taken by companies like LanzaTech, Coskata and IneosBio utilizes clostridia species to consume syngas to produce ethanol or other chemicals. “Carbon monoxide and hydrogen have a tremendous amount of electrons on a per carbon basis that makes them very good feedstocks to convert to ethanol at very high carbon efficiency,” Tracy says. That, of course, requires a lot of energy to turn biomass into syngas and, once again, the fossil feedstock would win out because shale gas methane currently is the most inexpensive feedstock. The core discovery made by Tracy’s team at White Dog Lab is a clostridia capable of doing both—a mixotroph. Clostridia are natural soil

reliability

performance

yield

organisms, Tracy explains, “responsible for fixing CO2 into organic compounds, particularly acetic acid, which other organisms feed off. This is one of the most primordial approaches of fixing CO2 from the atmosphere and putting it into organic material for other organisms.” The MixoFerm process and the MixoFermPlus process, in which extra energy is added in the form of hydrogen gas, can increase the mass yield of a sugar fermentation by about 50 percent, so instead of 2 tons of sugar making 1 ton of ethanol, more than 1.5 tons of ethanol can be produced.

Adding Energy

Tracy dives deeper into molecular chemistry to explain the importance of adding energy, while once again relating that to the big picture. “We’re trying through a biological, sugar feedstock approach to replace petrochemicals and fuels from petroleum, natural gas and coal. These are carbon compounds that are highly reduced—there’s very little oxygen in oil, and lots of hydrogen for every carbon. In the past 100 years, our entire petrochemical industry has developed with these reduced chemicals.”

“Now we want to replace petroleum with sugar,” he says. To get the sort of base chemicals the petrochemical industry has spent a century developing—ethylene, propylene, butene, butadiene, isoproponal, acetone—the first step is to reduce the oxygen, which requires energy. “The bioeconomy may never come to massive scale fruition for petrochemical replacement unless you’re able to marry up an approach where you get energy into a sugar fermentation. That is the missing link,” Tracy says. Biochemical production economics are hampered by poor mass yields with a few ex-

ceptions, such as three acids—lactic, citric and succinic. “Those three are at commercial scale or developing the commercial markets today because they are highly oxidized chemicals— they have just as much or more oxygen in them per carbon as sugar has, so the mass yields are very high—often 100 percent. But those cannot replace the majority of petrochemicals and they can’t be used as a fuel.” “We want to make a bioeconomy in a world in which the input is not compatible with the output, unless you add energy into the system,” Tracy says. Some microorgan-

JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 49

TECHNOLOGY isms acquire energy through photosynthesis, which is the mechanism algae developers are tapping into, while some microorganisms fix gas using chemical energy. By adding chemical energy—hydrogen molecules with their freely available electrons—the organism can convert even more of the carbon in the MixoFermPlus process, boosting mass yields of ethanol to over 70 percent. The clostridia produce ethanol natively, Tracy says, which would be an advantage if a first-generation corn ethanol plant were to consider converting from yeast fermentation.

Using a nongenetically modified organism would be helpful in getting a generally regarded as safe (GRAS) designation, which would be necessary for the distillers grains coproduct to be legally sold as feed. “There is nothing harmful about these clostridium,” Tracy says. “You would have to do the trials admittedly, but the protein content and amino acid content compared to yeast is actually very good.” Getting recognized as GRAS is a lengthy process, however, and not likely to be done unless there is some momentum behind it. On the positive side, being able to turn the CO2 into

ethanol would greatly improve ethanol’s greenhouse gas impacts. Other synergies exist with second-generation ethanol. “With 2G ethanol, we can improve operating expenses and capital costs,” Tracy says. In conversations with ethanol producers, he says current estimates put conventional dry-grind capital cost for a new corn plant at $3 per gallon of capacity and secondgeneration capital costs at about $10 per gallon. “Not to criticize it, it’s a more complicated process and a new technology,” Tracy says. “The learning curve is going to be climbed.” He acknowledges White Dog Labs will have a similar learning curve, but current estimates for capital costs for its technology are about $6 or $7 per gallon. One advantage to the new process would be providing an alternative use for the lignin coproduct. Rather than burning the lignin for steam or electrical generation— both relatively low-cost in the U.S.—syngas from lignin could be used in the MixoFermPlus process and produce more ethanol, a higher-value product.

Commercialization Plans

Given current market dynamics and economics, White Dog Labs is focusing on acetone as the first chemical to commercialize, explains investor and executive chairman Sass Somekh. His son, Talli Somekh, is co-founder of White Dog Labs and an executive board member. The pair have financed the project privately since forming White Dog Labs to purchase Elcriton, a spin-out from the University of Delaware led by Tracy that focused on genetic engineering and organism development. The elder Somekh, who has been named to the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame, recently retired from a 30-year executive career in the semiconductor equipment industry. He describes his son as being a serial entrepreneur with a social conscience who has successfully launched a software company aimed at helping nonprofit organizations. “Nine years ago, the two of us said we need to do our part to help the world reduce its dependence on fossil fuels,” Somekh continues. “I started a company to make a new TV technology—organic light emitting diodes for flexible screens. My son started a computing security company.” With both companies established and operating on their own, the focus has been turned to White Dog Labs.

50 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

TECHNOLOGY Being family-financed, White Dog Labs has operated in stealth mode, Sass Somekh says. “We think of ourselves as industrial technology 2.0, where we’re a very efficient, frugal company. We’re very resourceful, trying to get the same accomplishment but without raising a lot of money that maybe five or 10 years ago, before the global recession, was available for these new startups.” White Dog Labs has designed, built and is operating an integrated demonstration facility in Delaware that includes an 18,000 liter fermenter and a 6,000 liter-per-hour liquid-toliquid extraction (LLE) column and distillation tower. When initially working with biobutanol, the company developed a novel, economical LLE extraction process for separating butanol from the fermentation broth. Ethanol and acetone can be extracted with conventional distillation technology. Given current market conditions, White Dog Labs is focused on acetone and isopropanol (IPA) production, with demonstrated improvements in fermentation yields of about 50 percent using the MixoFerm process compared to a traditional sugaronly fermentation. Readying to launch publicly, the team of researchers has had peer-reviewed papers published on its work, and is looking forward to a paper to be published in a prominent journal this summer. In May, White Dog Labs was named among a group of six projects to receive up to $10 million in funding through the DOE Bioenergy Technology Office “to develop renewable and cost-competitive biofuels from nonfood biomass feedstocks by reducing the technical risk associated with potentially breakthrough approaches and technologies for investors.” Plans are to build a 15,000 ton per year plant (5 MMgy) to produce acetone and IPA for the high end pharma and personal care markets that require no petroleum contamination. The feedstock would be over-the-fence dextrose purchased from an existing corn wet mill. Target startup is for 2018. A longer-term plan is to start production in 2020 at a 75,000 ton per year (25 MMgy) acetone-IPA plant. The company has completed the initial design of the $150 million facility and applied for a U.S. DOE loan. It has passed Part 1 of the application process and been invited to submit the final Part 2. Sites in Minnesota and South Dakota are under consideration and a letter of

intent for acetone offtake is in place with a major chemical company interested in reducing its carbon footprint. A preliminary life-cycle analysis of the corn-based acetone field-tocustomer greenhouse gas emissions indicates a 154 percent reduction when compared to petroleum-based acetone. Somekh is excited to go public with White Dog Lab’s project development. “This is the next step to bring fermentation to a much higher level of efficiency,” he says. For ethanol, improvements have become incremental, but the company’s technology could boost yields

from 50 percent ethanol out of a ton of sugar, he says, to more than 70 percent. “This would be a quantum jump.” Author: Susanne Retka Schill Managing Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine sretkaschill@bbiinternational.com 701-738-4922

JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 51

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Video Borescoping Technology

Adds New Dimension to Scale Control High-definition images provide views of previously inaccessible areas. By Andrew Ledlie

Evaporators, which consume a tremendous amount of energy to drive off water and increase the solids levels in the syrup, are critical to the operation of an ethanol plant. Given their importance to the ethanol production process and the plant’s bottom line, plant managers invest substantial time and money to clean the evaporators and ensure that they are operating at peak capacity and efficiency. Among the traditional tools in their arsenals are hydroblasting, scale inhibitors,

clean-in-place (CIP) programs or pH control to address scale issues. However, plant managers often have questioned the efficacy of hydroblasting and other measures to maximize the cleanliness of the evaporators. The answers to their questions are becoming much clearer with the use of video borescopes to evaluate the interiors of evaporators. A video borescope is an optical device consisting of a flexible tube with a video screen on one end and a high-definition camera and light on the other. Using the tube, the camera and light can be fed deep into inaccessible ar-

eas, making it possible to capture video or still images. Video borescoping technology is used in applications ranging from sewer repairs to chiller inspections to medical surgeries. Video borescoping technology, so far, has been applied only sparingly in ethanol plants, but that is beginning to change. Solenis, for example, has been providing this service to fuel ethanol plants as a way to demonstrate the effectiveness of its Polystabil scale inhibitors and to evaluate the plant’s other scale control initiatives. Ethanol plant managers also are taking advantage of borescoping technology to assess

CONTRIBUTION: The claims and statements made in this article belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ethanol Producer Magazine or its advertisers. All questions pertaining to this article should be directed to the author(s).

54 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

INSPECTION the efficacy of hydroblasting when the evaporators are opened for routine maintenance. For example, after two days of hydroblasting evaporators at an ethanol plant in Indiana, a visual evaluation determined that the tubes were clean. However, when a borescope was lowered into the tubes, significant scale buildup was found at a depth of 8 feet requiring additional hydroblasting to rectify the situation.

Maximizing Borescoping

The value of video borescoping can be maximized with thorough preparation and planning. Plant managers who institute a borescoping program get the best results when they implement a plan. Plant managers, for example, should keep organized records of when shutdowns occur, the condition of each evaporator and the amount of time spent hydroblasting, as well as any process changes designed to prevent scale formation. Managers should hire a professional who has experience with video borescope inspections, using a high-quality borescope that produces high-definition images and is long enough to scope the tube’s length. Another important part of the planning process is to coordinate the timing of the video

WATER TECHNOLOGIES

Questions to Evaluate, Improve Clean-in-Place Processes Progressive ethanol plant managers regularly evaluate their clean-in-place (CIP) processes and develop a game plan for improvement. There are a number of questions to ask during these evaluations, including: • How much time is spent overall and on each step of the CIP process? Is each step receiving the appropriate amount of time to do a thorough job or are adjustments necessary? • Are the temperatures of cleaning solutions optimal, given that some deposits dissolve better at higher temperatures than others? • Are the flow dynamics effective? Is the velocity of the cleaning solution sufficient to break up deposits? Is the cleaning solution flowing in the right direction to attack hard-tofind areas? Is there sufficient turbulence to lift and move foulants? Each of these variables will impact the effectiveness of the cleaning process. • Is the chemistry being efficiently and effectively used? Various acids and caustics, in different concentrations, will deliver different results. • Have various adjunct chemistries, which reduce the amount of basic chemicals being used, been explored as a way to reduce cost? • How often is CIP necessary to maximize plant efficiency and throughput and to minimize plant downtime?

INSPECTION

BORESCOPING TECHNOLOGY: Ethanol plant managers increasingly are using borescopes to assess the efficacy of scale control programs. PHOTO: SOLENIS

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56 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

borescoping with the company performing the hydroblasting, ensuring the borescoping technician has access to the evaporators when they are cool enough for the scope to take clear images without fogging up. Meanwhile, plant managers should build time into the schedule to reblast any trouble spots identified during the borescoping and should ensure that the video borescope technician understands required safety procedures and employees’ standards. The standards must be in line with the standards of the plant and the hydroblasting team. Safety considerations include high temperatures and steam when the evaporators are opened and the need for a permit if the borescope technician has to enter a confined space to conduct the inspection. Another key to successful borescoping is being in agreement with the borescope technician on the format of the report and where videos can be archived for easy access during the next inspection. The report should, at a minimum, include a statement of the units inspected, a description of what was viewed and borescoping video or picture files.

Comprehensive Scale Control

While video borescoping is the latest technology advance in scale control, it is only one element of a program designed to minimize down time and maximize ethanol plant efficiency. Plant managers need to consistently use a CIP process, in addition to taking advantage of available technologies that are necessary to control other types of foulants, which are not only found in evaporators, but can also build up in heat exchangers, tanks and piping in an ethanol plant. One approach is to continuously apply a scale inhibitor chemistry to prevent or slow the development of certain deposits in the evaporators. In many cases, the scale inhibitor will alter the structure of the deposits that do form, making them much easier and less expensive to remove. The return on investment in these preventative chemical solutions can be significant. This is borne out by the dramatic differences in evaporators that have been treated with a scale inhibitor and those that have not. How does this transfer to the bottom line? In one plant where sulfuric acid was used to adjust the pH to reduce scaling, the modest addition of a chemical inhibitor reduced sul-

INSPECTION

HIGH DEFINITION: A borescope inserted into tubes, right, provides high-definition images of inaccessible areas. Views of treated and untreated evaporators, left, show the dramatic impact scale inhibitors can have. PHOTO: SOLENIS

furic acid and subsequent hydroblasting costs by more than 50 percent, each. At a time when efficient and effective production processes are critical to profitability, optimizing a scale control program can pay huge dividends in terms of energy savings, reduced labor expense, less downtime for cleaning and lower costs for the chemicals used in the overall scale control program. There are numerous options available to help plant managers understand and improve the scale buildup situation in their operations, including preventative chemical solutions and the use of video borescopes. All that is needed are commitment and organization by ethanol plant managers and technology providers who understand the scale control chemistry and can suggest process alterations to maximize results. Author: Andrew Ledlie Biorefining marketing manager, Solenis 289-682-8025 aledlie@solenis.com Contributing Author: Paul Shepperd Biorefining technical manager, Solenis 610-745-1414 pwshepperd@solenis.com.

JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 57

SAFETY

OUTSOURCING: As a way to eliminate complexity in an already complicated process, some safety departments are outsourcing to a single, combined safety service provider that can deliver the gamut of safety-related products and services. PHOTO: DXP

Simplifying Safety During Planned Shutdowns

Single source for safety-related products and services can reduce complexity and cost of planned STOs. By Chris McKinnon

CONTRIBUTION: The claims and statements made in this article belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ethanol Producer Magazine or its advertisers. All questions pertaining to this article should be directed to the author(s).

58 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

SAFETY Planned shutdowns, turnarounds and outages (STOs) often are scheduled for preventative maintenance and new equipment installation that must be performed to keep an ethanol plant running and in regulatory compliance. To minimize production downtime,

this work must be completed within a tight time frame. As such, STOs often are feats of engineering, planning and coordination, work that begins many months, even years, before the event. Safety is at the top of the list during any planned shutdown. To prevent injury or loss of life, reduce liability and keep insurance rates in check, safety departments must provide the required safety training, products and services that will ensure that all on-site personnel and company assets are protected throughout the operation. “Safety comes first,” says Clay Sharpe, Power Plant Field Services safety manager. “Our crews are trained in safety measures for the work they perform, whether a scheduled outage or an emergency repair. It is our philosophy to make every effort to ensure that potential accidents never happen. We begin every shift with a plan to work safely.” Power Plant Services is a turnkey, aftermarket manufacturer and service provider to the ethanol, power generation, refineries, steel and chemical industries. PPS performs emergency work as well as planned outages throughout the world. Managing all that encompasses “safety” for an STO, however, is often a feat of its own. During an STO, a typical ethanol plant can see its ranks swell by dozens of additional workers, depending on the plant’s size and the work being done. Safety departments and contractors providing turnkey services must properly equip, train and provide rescue and standby emergency services. This often requires managing multiple vendors of safety products and services as well as workers who are not familiar with the facility or its processes, yet are performing challenging, even high-risk tasks. To eliminate a point of complexity and coordination in an already complicated process, some ethanol plant safety departments and equipment service contractors are outsourcing to a single, combined safety service

provider that can deliver the gamut of safetyrelated products and services. The benefit of this one-stop-shop approach for a planned shutdown is the single point of coordination, reduction in facility personnel required to manage the safety effort, access to extensive safety expertise and technical knowledge, potential cost savings on basic and more advanced personal protective equipment (PPE) and ability to respond quickly to unexpected situations or emergencies.

Safety First

Despite the focus on speedy return-toservice, plants that have participated in planned shutdowns will attest that the primary emphasis is not how fast the work is completed, but rather ensuring the safety of all involved. This is not mere lip service, but the prime directive, even if that means going over budget or delaying the project. “Safety is number one,” says Kevin Nadolski, safety director at Duke & Duke Services. “Well before any of the work starts, the project managers are holding

safety meetings and orienting employees on safety. This occurs both before and during the project, with managers reviewing daily reports about how many personnel are working, what they are doing and if any are hurt, they want to know exactly what happened.” As safety director, Nadolski has utilized a number of PPE providers and safety service companies during his career. Duke & Duke Services provides installation and maintenance of conveyor systems, bulk handling equipment, presses, cranes, robotics and other automated machinery, often used during STOs at ethanol facilities. He acknowledges that the concept of a single, combined safety service provider is novel in an industry where suppliers generally keep to well-defined market segments with minimal overlap. Large PPE providers, for example, offer catalogs with thousands of products, but rarely offer safety services and vice versa. As a PPFS safety manager, the field services affiliate of PPS, Sharpe has a high awareness of the risks that exist in field services,

JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 59

SAFETY

when crews of workers travel to plants across the U.S and abroad. Outages typically involve disassembly, inspection, component repair or replacement and then reassembly of equipment. “The type of work we perform in the field is often potentially dangerous,� Sharpe says. We have many methods we can choose from to reduce the possibility of injury to our workers. First, we attempt to eliminate the hazard. If that is not possible, we resort to controls on the work processes and directing various types of safety equipment to be used.�

Outsourcing Safety

COVERING ALL SCENARIOS: Specialized rescue teams can help in proper safety planning for confined space situations that sometimes require specialized equipment and training for scenarios such as high-angle rescue and rope rescue.

In some cases PPFS will outsource specific services from a vendor. “This is generally a service we contract on an as-needed basis,� Sharpe says. “And we need to know they will provide qualified workers who are fully aware of high-risk situations and have the equipment and expertise to handle an emergency.�

Sharpe says PPFS recently outsourced a portion of its safety project to DXP Safety Services. “We contracted DXP to provide safety services for a confined space situation, which is a hazardous location where people possibly could get trapped,� Sharpe explains. “In confined space situations, you are sometimes required to have attendants and rescue teams with specialized equipment. DXP’s rescue teams are specialized, such as high-angle rescue and rope rescue. They had every possible scenario covered.� DXP Services is a multinational company that has grown significantly while aggressively pursuing new acquisitions. The company now operates as a single provider of combined safety products and services for plant turnarounds. In addition to an extensive catalog of PPE items, the company maintains a large asset base of equipment including powered air trailers, supplied air trailers, emergency showers, eye wash equipment, maintenance-repair-operations-production trailers, fire trucks and ambulances.

PHOTO: DXP

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SAFETY

DXP also offers a comprehensive list of services, including safety training and supervision, confined space attendants and rescue teams, high angle rescue teams, rope rescue, gas detection, respiratory fit testing, audiometric testing, industrial hygiene, industrial medical services, fall protection and repair services. In 2015, Nadolski estimated he outsourced more than a dozen times for onsite safety supervision, emergency response, confined space attendants and supplied air trailers. He also utilized these specialty companies to train employees that must complete annual confined space training. “What I appreciate most is that when they send their guys out for rescue work, I know they are well-trained,” says Nadolski. “I still spot check them and ask them ‘what do you do if this happens?’ questions, but they know it right off the bat. I don’t always get that with other safety services.”

Single-Source Benefits

The benefits of a one-stop-shop approach to safety begin well before the STO.

As part of the preplanning, a safety advisor from a combined service provider meets with facility safety and maintenance personnel to learn about their existing procedures and processes. For shorter projects this meeting can be two to four weeks beforehand or for a more complex project, 12 to 18 months in advance. The safety advisor then evaluates and monitors safety hazards and control strategies to ensure compliance with the facility’s safety rules, policies, programs, criteria and procedures as well as all governmental regulations. Given the unique requirements of each facility, there are no one-size-fits-all safety plans, so each project is client-specific. In addition, the scope of involvement can be scaled from a single worker to a complete program for the entire scope of the STO. Another benefit to this approach is the ability to react to unexpected situations or emergencies. Although a tremendous amount of planning goes into a planned shutdown there inevitably are situations, requirements for specialized equipment, unexpected air

quality issues and even injuries that can leave safety personnel scrambling. With the breadth and scope of its expertise, a combined safety services company can tap into its resources quickly to resolve the situation. In this regard, Nadolski says he relies on these single-service safety companies to serve as an extra pair of “eyes” on the ground when he is not at the site. “We have been in situations where we have needed something safetyrelated on the spot and DXP was able to take care of it for us.” The single-service safety providers he has used has performed as a team of experts with a full complement of safety equipment and expertise that provided a single-source, turnkey service, Sharpe says. “They were very professional and took care of the project without requiring supervision, which was exactly what we needed,” he says. “I’m very pleased with their professional attitude and services.” Author: Chris McKinnon Vice president, DXP Safety Services Chris.mckinnon@dxpe.com 713-996-4700

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JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 61

SANITATION

PHOTO: VERSCHELDEN PHOTOGRAPHY

New Acid Solution Improves CIP Programs Removing scale with alternative chemistry offers multiple advantages. By Brian Hoskins

Ethanol producers continually struggle with fouling of process equipment and how best to remove it. The accumulation of deposits

on equipment surfaces and in pipes can be extremely detrimental to the overall efficiency of an ethanol plant. Contamination can cripple operations, while fouling and scale formation significantly can impair equipment function. The bioconversion of corn introduces a unique combination of feedstock, processing aids and yeast, all with unique chemical properties and processing steps that include wide temperature, pH and pressure fluctuations. This results in re-

sidual organic and inorganic materials that collect and become points for contamination and scaling that interfere with the regular function of equipment, such as distillation columns, evaporators and heat exchangers. A well-designed clean in place (CIP) regimen between fermentations and shutdowns can decrease plant downtime significantly and mean the difference between profitability and loss. Clean in place systems often include in some combination rinsing with water, a caustic cleaning step and an acid wash. Every plant is unique with different engineering, corn, processes, age, piping, water quality, size, location, management and operators and, thus, has unique considerations and requirements when

designing the most cost-effective CIP system. Selecting the right chemistries and optimizing the number of steps, concentrations, residence times and temperatures throughout can have a substantial economic impact. Alternative CIP chemicals can provide significant advantages, if the plant is capable of handling the innovative products. By retooling older plants with improved equipment and process lines, plant managers can realize compatibility with new CIP chemistry innovations and achieve greater productivity and an attractive return on investment. Sodium hydroxide has been used extensively as the caustic cleaner in ethanol and other industrial plants due to its low cost and

CONTRIBUTION: The claims and statements made in this article belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ethanol Producer Magazine or its advertisers. All questions pertaining to this article should be directed to the author(s).

62 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

SANITATION

SOURCE: BASF

ability to hydrolyze proteins. It is well known as an effective cleaning agent for the removal of organic deposits and to combat biofouling; however, its use is not without a number of challenges for ethanol producers. If the concentration is too low, then the ethanol plants will have exacerbated problems with contamination. If the plants use too much, foaming could become an issue due to saponification, and the accumulation of sodium throughout the process can inhibit yeast and ultimately lower production efficiency. The sheer volume plants use as they strive to remain clean and run efficiently makes caustic a major expenditure on the balance sheets for plant managers. While caustic is effective for protein removal, the extreme heat conditions in heat exchangers and evaporators lead

to a very hard, resistant scale that contains denatured protein. This protein scale combined with mineral content may make caustic cleaning less desirable than one might initially think. A different CIP strategy might reduce the amount required or the frequency of use and could translate into considerable savings for plant managers. Could caustic cleaning be eliminated as a step in some cycles? Could it be eliminated altogether? The need for a strong acid wash as at least one cycle of a CIP system traditionally has been recommended for the removal of mineral deposits. Sulfamic acid historically has been selected for this application in ethanol plants; however, it is typically sold as a solid and requires careful handling and personal protective equipment, including a respirator, and it is not

approved for use in the production of animal feed. With the enactment of the Food Safety Modernization Act, the increased scrutiny on the horizon by the Food and Drug Administration related to the production of food and feed presents an opportunity to reevaluate what chemicals are currently utilized, how they are used and if a more effective, safer combination also could improve plant economics overall.

Strong Acid Alternative

Some ethanol plant managers have recognized the tremendous cost high sodium levels from caustic exacts on their processes and have replaced both their sulfamic acid wash and entire caustic CIP program with a strong acid wash CIP program for all pieces

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SANITATION

SOURCE: BASF

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of equipment including fermenters, heat exchangers and evaporators. These plants enjoy low contamination rates, low sodium levels and increased plant uptime. Also, there is a significant improvement in overall plant water balance due to improved cleaning of evaporators. These plant managers have found that making the capital investment required to ensure all CIP process lines are made of stainless steel is an investment that pays for itself in better overall plant operation. An obvious important driver of this desirable outcome is also the selection of the best acid for the task. BASF has introduced its trademarked Lutropur MSA as a high-purity methanesulfonic acid (MSA) alternative chemistry to traditional CIP solutions. Methanesulfonic acid is a strong, odorless, organic acid that is readily biodegradable. MSA is a natural component of the ecosystem. Due to the biological degradation of biomass in the oceans, dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is released and is responsible for the typical odor of seawater. At ocean temperature, DMS is volatile so it rises into the atmosphere where, under the influence of ultraviolet radiation and oxygen, it is oxidized to form methanesulfonic acid. The acid is returned to the earth in rainfall where it is naturally degraded by aerobic methyltrophic bacteria near the earth’s surface to CO2, sulfate and water. The naturally occurring salts of MSA dissolve in ground water near the surface. The bacteria that control the degradation processes belong to the lowest stage of the food web

SANITATION within the ecological system, after phytoplankton. The new formation of biomass as a result of this process is the beginning of a natural ecological cycle illustrated in Figure 1.

Scale Attack

The most frequently formed scale inside ethanol and other industrial plants are calcium salts—calcium carbonates, sulfates, oxalates (also known as beer stone) and phosphates. Coupled with phytate and other salts as part of a complex system, these scales can have a dramatic impact on equipment’s ability to function optimally. The formation of such scales creates ridges and pockets where organic residues build and bacteria thrive. These contamination points often are responsible for bacterial contamination that shows up in increased lactic and acetic acid levels in fermentation. Plants often compensate with the use of antibiotics, but addressing the symptom and not the cause can be extremely costly. Developing a thoughtful scale-removal strategy will play an important role in a comprehensive approach to improved operations, along with optimizing processes to reduce fouling in the first place. Lutropur MSA is highly effective at scale removal, particularly calcium carbonate scales, when compared to many other acids including sulfamic and phosphoric acid, as shown in Figure 2. Another important consideration for acids and their use in ethanol plants is corrosiveness. While there are strong acids such as hydrochloric acid that are capable of dissolving a wide spectrum of scale in the plant, the corrosive pitting effect on metal surfaces is highly undesirable. Lutropur MSA, by contrast, is a strong acid able to efficiently dissolve scales while showing a remarkably lower degree of corrosiveness towards metals. From an industrial hygiene perspective, Lutropur MSA is superior to sulfamic, hydrochloric and nitric acids. It is a liquid and does not decompose in water, unlike solid sulfamic acid. It has no odor and does not produce toxic and corrosive fumes, unlike hydrochloric and nitric acids, and it easily can be diluted in existing acid-wash systems. Therefore, as a result of its nonoxidizing nature, the high solubility of its salts, the absence of odor and the fact that it is readily biodegradable, Lutropur MSA can be considered a safer and more effective alternative to sulfamic and other acids for use in ethanol plants. It is a friendly acid for production personnel and equipment. Front Range Energy in Windsor, Colorado, is an example of an ethanol plant that has adopted an acid-based CIP approach. Plant manager Phil Turchen explains, “I can, without a doubt, confirm increased cleaning properties with Lutropur MSA in fermentation tanks, yeast propagation, plate frame exchangers, and evaporators. We have a longer batch life for our plant main CIP, which is now every two weeks as opposed to weekly.” Ethanol producers have many options from which to choose as they reflect on what CIP system will be best for their operations. Safety is paramount. Today’s economic environment demands we look for new ways to increase efficiency and improve operations. A robust CIP program not only can improve plant safety, equipment performance and lifetime, but also minimize downtime while boosting productivity and ultimately, profitability.

Author: Brian Hoskins Product Manager, Grain Processing, BASF Brian.hoskins@basf.com 858-431-8520

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JULY 2016 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 65

SOFTWARE

Preventing Production Problems in t h e L a b Increasing biofuel demand will require next-generation laboratory software solutions. BY TRISH MEEK

66 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

SOFTWARE Reduced oil prices have been bad news for oil industry profits.

It hasn’t been easy for renewables, either. Despite dampened enthusiasm for renewables overall, innovation continues in areas such as biofuel production. In late March, United Airlines announced that it will use biofuel to help power flights running between Los Angeles and San Francisco, with future plans to expand to all flights operating out of LAX. A small step indeed, but a positive sign that biofuel production remains viable for the future. Now that United publicly has committed to biofuels, it must be able to rely on a steady supply. In this case, it will come from a Los Angeles refinery operated by AltAir Fuels. The total mixture will be 30 percent biofuel, sourced from feedstocks that include algae, and 70 percent traditional jet fuel. The United announcement is part of a groundswell of activity across the transportation sector. From air to sea, to rail to overthe-road, major consumers of fuel are eyeing more affordable solutions that also comply with mandates related to clean air. The view appears positive and the biofuels industry should be and is thinking about a future of higher production volume and greater quality. That means production efficiency and productivity, which puts biofuel labs back on the spot to demonstrate their critical enterprise value.

Integrating LIMS and CDS allows the lab to effectively remove eight manual processes, leaving it with one streamlined automated process – leaving only one manual process – putting the sample into the instrument and hitting the “GO” button.

As biofuel producers refocus on a more optimistic future, they will turn their attention back to the complexity of their processes. With the potential for increased demand comes the increased risk of production failure. Batch failure is magnified when production accelerates, so labs will increasingly rely on new analytical technologies and new

software solutions that enable them to more closely monitor, analyze and report. This ranges from gas chromatography (GC), ion chromatography and fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), all of which generate volumes of data.

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SOFTWARE Volumes of data can soon lead to mountains of challenges, from daily lab operations to more complex pattern recognition that could expose risks, such as batch failure. Without a solution such as a laboratory information management system (LIMS), these problems quickly become impossible to surmount. The LIMS brings discipline to an environment with many complex, moving parts. Enterprise-level LIMS, designed for integration across the lab and with other enterprise systems, seamlessly can connect and work in

68 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

harmony with other systems, such as a chromatography data system (CDS). In the nextgeneration biofuels lab, a CDS is critical to ensuring the quality of biofuels, which has everything to do with adherence to required gas and ion chromatographic methods. As modern biofuel laboratories select suitable equipment for specific analyses, they commonly choose from a variety of chromatography instruments from different manufacturers. Using a manufacturer-specific CDS for each instrument can lead to complications regarding efficiency, data handling, training,

validation and compliance. The selection of a CDS with multivendor instrument control, including acquisition and data handling of MS instruments, overcomes these challenges. In addition, data storage and handling can be decoupled from instrument control and centralized, a so-called enterprise of the client-server system, increasing the security and accessibility of the data. With all data from instruments in the same format and one common report for results, regardless of the instrument that was used to generate them, the efficiency gains and productivity increases are considerable. A major requirement in production laboratories is ensuring the highest instrument uptime to produce results at all times of the day. When running in a client-server system, keeping the laboratory fully up and running during a network outage, planned or not, is a big challenge. Therefore, a CDS should allow operation independent of the network, so that even when the network is down, the CDS keeps instruments running, data accessible for processing, and even allows creation and running of new sequences, ensuring 24/7 laboratory uptime. By guiding technicians through the execution of analytical methods, the CDS drives the laboratory processes related to all aspects of a chromatographic analysis. Some CDS provide an even higher level of automation by encapsulating all of the unique aspects of a chromatography workflow, like instrument control and data processing parameters, correct injection order and reporting parameters, and guiding the operator through the minimal number of steps required to run it. The operator simply selects an instrument, specifies the number of samples and the starting vial position in the autosampler, and begins the analysis. The software then runs the chromatograph, processes the data, and produces final results. For example, ASTM D6584 and EN 14105, the main quantitative quality control methods for the determination of glycerol and glycerides in pure biodiesel by GC. When biodiesel (B100) is derived from vegetable oils, such as sunflower and palm oil, glycerol is created as a byproduct. Mono-, di- and triglycerides, created as intermediates or unreacted starting material, also occur. These methods test for the presence of glycerol and glycerides in the final product, which is important

SOFTWARE because of their negative impact on fuel efficiency and engine performance. While both of these analyses differ in small ways, there are some common elements. Both methods require complex and timeconsuming sample and calibration standard preparation. Samples are run in duplicate and compared to determine analytical precision. With only a few clicks in the CDS, users can create and start a run and data analysis according to the requirements in the ASTM methods is automatically performed. The next step in the chromatography process, data processing and evaluation, is the most time-consuming step. Even with all data processing parameters correctly set up in the automated chromatography workflow, technicians need to decide if a sample requires re-analyzing, based on the results. Advanced features, such as intelligent run control, allow users to setup system suitability tests with pass/fail criteria, testing for acceptance criteria of the calibrations, checks and samples. The software can then respond to the outcome of these tests, such as failed sample replicates or standards and without user intervention, take predefined, immediate action,

such as reinjecting the samples, performing a dilution or aborting the run. As this can even happen overnight, productivity is increased and a source for errors removed. Final results can be sent directly to the LIMS. A seamless integration between the CDS and LIMS ensures a quick response to all quality results. Any samples that fail to meet the specifications established by ASTM and EN are flagged as out of specification in the LIMS and preventative action can be taken. This level of automation across the laboratory process ensures product quality and boosts laboratory productivity.

Conclusion

A LIMS is a proven workhorse in the biofuels industry, especially because it is uniquely suited to highly distributed lab environments with multiple instrument platforms, workflows and standard operating procedures. Although instruments perform discrete tasks and generate data for specific purposes, data integration is vital and a LIMS is critical to achieving an end-to-end flow of information across the lab and across all processes. To ensure efficient, safe and profitable biofuels

production, labs must be able to support continuous process monitoring and manage the data outputs in a way that is useful to stakeholders across the enterprise when, where and how they need it. Third-generation biofuel production processes are dynamic and complex. It can take weeks for feedstock to break down and finding a problem at the end is costly. Labs must be able to use even more sensitive analytical instruments and multilayer software infrastructure that enables instrument, lab- and enterprise-level insight and decision-making across the production process. Author: Trish Meet Senior Manager, Product Marketing Informatics & Chromatography Software Thermo Fisher Scientific Co-Author: Barbara van Cann Software Product Marketing Specialist, Informatics and Chromatography Software Company Thermo Fisher Scientific www.thermofisher.com

CONTRIBUTION: The claims and statements made in this article belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ethanol Producer Magazine or its advertisers. All questions pertaining to this article should be directed to the author(s).

CLEARING THE AIR

Helping Tell Ethanol’s Real Story By Dave VanderGriend

In football, when things are not going well, coaches often are heard to say “It’s our job to coach ‘em up,” meaning we need to get them smarter.

In our world of ethanol, that certainly is the case as we need to get people smarter and “coach up” the public, media and policymakers as to the real story about our product. Perhaps nothing is more important in this regard than the role ethanol can play in improving air quality and protecting public health, which is a core message of the Urban Air Initiative. We know that gasoline is a toxic soup of pollutants and its harmful impacts are masked by the U.S. EPA’s outdated models and error-filled testing procedures. We also know that replacing the most harmful components of gasoline with ethanol can protect public health while providing superior engine performance. But we can’t score a touchdown, if they won't let us on the field. Well, that is exactly what we face in regard to the blend wall and the policy roadblocks EPA has put in our way to keep higher ethanol blends out of the market. For ethanol to achieve its highest potential of being a source of clean octane, we need not only to get on the field via the fuel pool, but we need the cars and engines to be allowed to use these higher blends. Step one in this process is to dispel the myths and correct the misinformation that surrounds ethanol. On our website FixOurFuel. com, Urban Air lays out the health problems connected to gasoline and explains how these issues can be reduced greatly by improving the quality of gasoline with ethanol. We are addressing many questions regarding engine performance at our other website, FuelingTheTruth. com. Both of these sites, indeed, will coach ‘em up—Fix Our Fuel in terms of improving fuel quality and Fueling the Truth with engine and performance questions and answers as well as educational videos. If the public, fueled by misinformation, believes that ethanol presents a problem for everything from their beloved automobile to their lawn mower, we will continue to struggle to gain market share. Correcting information and setting the record straight through these types of accurate websites will help break down the blend wall. But we are not going to truly see ethanol reach its full potential on volumes powering only lawn equipment or small engines. The Holy

70 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | JULY 2016

Grail is the 140 billion gallon-per-year motor fuel market and using higher blends in conventional vehicles. Glacial Lakes Energy, with support from ICM and others, is promoting an innovative program, the E30 Challenge. Residents in Watertown, South Dakota, are running conventional automobiles, not flex fuel, on 30 percent ethanol blends to dispel the myth that we need specialized vehicles to run this clean, high-performing fuel. The emissions and performance data being collected will allow us to take the first steps in getting automakers and the EPA to acknowledge that a 10 percent or even 15 percent limit in conventional automobiles is a myth. We can achieve air quality benefits and meet ever-increasing fuel economy requirements by taking advantage of ethanol’s low carbon and high octane qualities. UAI participated in a panel of experts at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in June that confirmed everything we know to be true. We have a public health threat on our hands. The good news is that a former General Motors engineering executive sang the praises of E30 as a means of meeting automaker criteria for future fuels and lowering emissions. We will continue to “coach ‘em up.” If information is power, then we have the high ground, and it is incumbent on us to spread the word about the dangers and health risks of emissions from today's petroleum-based gasoline. Whether it’s the alarming links to asthma and respiratory disease, or the even more alarming linkage to low birth weight and neurological ailments, the data is there. And we will continue to “coach ‘em up” on mid-level blends of ethanol, which is a practical, feasible solution that we can begin to use immediately without damage to engines or a sacrifice in power or performance. So, all I can say is “Put Me In Coach.”

Author: David VanderGriend CEO, ICM Inc., President, Urban Air Initiative DaveV@icminc.com 316-796-0900

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