Semester Design Project Progress Report 3

Our process is complete in that we receive ethanol and two coproducts, oil and DDGS. We are

still struggling to strip DDGS entire of oil. Therefore, before the final submission we will need to extract

all oil from the process because as we will show, our process is far from profitable. For the rest of this

report I will discuss assumptions made throughout the entire process and a short economic analysis.

At this time, our process includes lots of assumptions. We are using 2828282.82820 pounds of

corn per day on a 15 percent moisture wet basis. Corn costs $138.38 per metric ton based todays ending

futures price index. This was found on http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=corn.

We are using 9432.995 kg of water per hour. We are using 3 units of 30m3 tanks for initial solids storage

which costs $83000 is based only on the sdp modeling. We intend to retrieve a more accurate price for

our final attempt. Next, the grinder has a 60000 kg/h throughput. We are using 2 units. At a cost

$124000. We have a rated throughput of 31443.32 kg/h each. The jet cooker has a max heat transfer of

70 m2. We are using one unit. We are using a purchase cost of $17000. We used a 2011 price of $13589

adjusted to 2017 price. Next we mix in amylase, glucoamylase, and yeast. Amylase is mixed in through at

a rate of 16.7059 kg/h. Glucoamylase is mixed in through at a rate of 50.132 kg/h. Yeast is mixed in

through at a rate 251.04 kg/h. These three mixing processes are assumed to not be separate units and

don’t contribute to our final equipment cost other than in pipes. We assumed we will be utilizing a

simultaneous saccharifiction and fermentation process. We used 85 degrees Celsius to carry out the

process. It assumed a 90% efficiency ratio of ethanol conversion. We used 5 units with a max volume of

40 m3. The adjusted purchase cost is $47000 found from a purchase cost of $35000 in 2004. Next, we

assumed another heating step was needed before distillation. This was performed at 85 degrees Celsius.

It was adjusted to a cost of $20000 from $19000 in a reference year of 2011. Next, we mixed the current
flow in with run off from the mole sieve operation. 288 kg/h water is assumed to run off from the mole

sieve operation and add into distillation. The first distillation process is run at 170 F. There are 2 units

running this process and it includes 8 stages. The adjusted purchase cost is 23000 from 22350 in 2011.

We are receiving a 77.8583% ethyl alcohol yield from this process. Second distillation requires one unit

but includes 16 stages. It has an adjusted cost of 28000 from 27350 in 2011. It creates a 98.53% ethyl

alcohol material. We assumed a generic procedure is enough to define a separation for 200 proof

ethanol products. Further data is required to define this unit better. It is cooled to 25 degrees Celsius for

storage then shipment for sale. The storage tank has an assumed residence time of 12 days till

shipment. The purchase cost is adjusted to 37000 from 27000 in 2004. The total yield is of ethanol

product is 54529411.244 gal/yr. The third distillation column has 12 stages. It costs 2100 from 20512 in

2011. It is assumed is underflow is waste water. This waste water is assumed to be storage before

treatment and/or disposal. Further work is required on the disposal cost and economic analysis of our

plants waste disposal costs. It is a continuous storage system with an assumed residence of one hour.

solids from the first distillation process are assumed to be cooled to 25 C. It is put into two blending

tanks with an assumed max volume of 70 m3 with actual volumes of 68.71 m3. We are using the

standard super pro value, which may help us decrease cost in the future if we find literature with a

better price. The solids are centrifuged to get 200 g/l oil in the oil stream and 150 g/l solids

concentration in solids steam. It has an assumed 30% sedimentation efficiency. We are extracting

1945.71242 kg/h of corn oil. Again, we used the standard super pro price of 249000 on one unit. The

water stream out has a flowrate of 36526.389 kg/h with some corn oil not removed (.52%). This is

evaporated using steam at 152 C. The water removed goes into waste water. Those are our major

assumptions. I will now discuss economic factors of importance.

The economic situation of our plant is not great; it is an untenable situation. Our total capital

investment is 341110000. The operating cost is 175,350,000 $/yr. These numbers are alarming and a lot
more efficiency is required to create an economically viable plant. For instance, we will receive a -4.66%

return on investment. At the very least this number needs to be positive. Our Total Plant Direct Cost

(TPDC) is a bit higher than desired at 17143000. We hope to lower this cost with more research into

equipment purchase cost moving forward. Individual unit costs are

Quantity/
Standby/ Name Description Unit Cost ($) Cost ($)
Staggered
3 / 0 / 0 SL-101 Silo/Bin 67,000 201,000
Vessel Volume = 27.40 m3
2 / 0 / 0 GR-101 Grinder 101,000 202,000
Rated Throughput = 31443.32 kg/h
1 / 0 / 0 HX-101 Heat Exchanger 14,000 14,000
Heat Exchange Area = 61.32 m2
3 / 0 / 0 FR-101 Fermentor 47,000 141,000
Vessel Volume = 253682.61 L
1 / 0 / 0 HX-102 Heat Exchanger 20,000 20,000
Heat Exchange Area = 90.57 m2
1 / 0 / 0 EV-101 Evaporator 242,000 242,000
Mean Heat Transfer Area = 60.55 m2
2 / 0 / 0 C-101 Distillation Column 23,000 46,000
Column Volume = 5.58 m3
1 / 0 / 0 C-102 Distillation Column 28,000 28,000
Column Volume = 8.70 m3
1 / 0 / 0 C-103 Distillation Column 21,000 21,000
Column Volume = 503.82 L
1 / 0 / 0 DC-101 Decanter Centrifuge 249,000 249,000
Throughput = 123673.83 L/h
1 / 0 / 0 V-101 Receiver Tank 7,000 7,000
Vessel Volume = 7343.50 L
 2 / 0 / 0 V-102 Blending Tank 47,000 94,000
Vessel Volume = 68.71 m3
79 / 0 / 0 V-104 Flat Bottom Tank 37,000 2,923,000
Vessel Volume = 99.54 m3
1 / 0 / 0 HX-103 Heat Exchanger 42,000 42,000
Heat Exchange Area = 91.81 m2
1 / 0 / 0 HX-104 Heat Exchanger 30,000 30,000
Heat Exchange Area = 10.51 m2
2 / 0 / 0 HX-105 Heat Exchanger 93,000 186,000
Heat Exchange Area = 69.61 m2
37 / 0 / 0 RDR-101 Rotary Dryer 775,000 28,675,000
Drying Area = 140.52 m2
Unlisted Equipment 10,158,000
TOTAL 50,790,000
We have an exceedingly high number of rotary dryers. In fact, without them see an

economically viable plant. It causes us to sell wet DDGS which is undesirable and will fetch less of a

price, but it does create a profitable situation in 5 years. Corn is 90.7% of our material cost. This is

accurate and appropriate to real life scenarios. We have no cost associated with waste treatment and

disposal as of yet. This requires research and assessment into our final project. Lastly, we are spending

21260116 $/year in energy on steam. The unit cost is 12 which may be to high for our situation,

especially in Illinois. It is 45.82% of our unit cost. We believe the is a major source of inefficiency and will

be remedied before our final submission. Utilities are 26.46% of the total annual operating costs and we

hope to reduce this enough to cover for whatever cost the waste treatment and disposal incurs. Cost

asuumptions on individual units in 2011 are based on. Waste water research will begin with Modeling

and Optimization of a Municipal Treatment Plant Using EnviroPro Designer, Victor E. Santamarina,

Environmental Progress (Vol. 16, No. 4), Winter 1997, Pp. 268-273.

Prices for unit operations were derived from the following sources:
1)Bio-Diesel Production from De-gummed Vegetable Oil (USDA_Biodiesel.zip, Size = 390

KB). This paper analyzes the production of biodiesel from degummed vegetable oil. It includes

technical as well as cost analysis of the process. The process was modeled using Aspen Plus as

well as SuperPro Designer. The SuperPro model is available to the public for non-commercial

research and educational uses. The work was performed by Michael J. Haas, Andrew J.

McAloon, Winnie C. Yess,, and Thomas A. Foglia at U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 East Mermaid Lane,

Wyndmoor, PA 19038-8598, USA.

2) This paper analyzes the production of fuel grade ethanol from corn using the dry-grind

process. It includes technical as well as economic analysis of the process. SuperPro Designer was

used for the analysis and the SuperPro model is available to the public for non-commercial

research and educational uses. The work was performed by Jason R. Kwiatkowski, Andrew J.

McAloon, Frank Taylor, and David B. Johnston at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural

Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 East Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA

19038-8598, USA

3)Analysis Synthesis and Design of Chemical Process by Richard A. Turton , Fourth edition