February 2010

EPA Finds Corn Ethanol Including Corn Oil Extraction Meets GHG Standards

There has been some question as to whether traditional corn ethanol production would meet the new standards for GHG reduction. A recent EPA finding notes, "Based on our final rulemaking analysis we have found that corn ethanol, including advanced technologies such as corn oil extraction/fractionation, reduce GHG emissions by more than the 20% threshold required for renewable fuels." Further the EPA notes, "Based on engineering cost analysis, it is expected that by 2022, 70% of dry mill corn ethanol plants will adopt extraction technology, 20% will adopt fractionation technology, and 10% will not adopt either technology. Corn oil that is withdrawn from the extraction process is not food-grade, and is considered only suitable as a biodiesel feedstock. By 2022, it is estimated that corn oil from extraction is a significant contributor to the biodiesel volume required by the RFS2 rule." Corn oil from extraction may utilize one or more additional centrifuges. One company with a process for corn oil extraction is Greenshift.

World Pumps.Com February Article Describes Emotron  Drives On Noxon Centrifuges

Falkenberg Municipality in Sweden purchased two decanter centrifuges from Noxon with two Emotron VFX variable speed drives of 37 kW and 11 kW respectively to control the two electric motors that power the drum and brake the screw conveyor.  When braking energy is generated that is normally converted into heat and dissipated via brake resistors. Noxon’s solution re-uses the energy instead. Thanks to the two variable speed drives being interconnected via a common DC-link, the braking motor’s energy is fed directly to the driving motor. The requirement for energy from the mains is reduced and the cost of brake resistors is saved.

Biofuel and Ethanol Market Growth Expected

The new US EPA Renewable Fuels Standard requires biofuels production to grow from last year’s 11.1 billion gallons to 36 billion gallons in 2022 (with 21 billion gallons to come from advanced biofuels.)  For the first time, some renewable fuels must achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions - compared to the gasoline and diesel fuels they displace – in order to be counted towards volume standards. The Renewable Fuel Standard has effectively capped ethanol production from corn starch at 15 billion gallons. The remainder of the target will be met with advanced biofuels including cellulosic ethanol, biobutanol, biomass-based diesel and others.

January 2010

Alternate Sludge Management Options More Cost Effective Than Centrifugation

A recent study from the Technical University of Catalonia titled "Sludge treatment wetlands: A review on the state of the art " describes characteristics, costs  and operational aspects of alternate sludge management technologies. According to the article the costs associated with  sludge management range from 20-60% of total operating costs.

Bio-diesel-guide.com Tauts Centrifuge Advantages to Small Producers

Bio-diesel-guide.com, a website geared to small producers, includes the following information: "With the vast majority of companies switching to biodiesel production, the smaller companies will want to ensure that they have the best biodiesel production process and this will mean centrifuge biodiesel. The centrifuge is a piece of equipment that is used in a separate way to the initial mixture of the ingredients. Instead of waiting for the 8 hours after the blending process, the centrifuge will cut this time down to one hour. This means that you can speed up production and not only that, but you can ensure a clean and sediment free end product. With centrifuge biodiesel you will have more chance of creating a much higher quality product than if you don’t have a centrifuge.

There are lots of companies that sell centrifuges and they are all manufactured to the highest of standards to work for industrial purposes. You can also get a centrifuge if you are making your own biodiesel, but you have to bear in mind that you will require a second tank for this process. To buy a centrifuge is not cheap. It costs about $10 000, but if you look at the ROI, you will realize that this amount of minimal compared to what you can make in a day. In one day of work which is about 9 hours you can make 4800 gallons, which is a $4300 profit. So, in just 3 days you will have paid the centrifuge off.

Siemens Expands Offerings and Discusses Markets

Siemens acquired U.S. based filter press manufacturer, Industrial Process Machinery (IPM) IPM’s strong reputation in the mining and process industries will increase Siemen’s opportunities in those and other markets. In a statement Siemens mentioned the chemical and remediation markets as potential markets of interest.

In a recent press release Siemens Water Technologies discussed their commitment to the Asian market. In addition to developing joint ventures in China, they established a worldwide R&D Center in Singapore and embarked on a full-scale membrane bioreactor testing facility at Singapore’s Changi Water Reclamation Plant. Siemens Water Technologies is making a significant investment to set up operations in India. This includes a team more than 25 engineers and technology transfer from USA and Singapore. To improve market penetration in S E Asia (where market growth is 7-9 percent) they acquired regional water treatment company, Chemitreat, (sales 25M EURO in 2007 and 240 employees) in 2008.

Siemens’ worldwide water business which was originally US-based has grown to 2 billion Euros with more than one third outside of U.S. Siemens notes: “We intend to continue growing more quickly than the market, which is currently expanding at a rate of six percent per year worldwide – and we want to achieve this goal especially in individual regions such as China and India where the growth potential is double the global average.”
 

Alfa Laval Expands Capabilities in India

Alfa Laval recently opened a service center and sales outlet facility in Kancharapalem India. The new servicing, will primarily Southern and Eastern customer bases.

The company already has a Parts and Service Centre at New Mumbai.

EPA Vows To Increase Regulation

Partially as a result of the massive ($1B clean-up) TVA spill, the EPA has vowed to establish federal regulations for coal ash (which can contain arsenic, lead and other heavy  metals.)