Case study: Vicksburg Biorefinery

Renewable Fuels & Chemicals

Vicksburg Biorefinery

Customer: XL Renewables, Inc.

Project Location:Vicksburg, Arizona

The Challenge

XL Renewables wants to take the concept of an integrated Biorefinery to a whole new level. They desire to integrate a 7500-cow dairy with a 50 million gallon per year ethanol facility. The ethanol would be produced from fractionated corn where the bran and germ are physically separated for energy and animal feed, respectively. The germ would be first crushed and the resulting oil would be used to generate 5 million gallons per year of biodiesel. Additional heat and power would be generated from digested manure and stillage in the form of biogas.

The Solution

To date, Harris Group has provided Owner’s Engineering in the form of a feasibility study including concept development, technology selection and basic engineering services. A critical piece of the development was optimizing the energy use amongst the various units of the biorefinery. The energy potential of the various waste and byproduct streams were compiled in tandem with known process operating requirements to devise a complete energy profile and optimize energy production/utilization for the entire facility.

Equally important was selection of technologies for each unit of the biorefinery. Harris Group surveyed the technology landscape and identified proven solutions that would best work together and provide an efficient overall operation.

The Benefits

Through energy integration of these facilities, the biorefinery will have the opportunity to operate without the use of any fossil fuels and therefore, at a substantially reduced cost. Operation risk will be reduced because of the due diligence provided in technology selection and integration design in this conceptual stage of development.

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Overview Services Case Studies ...more White Papers Contacts	Vicksburg Biorefinery Customer: XL Renewables, Inc. Project Location:Vicksburg, Arizona The Challenge XL Renewables wants to take the concept of an integrated Biorefinery to a whole new level. They desire to integrate a 7500-cow dairy with a 50 million gallon per year ethanol facility. The ethanol would be produced from fractionated corn where the bran and germ are physically separated for energy and animal feed, respectively. The germ would be first crushed and the resulting oil would be used to generate 5 million gallons per year of biodiesel. Additional heat and power would be generated from digested manure and stillage in the form of biogas. The Solution To date, Harris Group has provided Owner’s Engineering in the form of a feasibility study including concept development, technology selection and basic engineering services. A critical piece of the development was optimizing the energy use amongst the various units of the biorefinery. The energy potential of the various waste and byproduct streams were compiled in tandem with known process operating requirements to devise a complete energy profile and optimize energy production/utilization for the entire facility. Equally important was selection of technologies for each unit of the biorefinery. Harris Group surveyed the technology landscape and identified proven solutions that would best work together and provide an efficient overall operation. The Benefits Through energy integration of these facilities, the biorefinery will have the opportunity to operate without the use of any fossil fuels and therefore, at a substantially reduced cost. Operation risk will be reduced because of the due diligence provided in technology selection and integration design in this conceptual stage of development.