CSR Mercuria 2018 - Flipbook - Page 56
THE SOUTH BEND
ETHANOL FACILITY
About 20 miles from the south-eastern shore
of Lake Michigan, on the outskirts of the town
of South Bend, Indiana (USA) is the South Bend
Ethanol Facility. The facility produces ethanol
which is blended into petroleum gasoline to
meet a US government mandate as part of that
country’s aim to increase renewables under the
US EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard. The facility
was originally built in 1984 and then underwent
a large overall in 2013-2015. Mercuria acquired
the facility at the end of 2017, and is currently
actively pursuing a number of projects designed to improve the facility’s overall reliability,
and to restore the facility to its original operational design capacity.
Over the year prior to Mercuria’s acquisition,
and during most of 2018 subsequent to Mercuria’s acquisition the facility has been operating
at production rate of approximately 66 million
gallons-per-year (1.571 million bbl/yr) of denatured ethanol production which is roughly twothirds of the facility’s original design capacity.
The facility currently achieves a yield of approximately 2.8 to 2.9 gallons of ethanol per bushel
of corn (0.417 to 0.432 liter per kg of corn). In
addition to fuel grade denatured ethanol, the facility also produces both wet and dry distillers
grains (for use as an animal feedstock), corn oil
and carbon dioxide which is sold to a local industrial gas supplier.
The facility receives its corn feedstock from local farmers and regional corn suppliers and is
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staffed and operates 24-hours
per day, 7 days per week, with
a work-force of over 60 people.
The South Bend Ethanol Facility
uses a conventional corn-to-fuel ethanol dry milling process
which starts with dry corn being
ground into a fine powder, then
mixed with water and enzymes
to break the corn starch down
into dextrin. The dextrin solution
(referred to as “mash”) is then
placed in large vessels where it is blended with
yeast, which results in fermentation where the
yeast converts the dextrin into alcohol. During
the fermentation process, substantial amounts
of carbon dioxide are generated which are
collected, dried and compressed by a nearby
industrial gas supplier. Once the fermentation
process is complete, solids are removed from
the solution, and can then either be separated
out directly (as a “wet distillers’ grain”), or dried
to produce a “dried distillers grain”. The distillers’ grains are used as an animal feedstock
being high in protein, fiber and fat. The liquid
(referred to as “beer”) is then distilled to separate the ethyl alcohol from the water solution. A
small amount of petroleum is blended into the
resulting ethanol to render it “denatured” – unsuitable for consumption, and only usable as a
fuel or chemical blend-stock. Its products are
sold into the local markets via the facility’s onsite truck and rail load out stations.
The facility plays an important role within the local community, providing not only a number of
steady, quality jobs but also helping to provide
the local agricultural business with a reliable
user for locally raised crops. Beyond the value
to the local community, the South Bend Ethanol Facility contributes to the US’ domestic policy toward increasing use of renewable fuels,
and the reduction in the contribution to global
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
