Illinois River Energy, LLC, a renewable fuels company located in Rochelle, Illinois, operates a dry mill, corn-based processing facility which produces fuel grade ethanol and two forms of distiller’s grains. The company relies on energy recovery equipment for their ethanol production. Air is taken from a rotary drum dryer and is preheated by the energy recovery equipment for use in a thermal oxidizer. Over 40 million bushels of corn are processed per year as well as production of up to 115 million gallons of denatured fuel grade ethanol and over 300,000 tons of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS).
Unfortunately, during a recent, regular maintenance shutdown, a small isolated fire occurred at the facility. The fire damaged their existing energy recovery unit beyond repair. A replacement unit was needed as quickly as possible as their ethanol production was slowed without the unit working; however, the equipment's manufacturer was unable to commit to a short delivery schedule. As a result, the company looked to Munters for a replacement unit.
Munters was able to meet the ethanol plant's required lead time of less than two months even though detailed drawings were not made available because the damaged unit was from a competitor of Munters. In order to obtain the unit's exact measurements for a direct replacement, Munters technicians were sent to the facility. With the correct measurements, the replacement unit was designed to minimize any field rework of duct connections. Installation will be easier and faster, both of which are important to the ethanol plant operating at 100% production again. A payback period of 6 months has been calculated allowing Illinois River Energy to continue profitably producing ethanol.
Take a look at our energy recovery products page, e-mail dhinfo@munters.com or call 1-800-843-5360 for more information.