Company Hopes to Convert Ethanol Plant to Methane

(Quay County Sun) If all goes according to plan, a long-closed ethanol plant in Tucumcari may be converted into a methane plant and become fully operational by mid-2020.

Tucumcari Bio-Energy Co. is hunting for investors and may begin converting the plant to methane gas production as soon as early 2019, said Robert Hockaday, president of the company, during a phone interview. He hopes to acquire the necessary investors and loans by year's end.

Bringing the plant, located on the city's north side, to full production would require 18 months, he said. Once that happens, Tucumcari Bio-Energy could produce up to $12 million in methane, carbon dioxide and compost each year. The plant would employ 40 people during the ramp-up to production, then 20 once it's fully operational.

This time, the company aims to use manure in the company's six 55,000-gallon fermentation tanks to produce methane gas.

Hockaday said the "witch's brew" of manure, water, bacteria, whey and other ingredients to produce methane often is unpredictable. It can overheat or, conversely, can cause the gas-producing bacteria to die or go dormant, according to a news release from Sandia Labs.

That's where Sandia Labs came in. Sal Rodriguez, a nuclear engineer, used computer simulations to map out potential trouble spots with the tanks and Hockaday's slurry. Rodriguez showed Hockaday how to modify the tanks to minimize risks and find an ideal temperature range for methane production. READ MORE