More Ways to Max Out DCO

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July 25, 2022

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by Katie Schroeder (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Record-high prices are motivating ethanol producers to explore all available options to maximize corn oil recovery. Advanced technology, specialized equipment and informed operational strategies are taking yields to new heights.

Distillers corn oil prices have steadily risen in recent years, leading to sustained interest in maximizing DCO recovery. In late April, Fluid Quip Technologies LLC (FQT) announced the potentially game-changing effectiveness of its DCO Technology, getting up to 1.4 pounds of DCO, or “renewable corn oil”—per bushel of corn. FQT has achieved these results at Green Plains’ Wood River, Nebraska, biorefinery, which has fully integrated DCO Technology into the plant’s Maximum Stillage Coproduct (MSC) system.

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Balanced Maximization
Producers have to navigate many issues when maximizing renewable corn oil recovery. The balance of an ethanol plant may be upset by tweaking process streams, which can have unintended consequences. “I would say that differing fat content and process upsets are probably the two biggest ones,” Griffiths says. Each corn crop may have different oil content, which plants need to adjust to. Griffiths also emphasizes the importance of uptime in DCO recovery equipment, whether it be a vertical centrifuge or a horizontal machine.

Pedro Peña, lab and R&D director with CTE Global, explains that losing oil to the wet cake is another frequent hurdle to DCO maximization. “I would say the most common [area loss is the] decanter operation,” he says. “If it is leaving [the oil] with the wet cake, we can’t get that back, that’s gone.” Adjustments to decanter operation are a practical step that can make a difference in DCO recovery.

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Checking the oil for color and consistency is important since it allows producers to make sure that they are producing oil which is suited for their market. Griffiths (Bill Griffiths, industry manager with Flottweg) explains that producers who are selling the oil into a renewable diesel or biodiesel market need their oil to be without impurities, however a producer selling the oil as a feed component may want some germ particles in the oil. “It depends on who the plant is selling to and what the goals are,” he says.

Oil optimization studies allow plants to identify parts of the ethanol process that are not working as efficiently as possible. READ MORE

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