Perfectly Planned

by Lisa Gibson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) With proper planning, expansions can go relatively smoothly. Without it, large, unforeseen obstacles can increase costs, delay startups and derail projects.

Ryan Brock, technical services manager for Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits, has horror stories about poorly planned ethanol plant expansions: a plant that forgot to notify the gas supplier of its expansion and was shut down when the supplier assumed the massive increase in use was the result of a leak; a plant that had doubled its capacity but was forced to delay startup because it realized too late that its current server couldn’t handle the expanded programming in the distributed control system; a plant that blew a transformer because the power company wasn’t aware of the expansion or prepared to supply it.

“You see what happens,” he says. “They’re more than happy to not spread their agony to the rest of the industry.” The biggest problems, he says, are results of incomplete planning and failure to analyze the expansion effects on each area of a plant. “Once you’ve decided you’re doing an expansion, not just debottlenecking your plant, spend a lot of time actually mapping out what you’re going to do so you don’t have to go back and redo something or fix some other problem you caused.”

While planning for the entire facility was a success, Al-Corn did hit snags in other areas. “Permitting in our state is a tremendous time drain,” (CEO Randall) Doyal says. “It takes far too long. The time delay caused project costs to increase, and we had to become very creative in redesigning, or what KFI and McGough call ‘value engineering.’” He says the project was able to come in at the original budget, but it wasn’t easy. “We were also dealt some unexpected blows with the programming of our control system. This caused us serious problems with our startup efforts and drug out the time required to get the plant up to rates.”

Planning for those potential issues down the line can be easier with the help of Aspen modeling. Tiffany Trottman, business development manager for Nelson Engineering, says use of the software is common in chemical engineering designs, but fairly new to the ethanol industry.

Aspen also can help map how a bolt-on technology will integrate into an existing plant, she says, and verify third-party claims about carbon intensity scores.

Following Al-Corn’s successful expansion, Doyal says it’s crucial to properly and thoroughly consider plans and goals. “Think about your existing facility, your site and your potential future growth. Spend plenty of whiteboard time shooting down ideas and chasing rabbits until a plan starts to solidify.”

Al-Corn, KFI and McGough Construction were the recipients of Ethanol Producer Magazine’s 2018 Collaboration of the Year Award. “The reason collaboration is important is because you are never as smart as you think you are,” Doyal told Ethanol Producer Magazine when the award winners were announced in May. “You can fall in love with your own ideas but still be completely wrong.”

Don’t be afraid to challenge decisions and rethink options at any stage of the game, he says. “Ideas on paper cost far less than steel and concrete to modify.” READ MORE