Title: Unit 15 Readings and Lecture
Course: BFM 201 Ethanol Production > Section: BFM 201 Ethanol Production

Unit 15 Readings and Lecture

To Do:
Read Textbook: Ethanol Process Fundamentals – Chapter 10 pages 10.1 – 10.8
One method to eliminate odors and air emission pollutants at an ethanol plant is to pass the air through the Thermal Oxidation equipment. Air emission pollutants emanating from the dry house process are coming from the Dryer stack, Cyclones, Bag house filters, and fermentation tank vents. The pollutants that are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state air pollution agencies are Volatile Organic Compound (VOC), Particulate Matter (PM), and Carbon Monoxide. Many state emission guidelines exceed EPA guidelines and require using thermal oxidizer.  Ethanol plants routinely hire professional companies to perform a Relative Accuracy Test Audit (RATA) to ensure compliance.

To reduce operating costs by reclaiming heat, facilities use Regenerative Thermal Oxidizers which is a type of thermal oxidizer that utilizes two or more ”heat transfer beds."  These are capable of having the direction of the air reversed and typically recover 95% of combustion heat.

Another thermal oxidizer system used by Ethanol plants is a Recuperative thermal oxidizer incorporated with “heat recovery steam generation” in combination with several stack coils to improve operating efficiency and heat recovery to nearly 100%.

The pollutants are cleaned out of the air by using temperatures over 1,400 degrees F.
References:

Chapter 10 (2006). In Ethanol process fundamentals: An introduction to ethanol processing. Granite Falls, MN: Minnesota Energy Enterprise Center.

Jacques, K. A., Lyons, T. P., & Kelsall, D. R. (2003). Chapter 26. In The alcohol textbook: A reference for the beverage, fuel and industrial alcohol industries. Nottingham: Nottingham University Press.