Construction of gasifier under way at Chippewa Valley Ethanol’s plant
Gretchen Schlosser West Central Tribune
Published Saturday, July 07, 2007
wctrib.com
BENSON — After a nine-month wait for the permit, construction on Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company’s biomass gasifier has begun and is quickly progressing.
Bill Lee, general manager of Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company, estimates that 60 percent of the gasifier components are in place. Steel workers are erecting the steel structure around the components while concrete work is completed on other portions of the gasification facility. Later, workers will build a steel building around the gasifier.
“We’ve had plenty of time to do the preparation,” Lee said. “Now, we’re off to the races.”
A crane lifts a steel beam into place Thursday as part of the structure of the biomass gasifier now under construction at Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company in Benson. The gasifier is expected to be operational in December. (Tribune photo by Gretchen Schlosser)
The 45 million-gallon ethanol plant — along with design partner FrontLine Bioenergy of Ames, Iowa — has not wasted the time spent waiting for the air emissions permit, which was received June 11, from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Instead, they completed site preparation work last fall and assembled as much of the materials for the gasifier as possible. Lee estimates that 60 to 70 percent of the necessary parts are on site, and the remainder will be available before they are needed for construction. The gasifier is expected to be operating by December.
The gasifier project is a two-phase effort to replace the natural gas used in creating ethanol with renewable biomass — anything from wood chips to corn stover. The first phase, the portion that is now under construction, will burn 75 tons of biomass per day to replace 25 percent of the plant’s natural gas needs. The second phase will burn 300 tons of biomass a day to replace 90 percent of the natural gas needed for the ethanol plant.
The actual construction of the gasifier is just one area where Chippewa Valley Ethanol is working on the “greener” future of ethanol, Lee says. The company is also pushing for progress on research into the densification of biomass, such as corn stover, from bulky, light materials into condensed cubes or pellets that are much more efficient to store and haul. It is Lee’s belief that cellulosic ethanol, production of ethanol from corn stover and the like, is not the next step for the ethanol industry.
“The next role will be creating the energy for ethanol plants,” he said. Energy is the second-largest input, behind corn, and costs between $15 million and $20 million per year for the plant. “I’d rather spend it in my backyard, over sending (the money) to Alberta, Canada,” he said.
Lee and the ethanol plant shareholders are watching two key pieces of legislation, the 2007 farm bill and the energy bill, as both have renewable energy policies included.
The farm bill may include incentives for growing perennial grasses for biomass. Lee sees grasses as an opportunity for farmers and ethanol producers to reach across to conservationists, wildlife advocates and environmentalists. The grasses could be on “working conservation” land that still supports wildlife and provides water quality and soil erosion benefits while growing an energy crop that has commercial value as biomass.
“We have a vision for the future. … We are going to produce more ethanol in a green way,” he said. “Grass energy is a way to accomplish that.”
The portion of the energy bill that’s interesting the Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company folks is the low-carbon fuel standard, an effort to promote the use of fuels that emit less carbon dioxide into the air and to lower carbon emissions in the production of alternative fuels.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has issued a directive for the state to establish the standard in the state. The standard is getting support from presidential hopefuls Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
The Benson plant is the third Minnesota ethanol plant to use energy sources other than natural gas. The Corn Plus plant at Winnebago generates 60 percent of its energy needs from burning biomass, the plant’s byproducts, in a fluid bed reactor and is seeking to add wind turbines to generate the plant’s electrical needs. The Central MN Ethanol Co-op plant in Little Falls burns wood fibers in a gasifier to provide for the energy and a portion of the electrical needs of the plant. |
