Direct Steam Injection Uses for the Ethanol Industry

Direct steam injection heating utilizing the Hydroheater

Hydro-Thermals heating solutions will assure your company energy cost savings, reduced maintenance down time, and so much more while producing ethanol.

With instantaneous heating when you need it, our products are ideal for anywhere maintaining a precise temperature is critical. Our most popular heating applications for the ethanol industry include:

LIQUEFACTION/SLURRY MASH HEATING

DEPRESSURIZATION VAPOR CONDENSER SYSTEM (DVCS)

SLURRY TANK HEATING

• Hydro-Thermal’s solution reduces viscosity that provides additional flexibility for slurry solids adjustments and a reduction in downstream equipment load demand. It has also shown an improvement in corn oil yield. Finally, it provides a more uniform heating solution that eliminates mash hot and cold spots within the slurry tank. This will eliminate the need for tank sparging and also bring additional opportunity in potentially reducing enzyme dosing rates.
• A Hydroheater is used in the recirculation line and pulls from the coldest part of the slurry tank. The liquid is then re-circulated back to the slurry tank causing instantaneous mixing and more uniform temperature throughout the tank. Hydro-Thermal provides all work and materials necessary in this application, a turnkey solution with many benefits to boast.
• Click here for additional information on slurry tank heating.

CORN SYRUP PRODUCTION

• Using the Industrial Hydroheater prior to centrifuge eliminates residue build-up and reduces viscosity allowing for proper separation of corn oil from corn syrup.

CELLULOSIC PROCESS TECHNOLOGY

• Hydro-Thermal understands the importance of additional profit and revenue streams. Therefore, the Hydroheater can be used to produce cellulosic ethanol. A bolt on process is used while pulling a slip stream from a product that is already being produced at a standard ethanol facility.
• Utilizing our steam injection heaters have many benefits including precise and accurate temperature control, increasing ethanol yield and corn oil production, as well as reducing energy costs. Discover new revenue streams and get the benefits of a D3 tax credit RINs by utilizing the Hydroheater to make cellulosic ethanol at your facility.

CELLULOSIC PRETREATMENT

• Our heaters sufficiently hydrolyzes and opens up the structure of lignin-based biomass feedstocks to allow efficient and effective enzyme hydrolysis of the hemicellulosic sugars.
• Our product's straight-through patented design is ideal for thick slurries and high fiber content common to a wide variety of biomass feedstocks. Depending on the pretreatment process, Hydro-Thermal's solution can be designed and constructed around specific process conditions, such as high temperature, low pH and high pressures.

Key Advantages of Using our Solaris or NOH for Cellulosic Pretreatment:

• No plugging or stock build-up
• Large temperature rise
• Near-instantaneous heat transfer
• Precise temperature control
• Process stability

Click here for information on cellulosic pretreatment.

BACK SET HEATING

• Our direct steam injection heater is used to heat the back set before going into the slurry blender to ensure that the ideal 185ºF is reached. The heater is strategically located after the cook water tank and cook water exchanger, but before the slurry blender so that benefits are achieved as the back set enters the slurry blender.
• For those who haven’t considered heating their back set, there are a lot of advantages. First, you have the flexibility of raising the temperature which allows for more uniform temperature of mash throughout the slurry blender/tank. Second, there is a potential for improved energy savings throughout the cook process. Third, the higher, more uniform temperature throughout the slurry blender and tank, allows for potential energy and enzyme savings. Plus, other equipment load demand will be reduced while being able to reach precise temperature set points.
• Click here for more information about back set heating.

BEER MASH SLURRY/BEER MASH COLUMN

• We have recently identified a new offering within the ethanol industry for precise temperature control. This includes installing a non-shear (Solaris) after the beer well but before the beer column for the existing mash stream.
• The goal is to provide a more consistent/accurate mash temperature to the beer column (135ºF current to 170ºF). In addition, there is an anticipated reduction in the beer column base loss, reduced energy usage and more flexibility/efficiency from the beer/mash exchangers, cleaning cycles and chemical usage. Finally, there is an expected reduction in the beer bottoms base loss.

Key Advantages of Beer Column Heating

• Ability to maintain ideal temperatures of 155°F-160°F
• Improved efficiency in distillation
• Reduction in steam usage through evaporation
• The ability to run longer on the beer mash exchangers before needing to CIP that results in a reduction in chemical usage

Click here to learn more information about beer mash slurries.

Otherwise, click here to read our blog about beer column. 

CORN OIL PRODUCTION

• Hydro-Thermal’s products heat thin stillage/syrup beyond the normally targeted temperatures and can help ethanol producers achieve their minimum feed tag specifications. The result is increasing corn oil production numbers and ultimately increasing revenue.
• These products provide accurate and consistent temperature control. The added temperature works as an emulsifier. As a result, ethanol producers may be able to reduce or eliminate their emulsion breaker chemicals while still being able to maintain or increase oil production.
• See the resource section below for a document with more information about corn oil production.
• Otherwise, click here to read our blog about corn oil.

REVERSE OSMOSIS (RO)

• Hydro-Thermal can heat RO inlet water or heat membrane back flush water while achieving precise temperature control and eliminating wasted energy.
• RO filters are designed for a given water temperature. As water cools, it thickens and the RO capacity decreases. For every 1ºF below design temperature, a RO can lose up to 3% of capacity. A Hydroheater can keep the inlet water temperature at ±1ºF of the set point so the RO can operate at the designed capacity without wasting energy over heating the water.
• Similar to above, if the back flush water is heated to the designed temperature, they can optimize the amount of water used and ensure that the membranes are properly cleaned.
• See the resource section of our chemical or metal microsite for a general RO document.

CLEAN IN PLACE (CIP)

• Easily heats a one to three CIP tank system on demand.
• Proper cleaning and sanitation is an important safety concern for you and your customers. Hydro-Thermal’s solution allows you to clean equipment at the optimal temperature in one pass. It also allows you the flexibility to easily switch from tempered water to hot flush temperatures due to our technology’s internal modulation.
• Click here for a case study.

TANK HEATING

• Easily and efficiently heats tanks on in-feed or in recirc mode, trim heat.
• We can heat the fluid going into the tank; re-circulate the tank to maintain a specific temperature, or leave the tank cold and heat the liquid exiting the tank, producing hot water on demand. Many customers see a return on investment (ROI) in less than three months.
• Click here to learn why tank heating is more efficient utilizing a Hydroheater vs. a sparger.