Farm-scale ethanol plant for New Zealand. Stage 3: plant operation

Technical Report · Thu May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1986

OSTI ID:7147356

The report describes the operation of a farm ethanol plant, the project being Stage 3 of a wider study of the applicability of such a plant. The plant was sited at Sheffield in Canterbury and drew on the local crops of barley, potatoes, and wheat as feedstock. The report concentrates on the practical aspects of plant operation. The most significant factor affecting the viability of the project was the energy cost in opepating an electric boiler. To reduce the cost, a low-unit-rate night-time electricity tariff was essential. To meet this a large measure of automatic control was found necessary for the batch-distillation process. The best yields of ethanol obtained were: for barley, 265 litres/ton; for potatoes, 98 litres/ton; energy consumption was 11 kWh/litre. The overall conclusion is that the small scale of operation and the high energy and labour costs make the economics of such a venture unattractive.

• Research Organization: Applied Combustion Systems Ltd., Rangiora (New Zealand)
• OSTI ID: 7147356
• Report Number(s): PB-87-109294/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
ETHANOL PLANTS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
OPERATION
NEW ZEALAND
ANIMAL FEEDS
BARLEY
BIOMASS CONVERSION PLANTS
CEREALS
CROPS
DISTILLATION
ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS
EQUIPMENT
ETHANOL FUELS
FARMS
FERMENTATION
POTATOES
ALCOHOL FUELS
AUSTRALASIA
BIOCONVERSION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
ECONOMICS
FOOD
FUELS
GRASS
HYDROLYSIS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
LYSIS
PLANTS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLVOLYSIS
SYNTHETIC FUELS
TUBERS
VEGETABLES
090222* - Alcohol Fuels- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass- (1976-1989)
140504 - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)
299003 - Energy Planning & Policy- Unconventional Sources & Power Generation- Other- (-1989)