Feasibility study for a 10-MM-GPY fuel ethanol plant, Brady Hot Springs, Nevada. Volume 1. Process and plant design
An investigation was performed to determine the technical and economic viability of constructing and operating a geothermally heated, biomass, motor fuel alcohol plant at Brady's Hot Springs. The results of the study are positive, showing that a plant of innovative, yet proven design can be built to adapt current commerical fermentation-distillation technology to the application of geothermal heat energy. The specific method of heat production from the Brady's Hot Spring wells has been successful for some time at an onion drying plant. Further development of the geothermal resource to add the capacity needed for an ethanol plant is found to be feasible for a plant sized to produce 10 million gallons of motor fuel grade ethanol per year. A very adequate supply of feedgrains is found to be available for use in the plant without impact on the local or regional feedgrain market. The effect of diverting supplies from the animal feedlots in Northern Nevada and California will be mitigated by the by-product output of high-protein feed supplements that the plant will produce. The plant will have a favorable impact on the local farming economies of Fallon, Lovelock, Winnemucca and Elko, Nevada. It will make a positive and significant socioeconomic contribution to Churchill County, providing direct employment for an additional 61 persons. Environmental impact will be negligible, involving mostly a moderate increase in local truck traffic and railroad siding activity. The report is presented in two volumes. Volume 1 deals with the technical design aspects of the plant. The second volume addresses the issue of expanded geothermal heat production at Brady's Hot Springs, goes into the details of feedstock supply economics, and looks at the markets for the plant's primary ethanol product, and the markets for its feed supplement by-products. The report concludes with an analysis of the economic viability of the proposed project.
- Research Organization:
- Geothermal Food Processors, Inc., Fernley, NV (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG07-80RA50354
- OSTI ID:
- 5985734
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/RA/50354-T1-Vol.1; ON: DE82003805
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Subsurface Characterization and Machine Learning Predictions at Brady Hot Springs Results
Geothermal vegetable dehydration at Brady`s Hot Springs, Nevada
Related Subjects
15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
ETHANOL
PRODUCTION
ETHANOL PLANTS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
GEOTHERMAL PROCESS HEAT
ANIMAL FEEDS
AVAILABILITY
BARLEY
BIOMASS CONVERSION PLANTS
BY-PRODUCTS
DESIGN
DISTILLATION
DISTILLERS DRIED GRAINS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FERMENTATION
MAIZE
MARKET
NEVADA
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
ALCOHOLS
BIOCONVERSION
CEREALS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY
FOOD
GRAMINEAE
GRASS
HEAT
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
PROCESS HEAT
SEPARATION PROCESSES
USA
WESTERN REGION
090222* - Alcohol Fuels- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass- (1976-1989)
140504 - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)
151000 - Geothermal Energy- Direct Energy Utilization