Aventine Renewable Energy Inc.
Pekin, Illinois
Intern: Dwarakeswar Penubolu
Bradley University, Peoria
Aventine Renewable Energy Inc. produces fuel-grade ethanol from corn, using a wet-milling process. The Pekin facility produces 100 million gallons of ethanol a year. The intern worked on two major projects at this facility. One project involved the evaluation of a biogas as a substitute for natural gas. The other focused on repairing leaks in the compressed air system at the facility.
Results:
- Aventine is building a new anaerobic digester at its wastewater treatment plant. Methane biogas, which is a by-product of the digester, can be used as a fuel replacement for natural gas in certain applications at the facility. The savings in natural gas use would amount to over $900,000 a year. The intern recommended that a separate biogas handling system be installed for the new digester to handle the increased load. This system could also be utilized as a backup in the event one of the digesters is down for maintenance.
- The student used an ultrasonic detector to identify leaks in the compressed air systems. Once the leaks were identified, they were tagged for repair. Because the compressed air systems at the facility were not totally accessible, only one-quarter of the air lines were checked for leaks. The intern identified 77 leaks. Repairing these leaks could result in an energy savings of over $22,400 a year for the facility.
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