National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC)
Edwardsville, Illinois
Intern: Silas Osiohwo
Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
The National Corn-to Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) is a nonprofit research
center that has the only pilot facility in the world that fully emulates commercial
wet mill and dry grind fuel ethanol production plants.
The intern was tasked to minimize water use and wastewater generation at the
facility.
Results:
Flow rates must be determined for all unit operations to ensure water mass
balance is achieved. Flow meters are needed to measure all inputs of
city water, evaporator condensate, and CO2 scrubber water to ensure mass balance
is realized. The largest water consuming operation at the facility was
determined to be landscape irrigation while the greatest volume of wastewater
at the plant was generated as evaporator condensate. Additional plant trials
and water mass balances need to be conducted to verify the ability to reduce
water consumption and identify the feasibility to reuse wastewater generated
on site.
It was suggested that an employee training program should be implemented to
ensure all opportunities for water conservation are realized and fulfilled.
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