The client, based in Brasil, has developed and patented an innovative process for the production of second-generation bioethanol (second-generation means that the feedstock is a by-product of the food and agricultural industry).
This is a key sector of the global market because it offers the possibility of finding alternative fuels to oil.
At a later stage, our partner installed a complete plant – including the dewatering phase – at a Brazilian company producing first and second generation bioethanol.
The customer involved Diemme® Filtration to overcome some challenges with the existing dewatering equipment, which could not meet the required performance. The close cooperation resulted in a positive outcome in terms of capacity and cake moisture.
An important factor was the dewatering of the suspension produced at the bottom of the distillation column, where the solids are mainly lignin. Achieving low cake moisture was an important advantage: this could be burned directly to generate electricity, avoiding a further drying step.
This resulted in significant savings in operating costs for the entire industrial plant.
