INSIDE: TAPPING ETHANOL PLANTS FOR CORN OIL FEEDSTOCK
November 2006
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By Holly Jessen
Recognizing crossover synergies, New York-based GS CleanTech is tapping the U.S.
ethanol industry for corn oil that it plans to route into biodiesel production. It has already
got a handful of ethanol producers on board and three biodiesel plants in the works.
46 BIODIESEL MAGAZINE November 2006
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n the renewable fuels business, “blend-
I ing” is a word used to describe the mix-
ing of fuels—biodiesel with diesel,
ethanol with gasoline—but as one U.S. com-
pany is demonstrating, it’s not just fuels that
can be blended, but industries themselves.
Indeed, GS CleanTech Corp. saw the
potential for synergies between the ethanol
and biodiesel industries, and developed
technology to capitalize on it. According to
Kevin Kreisler, chairman and CEO of the
majority-owned publicly traded company,
GS CleanTech offers a commercial pathway
to create additional ethanol plant revenue
through the extraction of a relatively novel
biodiesel production feedstock—corn oil.
Formerly known as Veridium Corp., GS
CleanTech is the process engineering tech-
nology transfer arm of GreenShift Corp.,
which has its corporate offices in New York.
GreenShift has made a name for itself in the
renewable fuels business by aggressively This is the base design for the GS CleanTech Corn Oil Extraction System.
developing clean technologies and support-
ing and companies that facilitate the efficient company statements, the company aims to corn fractionation, for example, there are
use of natural resources. The young corpo- generate $14 million to $18 million in annu- significantly lower capital costs and no
ration has already acquired about a dozen al revenue from selling corn oil produced at design changes needed, Kreisler says. “We
technologies that fit the plan, and one of U.S. ethanol plants. “Our plans moving for- can literally plug and play into existing or
those is GS CleanTech’s trademarked Corn ward are to remain relentlessly focused on new production with little, if any, upset to
Oil Extraction System. The technology deploying our integrated multi-fuel technol- ongoing routine operations,” he says.
removes the fat, or corn oil, from a dry-mill ogy … in the ethanol production industry,” GS CleanTech offers ethanol producers
ethanol plant’s “thin stillage”—the precursor Kreisler tells Biodiesel Magazine. a couple of options. An ethanol plant could
to the distillers grains coproduct produced simply purchase the process technology and
in the ethanol distillation process. This mate- Practically Pairing equipment outright and sell its oil for going
rial is heated and spun in a centrifuge to pull Ethanol producers using the system market prices, or it could opt to have GS
out the corn oil. With nearly all of the oil could increase their annual revenues by 3.5 CleanTech finance and build a turnkey oil
removed, a more protein-concentrated form percent, Kreisler says. Currently, DDG is extraction system on-site in exchange for the
of distillers grains is produced. only worth about 3.5 cents per pound, rights to purchase the plant’s oil at a discount.
While conventional ethanol production Kreisler says. The 2 pounds of corn oil that GS CleanTech plans to sell the corn oil
methods produce about ethanol, 18 pounds can be extracted from the 18 pounds of to its sister company, GS AgriFuels, which
of distillers dried grains (DDG) and 18 DDG produced from a bushel of corn can is in the process of developing three
pounds of carbon dioxide, from one bushel bring in 12 cents to 17 cents per pound. A biodiesel plants to process the corn oil.
(approximately 54 pounds) of corn, GS typical 50 MMgy ethanol plant will be able This summer, Cornell Capital Partners
CleanTech’s Corn Oil Extraction System to produce 3 MMgy of corn oil, valued at an invested about $22 million in GreenShift and
can pull out two pounds of corn oil from estimated $2.7 million to $3.8 million. The two of its subsidiaries, GS CleanTech and
that same bushel of feedstock, leaving ethanol producer would also benefit from GS AgriFuels, according to Troy Rillo, man-
behind 16 pounds of a higher-protein ani- the lower operating costs of drying smaller aging director of Cornell Capital Partners.
mal feed, Kreisler says. amounts of distillers grains, in turn lowering Part of that investment will be used to build
Here’s the rub. GS CleanTech sets up plant emissions, Kreisler says. one of the biodiesel production facilities
contracts to buy the corn oil from ethanol The extraction system can be installed being developed by GS AgriFuels. The com-
plants that use its extraction technology. In at an ethanol plant with minimal permitting pany has a “heavy interest” in investing in
turn, the plans to funnel the oil into its own or infrastructure alterations. Compared with the renewable energy and clean technology
processing venture. According to recent
November 2006 BIODIESEL MAGAZINE 47
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An additional pretreatment step was recently added to
the GS CleanTech Corn Oil Extraction System. The
extra step helps to bump up yields for a 50 MMgy
ethanol plant from 1 MMgy to 1.5 MMgy.
processes that GreenShift companies have
to offer, Rillo says. Cornell Capital Partners’
investment in GreenShift allows it to be
involved in the corn-to-ethanol market and
the biodiesel market.
GS AgriFuels’ corn oil-based biodiesel
production facilities will be small-scale
modular plants, with production starting at
5 MMgy to 10 MMgy and later ramping up
to 30 MMgy to 40 MMgy. The plants will
be built in Memphis, Tenn., and within and
around New York.
GS AgriFuels will be the first compa-
ny to use corn oil for biodiesel production
of any magnitude, and it’s committed to
producing a high-quality, consistent prod-
uct that meets the ASTM specification for
biodiesel. Kreisler admits that converting
corn oil to biodiesel comes with certain
process and economic challenges.
However, a considerable amount of
research and development has led company
officials to believe no major obstacle stands
in their way. “We’re already there for corn
oil biodiesel,” Kreisler says.
It’s not enough for the company to
produce biodiesel that just meets the
ASTM D 6751 spec; it wants to exceed the
perimeters. The company is refining some
aspects of the process design that will be
implemented at future GS AgriFuels facili-
ties. These changes may include some
process tweaks and additions, Kreisler says.
Like most other U.S. producers and future
producers, the company maintains as part
of its governing philosophy that producing
the highest quality, most consistent
biodiesel product is critical to market
growth and sustainability.
Efficiency is also important to GS
48 BIODIESEL MAGAZINE November 2006
FEEDSTOCK
AgriFuels, and that’s prompted the company
to focus on collocating future biodiesel
plants with ethanol plants. Kreisler envisions
When Your Mission
a day when a 50 MMgy ethanol plant, with Is To Keep The
the GS CleanTech’s proprietary Corn Oil
Extraction System, can produce 3 MMgy of
Biodiesel Revolution
biodiesel from corn oil produced on-site, Moving Forward...
and then sell the biofuel locally. “I just think
It’s good to know the global
it makes for a more holistic, more efficient,
leader in biodiesel flow solutions.
more compelling economic model than put-
ting it on a truck, a railcar or barge, and With more than 100 years of
transporting it half a country away or half a proven expertise and leadership
state away for production … ,” he says. in moving vegetable oils,
In addition to its plans to develop pro- detergents, oleo-chemicals and
duction facilities, GS AgriFuels announced petrodiesel, Blackmer pumps
in mid-October that it has an agreement in are the natural choice for all
place to purchase 100 percent of the stock
your biodiesel flow applications.
of NextGen Fuel Inc., a company that pro-
duces modular continuous-flow biodiesel For production, processing,
process equipment that can handle multiple pretreatment, blending, glycerin
feedstocks, according to a press release. recovery and transport transfers,
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Successful Sign-Up performance and reliability unlike
After more than a year and a half of any other.
work, GS CleanTech’s plan to bring its
patent-pending Corn Oil Extraction System ■ Designed for B2 through B100
to the ethanol industry is starting to pay off. ■ Superior suction/lift capabilities
The company has signed agreements with for UST applications
seven ethanol plants and one animal pro- ■ Highly efficient design, so
cessing facility. In total, these agreements
you can save fuel while
represent the capacity to extract 22.5 MMgy
making fuel
of biodiesel feedstocks, Kreisler says.
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liquid handling
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Out of the more than 5 billion gallons of
ethanol currently produced in the United
States, 4 billion is from corn dry mills. In
all, there’s about 350 MMgy of corn oil
not currently being recovered from
those dry-mill facilities.
In October, the company announced for biodiesel production, according to
the installation of the first stage of its David Winsness, president and COO of
extraction system at Little Sioux Corn GS CleanTech and a co-inventor of the
Processors LP, a 52 MMgy ethanol plant in Corn Oil Extraction System. Out of the
Marcus, Iowa. Also, Glacial Lakes Energy more than 5 billion gallons of ethanol cur-
LLC, a 47 MMgy plant in Watertown, S.D., rently produced in the United States, 4 bil-
had a portion of the GS CleanTech system lion is from corn dry mills. In all, there’s
in place at press time. Three other ethanol about 350 MMgy of corn oil not currently
facilities, each with capacities in the 40 being recovered from those dry-mill facili-
MMgy to 50 MMgy range, have also signed ties, Winsness says.
up. Corn Oil Extraction Systems are cur- The company’s predominant focus is
rently being built for Adkins Energy LLC on the corn-to-ethanol industry, Kreisler
in Lena, Ill., and Utica Energy LLC in explains. However, it is open to other
Oshkosh, Wis., while the system for a third options as well, such as additional animal
ethanol plant, Golden Grain Energy LLC processing facilities.
in Mason City, Iowa, should be under con- Another possible target is industrial
struction in the first quarter of 2007. In wastewater transfer stations and municipal
addition, a producer with an ethanol proj- sewage treatment facilities. Without any
ect under construction in Illinois has also development necessary, GS CleanTech
agreed to work with GS CleanTech. The extraction technology could be used to
confidential contract calls for eight extrac- extract yellow, brown and black grease at
tion systems to be installed in 2007 and these facilities, even though they are
2008 for a total of about 12 MMgy of corn “somewhat nastier from a processing
oil extraction. Additional details about the standpoint,” Kreisler says.
project were unavailable at press time. There are also additional technologies
Corn oil isn’t the only feedstock that that GS CleanTech wants to bring to mar-
GS CleanTech plans to use at its biodiesel ket. Gasification of distillers grains to create
production facilities. An Arkansas-based syngas, is one, Kreisler says. Using about 20
poultry processing facility has executed an percent to 25 percent of its defatted dis-
agreement with GS CleanTech to use its tillers grains, a 50 MMgy ethanol plant can
technology to extract 1.5 MMgy of animal produce enough heat and power on-site to
fat from the sludge coming out of a waste- take the plant off the power grid. The
water treatment facility, Kreisler says. In the remaining 75 percent of the syngas from
past, the animal processing facility paid to DDG can be used to create additional bio-
have the wastewater taken away for a fertil- mass or biomass-derived synthetic diesel.
izer application. “We can reduce their dis- For more information, check out GS
posal costs by roughly 80 percent,” he says. CleanTech’s Web site at www.gs-
GS CleanTech continues to be on the cleantech.com or GreenShift’s Web site at
lookout for more biodiesel feedstock www.greenshift.com.
sources, Kreisler says.
There are several possibilities within Holly Jessen is a Biodiesel Magazine staff
writer. Reach her at hjessen
the ethanol industry for extracting corn oil
@bbibiofuels.com or (701) 746-8385.
50 BIODIESEL MAGAZINE November 2006