Cogeneration system utilizes waste gas from ethanol production.
Pacific Ethanol Inc., based in Sacramento, California, a producer and marketer of low-carbon renewable fuels, has announced an agreement with Houston-based Dresser-Rand to install a 3.5-megawatt cogeneration system with gradual oxidizer at its Stockton, California, plant for approximately $12 million.
The cogeneration system will displace purchased electricity by using Ener-Core’s gradual oxidizer technology to convert waste gas from ethanol production and natural gas into electricity and steam. With this technology, the plant will have among the lowest air emissions in the ethanol industry, Pacific Ethanol says. Ener-Core Inc., a manufacturer of gradual oxidizers based in Irvine, California, recently licensed Dresser-Rand Co. (DRC) to develop and market the DRC KG2-3GEF 2-megawatt gas turbine coupled with the Ener-Core oxidizer.
Neil Koehler, president and CEO of Pacific Ethanol, says, “the Stockton cogeneration system will replace most of the electricity we currently purchase from the grid and will reduce our energy costs by an estimated three to four million dollars per year. This system is one of the most advanced cogeneration systems on the market and will more efficiently deliver steam and electricity to the plant while lowering emissions. Rather than destroying waste gases, we will reuse them as a source of process energy, reducing costs and improving profitability.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Dresser-Rand will supply two 1.75-megawatt gas turbine generators with heat recovery steam generators and two gradual oxidizers that are manufactured by Ener-Core Inc. The combined system will replace the current use of thermal oxidizers. Pacific Ethanol expects the cogeneration system to be operational by the second-quarter of 2016.
