VOGELBUSCH Biocommodities GmbH - Bioethanol Plants

Vogelbusch is a major global player in the engineering and construction of bioethanol plants and has introduced many important improvements in ethanol process technology and design. The Vienna based bioprocess company has the state-of-the-art proprietary technology for every stage of the alcohol production process. Vogelbusch bioethanol plants are designed for outstanding yield and product quality, and are most advanced in terms of energy saving and environment protection.

BIOETHANOL - THE ALTERNATIVE FUEL

Environmental, agricultural and energy challenges have led to increasing interest in renewable energy sources, one of them being bioethanol.

Bioethanol is a readily available, clean fuel for combustion engines made from renewable feedstocks. It allows engines to more completely combust fuel - which benefits in cleaner emissions.

In application a distinction is made between hydrous and anhydrous ethanol. Hydrous ethanol (95% by volume) contains some water. It can be used directly as a gasoline substitute in cars with modified engines. Anhydrous (or dehydrated) ethanol is free of water and at least 99% pure. This ethanol can be blended with conventional fuel in proportions of between 5% and 85% (E85). Finally, bioethanol is also used to manufacture ETBE (ethyl-tertiary-butyl-ether), which can replace MTBE as a gasoline additive, for environmental reasons.

Basically alcohol, bioethanol is made from a variety of agricultural products - both starch plants (grain, mostly corn, and tubers like cassava) and sugar plants (sugar beet or sugar cane). Bioethanol is obtained using biological production technology, which is fermentation and subsequent enrichment by distillation/rectification and dehydration. These constitute the core technologies of Vogelbusch.

IN THE FOREFRONT OF BIOETHANOL KNOW HOW

Vogelbusch has been designing plants for fuel alcohol production since the 1970ies. The Austrian company has set the standard for alcohol technology for decades with innovations like the Vogelbusch Multicont© continuous fermentation process or the integration of distillation, evaporation and molecular sieve dehydration.

Reference plants all over the world are the proof of advanced and economic in-house technology. With a current base of bioethanol plants with a combined annual capacity of about 5 million tonnes of alcohol, Vogelbusch is the leading supplier of technology to the alcohol industry worldwide.

CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY

The Vogelbusch Multicont© continuous fermentation process was introduced to the USA as early as 1980 with resounding success. Since then, the process has been refined and is now considered the state-of-the-art technology for yeast fermentations.

The process consists of a pre-fermenter and - between four and seven - main fermenters in series. In the pre-fermenter, process conditions are adjusted to favour yeast growth by addition of nutrients and oxygen, while in the main fermentation tanks, alcohol increases in concentration as mash flows through the system. Final alcohol concentrations of over 12 vol per cent are regularly achieved and excellent yields are obtained.

The process lends itself to full automation and has considerably lower investment costs than older technologies.

A further innovation introduced by Vogelbusch is the integration of distillation, evaporation and molecular sieve dehydration. This combines minimal energy requirements with low capital costs. Heat integration in this proprietary system allows multiple effect evaporation to be driven by waste heat from distillation, while the condensation of the dehydrated alcohol vapour from the mole sieve provides the heat input for beer preheating.

Molecular sieve dehydration technology has replaced entrainer distillation and is now being successfully employed in other applications and the separation of various industrial chemicals.

These innovations and environmentally responsible designs, have contributed significantly to the success of the Vogelbusch fuel alcohol plants.

Vogelbusch - we make biotechnology work

Since 1921 Vogelbusch has been serving the bioprocess industry on a global turn-key basis with consulting, engineering and construction of plants for biocommodities (alcohol, yeast, vinegar, organic acids, sweeteners) and the biopharma sector. It has offices in Austria, Hong Kong and USA.