Cargill JV to install FQPT's systems

SJC Bioenergia, a joint venture between Cargill and Group USJ, has purchased equipment Fluid Quip Process Technologies to integrate corn ethanol production at its sugarcane ethanol facility located in Quirinopolis, Brazil.

SJC Bioenergia will utilise FQPT's SGT milling, BOS front-end corn oil, Fiber Separation, and MSC Protein Recovery technologies. The combined patented and patent-pending systems produce a corn based starch slurry stream which gives high yields of ethanol and co-products while allowing the sugarcane mill to utilise existing fermentation, distillation, and evaporation.

All of the technologies are in full-scale operation at various corn ethanol plants in the US. The SJC system will be the first co-location (cane and corn) to remove corn fiber before fermentation making the switch over from cane to corn seamless throughout the crop year.

'This is a very exciting development for sugarcane ethanol industry,' says John Kwik, president of FQPT. 'Currently these facilities only operate during the cane growing season. The FQPT system allows a facility to blend a corn starch feedstock into the plant while running sugarcane, thus allowing the plant operating capacity to be maximised year-round with the added benefit of the co-product revenue streams which are significant,' adds Kwik.

The full system is currently under construction and scheduled for startup December 2015.