ICE work as dehydration system powers ahead

Southwest Iowa Renewable Fuels (SIRE) has passed 250 days of operating the Whitefox ICE membrane dehydration system at its plant in Iowa.
The start‐up in September 2019 in Council Bluffs was Whitefox’s third last year.
Now Whitefox has completed its eighth installation in the US and its second installation in Iowa.
The first ICE installation in the leading ethanol producing state was at Pine Lake Corn Processors in Steamboat Rock.
SIRE CEO Mike Jerke said: “We’ve had a lot of highlights at SIRE in the past year, and the Whitefox project has been one of them.
“The combination of benefits improves our plant operations and efficiency, and helps SIRE provide more value to the community and our shareholders. SIRE is in our best position ever to move forward and efficiently meet the demand for ethanol driven by increased use of higher blends.”
The Whitefox ICE system treats existing recycle streams to free up distillation‐dehydration capacity, enabling SIRE and other producers to lower natural gas use by over 1,000 BTU/ gallon.
This cuts carbon emissions, improves plant cooling and increases potential production capacity by 20% or more depending on the system design.
Whitefox ICE is integrated into existing corn ethanol production plants with minimal disruption and a small footprint.
Paul, Kamp, Whitefox VP of business development, added: “SIRE has always been a plant with a unique vision for innovation and a strategic location. Working closely together with the SIRE plant team on project execution was a great experience and results are top notch.
Together we achieved the initial target objectives for reduced steam use and higher production capacity potential. Almost immediately after start‐up, their engineers and operators dialled‐in improvements and BTU reductions across distillation and dehydration.”