The Premier Facility for the Biorenewables Industry
The culmination of the NCERC experience is our Pilot Plant. Originally designed as a 3 gallons per minute corn-to-ethanol plant, the facility has been extensively modified and upgraded to handle everything from biofuels to biopolymers and beyond.At the heart of our operations is a Siemens Simatic PCS7 DCS running the latest software, seamlessly blending our equipment and hardware into control screens that are custom generated for each client. This allows our operators to look at exactly what’s needed to provide optimum results for your project.
At NCERC, we believe that coproducts are only part of the story. That’s why we have an extensive array of mass meters and sensors to provide comprehensive data on nearly every product stream and phase possible. With a mass balance capture that is second to none, there is no better place to generate the results you need to support your endeavor.
With decades of industry experience, our tireless team of engineers and operations staff will work with you to help design and select the optimum equipment for your process. We can make a significant difference in the outcome of our clients’ research including their return on investment. Contact us today to move your project one step closer to commercialization!
Capabilities
- Cereal Process Technologies (CPT) fractionation system that produces bran, germ and de-germed, de-branned corn (DDC)
- Ability to handle multiple feedstocks and blend simultaneously
- Multiple cook options with varying hold tube times
- Four 6,000-gallon, jacketed fermenters with robust agitation and eductors for solids sweeping
- Extensive array of offgas monitoring capabilities
- Vent condensers on fermenters to help preserve mass balances
- Capable of traditional and acetone, butanol, and ethanol fermentations
- Glycol cooled secondary exchangers for low temperature fermentations
- Positive pressure distillation unit with Degas, Beer, and Rectifier columns
- Multiple temperature elements throughout column trays
- Ability to produce ethanol or butanol with discreet loadout pumps for each
- Mole sieves capable of producing anhydrous quality ethanol
- Capable of filling drums, totes or tankers with ethanol
- Decanter centrifuge with differential, speed, and batch adjustments
- Plate and frame or shell and tube evaporation options
- Continuously fed rotary gas fired drum or steam powered ring dryer options
- Thermal oxidizer for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) mitigation
- Inline moisture analyzers for real-time data on dryers
