It should come as no surprise that ICM Inc. has made its Advanced Processing Package system—an innovative suite of bolt-on technology systems for ethanol plants looking to diversify revenue streams and lower carbon intensity (CI) scores—seem so simple. The Kansas-based ethanol process technology pioneer first unveiled its APP system in 2019. Since then, multiple ethanol plants have acquired APP and are currently in various stages of implementation. Adam Anderson, director of sales at ICM, has played a major role in educating the industry on the system. When asked what he and his team have learned from ethanol clients since they’ve started to use or implement portions of it, his response was quick. “It’s a pretty simple answer. The system has gone over well,” he says. “Most are blown away by the simplicity of it. They are blown away by the robustness of the design.”&nbsp; Advanced Technology, Flexible Investment&nbsp; The trademarked APP system includes four patented and patent-pending technologies necessary to efficiently produce the trademarked PROTOMAX, a yeast-enriched 50-percent protein animal feed, and either traditional DDGS or SOLBRAN, a trademarked high-energy animal feed. PROTOMAX gives ethanol plants an entrance into new markets. Because of its higher protein numbers and lower fiber content in proportion of protein to fat, it can actually replace portions of soybean meal and corn in poultry and swine diets. It can even be used in aquaculture (i.e., fish food) and some forms of pet food. Chuck Gallop, director of innovation for ICM, says his team took a very focused look at the traditional ethanol plant and tried to optimize each step needed to produce the advanced animal feed options. “We wanted to fractionate components out at each step,” he explains. In some instances, they wanted to reduce water requirements, or heat or grinding and milling techniques. The result of the team’s work is a system that not only creates various feed components, but diversified revenue streams as well. Through the process, an ethanol plant with the full system installed can produce fiber, protein, enhanced protein with yeast and solubles. The clean piles can be combined in many ways to design customized feed products for different animals. The full system relies on four technology upgrades. First, the process uses ICM designed Selective Milling Technology, or SMT. The tech deploys additional front-end rollers to produce right-sized particles for easier downstream separation. Then, using its Fiber Separation Next Gen tech, the system removes fiber from the process stream before fermentation, creating a clean pile of bran. With its Feed Optimization Tech, the next and third step, the process stream undergoes two phases of separation, resulting in a liquid stream and protein. Lastly, the liquid stream enters the Thin Stillage Solids Separation System, which separates solubles and enhanced protein with yeast. After that, a custom-engineered conveyor system can be used to combine the separated feed components to make final products which can be dried using a plant’s existing rotary dryers. The advanced system isn’t just about producing a unique animal feed stream. Gallop and his team focused on reducing the amount of tech needed in the system and making sure everything was right-sized along the way. “We wanted the technologies to be familiar,” he says. “The more we can make it familiar, the easier it is to adapt to existing ethanol plants.” To make an investment in APP easier on the balance sheet, ICM designed it so certain portions of the system can be installed at different times. The “stepwise process intensification,” facilitates flexible investment management. In addition to making the system easy to operate and easy to invest in, Gallop and his team wanted to make it easy to see the role APP can play in CI score reduction efforts. According to Anderson, the ethanol industry has become extremely focused on CI reduction. “In the environment we are in right now,” he says, “I don’t foresee the ethanol industry investing in something that hampers their CI score. So, the fact that we are allowing diversification of the feed and reduction in CI score is huge.” The combined efficiencies of the APP tech bunch can reduce natural gas usage by up to 12 percent. Using the solid-liquid separation tech, a reduction in the hydraulic load on dryers also happens. Lowering operational costs and making the entire plant more efficient is also an attribute of the system, something that Gallop says comes standard with any ICM effort. Because the fiber is removed before fermentation, maintenance and chemical use goes down. And, protein production doesn’t require downtime outside of a plant’s scheduled shutdown.&nbsp; Advancing Your Ethanol Plant Gallop and his team of innovators look at plants holistically. “We have to pay attention to every change we make, whether it’s mechanical or secondary. We also understand the base plant better than anyone else.” The APP setup works for what Gallop describes as one of two options. Because there are roughly two different size plants (a 50 MMgy base and a 100 MMgy base) that have most likely added some capacity, one APP setup is needed for a 70 to 80 MMgy plant capacity range. For plants over that, up to 160 MMgy, two APP set-ups are needed. “It is the same equipment,” Gallop says. “It’s just one versus two of them.” In terms of timing, Anderson says the buildout of a system is roughly 12 months. In some cases that might be extended due to issues with steel supply or electrical equipment and automation parts. The footprint of a plant might change, but it depends on the design of the plant and the base technology already there. “We do like to treat everyone and their individual system uniquely,” he says. His team does initial base engineering work to determine client needs and demands. “The plant is going to change,” Anderson says. “It will become a more sophisticated plant.” Part of that change comes from subtraction. Protease will be taken out and not needed. On the backend of the plant where the feed comes out, it will become a more advanced system that includes quality control for handling and storage. Although the main markets for the feed product will typically be cattle and dairy, there are swine, poultry and now aquaculture buyers as well. Anderson says his team has been working with customers and their feed marketing groups to educate them on what the new feed options are, and where they can get top dollar for the product. “It allows our customers to get the maximum value of the feed,” he says. The strength of the entire system, apart from the CI score-reduction aspect, is that users can fractionate the distillers grain piles, Gallop says. “It allows you to put them back together as a feeder and use them best.”&nbsp; Plants Installing or Already Using APP Since the system first rolled out in 2019, several ethanol facilities have began work to install the APP, in full or in part. Corn LP, a 72 MMgy plant in Goldfield, Iowa, is now working with ICM to install APP, which will allow the plant to produce high-protein feed (PROTOMAX 50%), along with increasing ethanol sales and lowering its operating costs. In its second-quarter company newsletter, the leadership team outlined its strategic decision to partner with ICM and install the APP system. “This project opens the door for feed sales, and Gold-Eagle, (Corn LP’s parent company), is already working with feed customers to market this new product.” Corn LP’s project should be operational in the first half of 2023. Another plant, Cardinal Ethanol, in Union City, Indiana (140 MMgy), is also installing APP. The company broke ground in 2022. Jeremy Herlyn, plant manager of Cardinal Ethanol, toured an ICM facility to see the APP system in action. When the team signed an agreement with ICM to install the full system last February, Herlyn said that the system would allow Cardinal to utilize much of its own setup, including dryers, to produce high-protein feed. “The integration is more efficient, providing natural gas reduction and requiring less equipment compared to other options,” Herlyn said. Jeff Painter, president and CEO of Cardinal, said the work with ICM would be a great opportunity to diversify products, enter new markets and get a new technology that has long-term viability. Lincolnland Agri-Energy has also added the full capabilities of APP. The Illinois producer already had the SMT from ICM installed (since 2012). Eric Moseby, general manager of Lincolnland, also toured an ICM facility to see APP in action. “We knew the APP package was the best choice for us after experiencing firsthand the ease of operation and verifying the high quality of the feed products,” Moseby said. The first installation of APP happened in Kansas in 2020 at the Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy LLC plant, now known as Amber Wave. The general manager of the plant at the time said that they recognized that diversifying the plant’s product offerings was key to revenue growth. The system gave them the chance to add higher-value animal feed to its product offerings and enter new markets.&nbsp; Most APP users chose the system for its ROI on the feed, according to Anderson. But, when the team shows the payback and how the system works to produce more gallons, grind more corn, recover more corn oil and use less natural gas, there is a strong interest in those benefits as well, he says. On the innovation side, Gallop and his team are looking at ways to account for more variation in the feedstock so they can really dial in the system. They are also looking at all the ways to reduce the use of natural gas or change certain sections to run on electricity. Much of what they are accomplishing on the feed side happens in conjunction with an eye towards CI score. As for the feed, the main reason many plants install the system, results come quick. With the system installed, the feed pile can be altered at the speed of business. “We can move things and influence the end feed product composition,” Gallop says, “within a matter of hours [after installation].”&nbsp; Author: Luke Geiver Contact: <a href="mailto:editor@bbiinternational.com">editor@bbiinternational.com</a>Printed in the June 2023 issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine

2023-05-11 - Going for Gold (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

The trademarked PROTOMAX yeast-enriched 50-percent protein feed produced through ICM's APP technology gives ethanol plants a lane into new markets. Because of its higher protein and lower fiber content, it can replace portions of soybean meal and cor

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 ICM's APP tech deploys additional front-end rollers to produce right-sized particles for easier downstream separation. Then, using its Fiber Separation Next Gen tech (middle), the system removes fiber (right) from the process stream before fermentat

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Producers installing APP systems appreciate the ability to integrate their existing equipment with the package, including rotary dryers like this one, which play a role in finishing each individual product stream, or in drying customized blends to sp

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Ethanol plants with the full APP system installed can produce different product streams including PROTOMAX (50% protein, left), and DDGS or SOLBRAN (high-energy feed, right), which can be marketed on their own or combined in unique ways to design cus

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From CI-score reduction to back-end feed ROI, a growing number of ethanol plants are in pursuit of the multi-part benefits of ICM's trademarked Advanced Processing Package. It should come as no surprise that ICM Inc. has made its Advanced Processing Package system—an innovative suite of bolt-on technology systems for ethanol plants looking to diversify revenue streams and lower carbon intensity (CI) scores—seem so simple. The Kansas-based ethanol process technology pioneer first unveiled its APP system in 2019. Since then, multiple ethanol plants have acquired APP and are currently in various stages of implementation.

Going for Gold

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