The 40 Hottest Technologies of 2018 – as voting gets underway, the nominees in depth
Whitefox ICE
What does it do, how does it work, who is it aimed at?
The stand-alone bolt-on Whitefox ICE solution treats existing recycle streams to free up distillation-dehydration capacity, reduce energy consumption by 1,000-2,500 BTU per gallon, cuts carbon emissions & cooling water demands. ICE can also increase plant capacity by up to 20%. ICE is aimed for fuel ethanol producers. It works via a collection of thousands of small capillary tubes made of a hydrophilic membrane. As a mix of ethanol & water vapor pass through these tubes, water is absorbed into the wall of the membrane & a slight vacuum pulls the water through the membranes in a continuous separation process. Ethanol is retained inside the membranes & exits as an extremely dry ethanol. ICE system directly dehydrates the molecular sieve regenerate stream (MSU regen) to US fuel grade rather than sending it back to the rectifier column.ICE dehydrates from 60-75 vol% ethanol through to 99.0 vol% in a single continuous pass with no regeneration of the membranes.
Competitively, what gives this technology an edge?
Whitefox ICE is a proven solution to improve molecular sieve & distillation efficiency. It helps reduce energy usage & boost production capacity. ICE system treats existing recycle streams to free up distillation-dehydration capacity, reduce energy by 1,000-2,500 BTU per gallon, cut carbon emissions & cooling demands, & increase a plant’s capacity by around 20% or so depending on system design. Benefits: Load reduction in molecular sieves & rectifier/side stripper; removes fluctuations in rectifier column from MSU regen stream, resulting in easier temperature control of distillation & improved overall plant stability; reduction in natural gas consumption by 1,000-2,500 BTU per gallon with potential for higher savings with further plant optimization; reduction of Cooling Water (CW) load rendering plant operation independent of ambient conditions over the hot summer months; plant can operate at higher capacities during summer; reduction in carbon intensity by about1 gCO2e/MJ per gallon.
What stage of development is this technology at right now?
Whitefox Technologies Limited provides solutions in the U.S., Canada, Europe and South America, having just signed an agreement to install its 8th Whitefox ICE, in the U.S.
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