SEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory Cincinnati OH 45268 Research and Development EPA-600/S7-82-018 August 1982 Project Summary Source Test and Evaluation Report: Alcohol Facility for Gasohol Production R. M. Scarberry, M. P. Papai, and Mary Ann Braun This study defines the requirements for environmental sampling and analysis of alcohol-producing facilities capable of supporting a Gasohol industry and applies these requirements to the environmental characterization of an alcohol plant. This document includes a conceptual design of a grain alcohol plant using a coal-fired boiler that is projected to be typical of future plants which will support a Gaso- hol industry. Environmental control op- tions are also discussed based on a com- parison of alcohol plant stream composi- tions with environmental regulations. The results of this study provide prelimi- nary information on the environmental consequences of large-scale fermenta- tion ethanol plants which will provide alcohol for Gasohol. This Project Summary was developed by EPA's Industrial Environmental Re- search Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, to announce key findings of the research project that is fully documented in a sep- arate report of the same title (see Project Report ordering information at back). Introduction Ethanol has been used as a fuel mixed with gasoline or alone as early as the 1930s. Before World War II, over 4 mil- lion cars ran on alcohol fuels. The market for alcohol fuels, however, diminished as gasoline became inexpensive and plentiful. A systematic investigation of large-scale use of alcohol as a gasoline substitute began only with the advent of the energy crunch in 1 973. Today the term Gasohol has been coined to describe a blend of 90 percent unleaded gasoline and 10 percent agri- culturally derived ethanol, although ethanol can be used in concentrations up to 20 percent in gasoline without carbu- retor modification. Alcohol is an attrac- tive alternative liquid fuel, since it can be synthesized from renewable biomass sources. As a near-term gasoline substi- tute, ethanol can help alleviate the oil im- port problem and reduce the balance of trade deficit while providing a market for farm surpluses or wood and wood residues. Many political and economic factors favor the development of a gaso- hol industry; however, some uncertain- ties that exist about the industry should be investigated. One of these is the envi- ronmental impact of large-scale alcohol- producing facilities. Radian Corporation has conducted a program to define requirements for envi- ronmental sampling and analysis of alco- hol-producing facilities that are develop- ing to support a Gasohol industry and has applied these requirements to the environmental characterization of an alcohol plant. This program was carried out under Work Directive S1003 of EPA Contract No. 68-03-2667. Four interim reports were previously submitted to EPA under this project. The objectives of this program are to define the requirements for environmen- tal sampling and analysis of alcohol- producing facilities that are developing to support a Gasohol industry and to ap- ply these requirements to a demonstrated sampling and analysis effort at a selected alcohol plant. ------- Approach To address the first objective, the de- termination of sampling and analytical requirements for facilities capable of providing alcohol for Gasohol, the fol- lowing tasks were conducted: • Task 1 - Data collection; • Task 2 - Process evaluation; • Task 3 - Review of environmental regulations; and • Task 4 - Assessment of control tech- nology and requirements. In the first task, state-of-the-art tech- nology was summarized to identify com- mercial or pilot plant facilities typical of those that would support a Gasohol industry. Information on ethanol and methanol processes utilizing a variety of biomass materials was collected, and a bibliography containing the sources of information for this task was assembled. It was submitted as the first interim report for this program. To address the second task, the infor- mation gathered on alcohol technology was assessed to identify several existing alcohol beverage plants which employ processing steps similar to those which might be utilized in future alcohol fuel plants. Flow diagrams, processing steps, mass balances, and emissions sources were identified for these plants. These data were presented in a second interim report. A detailed mass and energy balance for an alcohol fuel plant considered to be typical of future alcohol facilities supporting a Gasohol industry, also presented in the interim report, has been updated and included in Section 3 of the full report. Task 3 consisted of a review of federal and state environmental regulations that might be applicable to fermentation ethanol facilities. This information is pre- sented in Section 4 of the full report. In Task 4, a comparison of the envi- ronmental regulations identified in Task 3 with alcohol stream compositions was conducted to define the environmental control requirements necessary for com- pliance. A discussion of this analysis and designation of the probable control tech- nologies to be implemented are presented in Section 5 of the full report. To conduct the sampling and analysis of an alcohol plant, the second objective of this program, a site-specific sampling plan, was formulated based on the sam- pling and analytical requirements deter- mined in the previous tasks. These sam- pling requirements and a test plan con- stituted the fourth interim report of this program and are presented in Sections 6 and 7 of the full report. A brief discussion of the sampling trip (which highlights any deviations made in the test plan during sampling and analy- sis) is included in Section 8 of the full report. The results and conclusions from the sample analyses are presented in Section 2 of the full report. Conclusions and Recommendations The sampling and analytical require- ments for the environmental characteri- zation of an ethanol-producing facility include: • A quantification of the pollutants present in effluent streams such as pesticides, ammonia, benzene, and metals in the solid waste streams and by-products; solids, organics, metals, pH, pesticides and benzene in the liquid effluents; and criteria pollutants, hydrocarbons, and ben- zene in the air emissions. • A determination of the effective- ness of environmental control mod- ules such as condensers on distil- lation columns and vacuum lines; cyclones, scrubbers, or other mechanical collectors on stacks or dryer exhausts; and biological treat- ment on distillery wastewaters. • A characterization of selected inter- nal process streams to determine the fate of pesticides or benzene losses in an alcohol plant. It was determined that: • Alcohol facilities might cause envi- ronmental problems from the dis- charge of liquid effluents or air emis- sions if these streams are not pro- perly treated or controlled. • Untreated distillery wastewaters are acidic and high in biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and sus- pended solids (SS). • Uncontrolled exhausts from by- product distiller's dried grain (DDG) dryers are high in particulate loading. • NOX, SO2 and particulate emissions from fuel oil or coal combustion for steam generation can be a major en- vironmental problem at an alcohol plant. • Solid waste streams, which can be eliminated through recycle and in- clusion in the by-products, pose no serious environmental problems, as they are innocuous. The conclusions listed below are based on the analytical results obtained from the environmental characterization of an alcohol plant: Solid Wastes and By-Products • The analysis of benzene, pesticides, and ammonia in the DDG, animal feed, and biosludge streams revealed that no major environmental prob- lems would be associated with the discharge or utilization of solid wastes from this alcohol plant due to the presence of these compounds. • Pesticides identified on feedstock grains were apparently destroyed during feedstock preparation (i.e., cooking) as no traces of pesticides were found in the solid wastes or wastewater effluent streams. Wastewaters • Dissolved solids (DS), the major con- tributor to total solids (TS), came from the makeup city water and well water, not the fermentation process. • Barometric condensate, evaporator condensate, and fermenter wash water were the only significant sources of suspended solids (SS) at the alcohol plant. • Benzene does not appear to be a ma- jor wastewater problem for this facility, which employs a benzene dehydration unit, as it was detected at levels less than 60 ppb in the wastewater. • All wastewater streams from fer- mentation and distillation were acid- ic; they could be an environmental problem if not neutralized before discharge. • Extended aeration and clarification reduced high concentrations of sus- pended solids (SS), BOD, COD, total organic carbon (TOO, and ammonia in the wastewater from this distiller to acceptable discharge levels. • The plant records for this alcohol plant show that excursions in the biological treatment system may occur due to occasional spills or me- chanical problems. Additional aera- tion facilities or equalization basins can be employed to avoid the dis- charge of poorly treated waste- waters due to upsets in the current system. • Most of the 14 priority pollutants detected at very low levels (less than 40 ppb) in the wastewaters from this facility were found to be contaminants from equipment or ------- the on-site laboratory and not prod- ucts or by-products of alcohol pro- duction. • Total solids (TS) concentration in the bottoms from the solvent ex- tractor, rectifier, fusel oil column, stripping column, and dehydration column were very low due to up- stream removal in the beer still. Air Emissions • Condensers, the only pollution abate- ment devices for hydrocarbons on the vent lines, provided adequate control for hydrocarbon emissions. • Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emission levels were low, as ex- pected for a facility using natural gas. Combustion of fuel oil or coal could present greater environmen- tal problems. • The analysis for particulate emissions from the cyclones on the dryers showed this facility to be in compli- ance. However, particulate emis- sions have a high potential to be an environmental problem for alcohol plants which dry their by-product grains or use coal or No. 6 fuel oil for steam generation. It must be emphasized that the above conclusions are based on a single envi- ronmental characterization. Additional sampling and analysis should be con- ducted at other plant sites to confirm these initial conclusions. Recommendations Recommendations for further research to ensure that alcohol plants supporting the Gasohol industry pose no major envi- ronmental problems include: (1) Gas chromatography/mass spec- troscopy (GC/MS) analysis of pes- ticide levels in the flash cooler con- densate and the feed stream to the fermenter to confirm the fate of pesticides in alcohol synthesis; (2) environmental characterization of other distilleries which utilize differ- ent feedstocks, processing equip- ment, fuel sources, and waste- water treatment methods; (3) evaluation of other pollution con- trol technologies to control emis- sions and effluents; (4) performance of area monitoring for hydrocarbons to determine worker safety information; and (5) analysis for priority pollutant metals for the by-product stream to determine whether these spe- cies could concentrate when land- farmed or landspread. R. M. Scarberry and M. P. Papal are with Radian Corp., McLean, VA 22102; the EPA author Mary Ann Braun (also the EPA Project Officer, see below) is with the Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH 45268. The complete report, entitled "Source Test and Evaluation Report: Alcohol Facility for Gasohol Production." (Order No. PB 82-237 041; Cost: $16.50. subject to change) will be available only from: National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 Telephone: 703-487-4650 The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at: Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Cincinnati, OH 45268 ft US.GOVERNMENTPfllNTINQOFFICE. 1Mi-559-017/0805 ------- United States Environmental Protection Agency Center for Environmental Research Information Cincinnati OH 45268 Postage and Fees Paid Environmental Protection Agency EPA 335 Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300 RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED PS 0000329 0 S ENVIR PROTECTION KEUION 5 LI8RAHY 230 S DEARBORN STREET CHICAGO It 60604 ------- |