Hull Biorefinery

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Nombre / Name
Hull Biorefinery
Empresa / Company
Vivergo Fuels
Localización / Location
Saltend Chemicals Park, Hull (Reino Unido / United Kingdom)
Categoría / Category
Comercial / Commercial
Estado / Status
Operación / Running
Plataformas / Platform
Azúcares C6 / C6 Sugars
Materia prima / Feedstock
Cultivos ricos en almidón: trigo forrajero procedente de granjas locales de Yorkshire and Lincolnshire / Starch crops: Feed grade wheat sourced from local farmers across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
Producto / Product
Bioetanol y piensos / Bioethanol and animal feed
Puesta en marcha / Start-Up
Finales de 2012 (inauguración oficial: 8 de julio de 2013) / Late 2012 (official opening: 8 July 2013)

Figure 1. Hull biorefinery snapshot (extracted from Reference 1)

Vivergo Fuels se constituyó en 2007 para construir una planta a escala mundial de bioetanol a partir de trigo forrajero en Hull. Originalmente, era una “joint venture” entre AB Sugar, BP y DuPont pero Associated British Sugar cerró un acuerdo para hacerse con el 47% de las acciones de BP en mayo de 2015, convirtiéndose en el accionista mayoritario. Los trabajos de construcción mecánica en la obra comenzaron a finales de 2008. La instalación empezó a producir en el último trimestre del 2012 y alcanzó su plena capacidad en diciembre de 2014. La biorrefinería procesa 1,1 millón de toneladas al año de trigo forrajero procedente de granjas dentro de un radio de 50 millas. Vivergo Fuels was formed in 2007 to develop a world-scale wheat-fed bioethanol plant in Hull. Originally, it was a joint venture between AB Sugar, BP and DuPont but Associated British Sugar completed a deal to acquire BPs stake in May 2015, becoming the majority shareholder. The mechanical construction work began on site by the end of 2008. The facility started production in late 2012 and became fully operational in December 2014. The biorefinery processes 1.1 million tonnes/y of feed wheat from farms within a 50 mile radius.

El trigo se compone de almidón, proteína y fibra. En la planta de Vivergo, el almidón se usa para producir bioethanol y la proteína y la fibra para fabricar piensos. El proceso se lleva a cabo de cuatro etapas clave. Wheat is made up of starch, protein and fibre. At Vivergo plant, the starch is used to produce bioethanol and the protein and fibre to make animal feeds. The process is comprised of four key stages.
1. El molino / The mill
El trigo forrajero se lleva a la planta en camión. Los granos son analizados para comprobar su calidad y se vuelcan en uno de los seis silos del área de almacenamiento, cada uno de los cuales puede albergar 1.500 toneladas de grano. El área de molienda de trigo trabaja como un molino tradicional de harina. Una vez que el trigo se ha convertido en harina, se mezcla con agua para formar una papilla que, luego, se trata con vapor. En este punto, se añaden enzimas para ablandar la mezcla y convertir el almidón en azúcar (hidrólisis enzimática) antes de la fermentación alcohólica.
Feed wheat is brought to the site by truck. The grains are tested for quality and tipped into one of the six silos of the storage area, each of which can hold up to 1,500 tonnes of grain. The wheat milling area of the plant works in the same way as a traditional flour mill. Once the wheat has been milled into flour, it is mixed with water to form a slurry that is, then, cooked with steam. At this point, enzymes are added to thin the mixture and help convert the starch into sugar (enzymatic hydrolysis) before brewing.
2. La fermentación / The brewery
La fase de fermentación comienza con la adición de la levadura al producto de la etapa previa para transformar los azúcares del almidón de trigo en alcohol. Al final de cada ciclo de fermentación, se alcanza una concentración de alcohol del 12%. Las proteínas y las fibras permanecen suspendidas en la solución.
The brewing phase starts by adding yeast to the product of the previous stage to convert the sugars from wheat starch to alcohol. At the end of each fermentation cycle, an alcohol concentration of around 12% is achieved. Proteins and fibres remain suspended in the solution.
3. La destilería / The distillery
En primer lugar, el alcohol se separa de las proteínas y la fibra. En segundo lugar, el alcohol se concentra al 96% para ser posteriormente secado hasta alcanzar un 99,7%. Finalmente, el producto se envía a la zona de almacenamiento. El bioetanol es transportado hasta refinerías del Reino Unido o de Europa continental donde se mezcla con gasolina para su uso en vehículos con motores convencionales.
Firstly, the alcohol is separated from the proteins and fibre. Secondly, the alcohol is concentrated to 96% and further dried to 99.7%. Finally, the product is sent to storage. The bioetanol is transported to refineries around the UK or into mainland Europe where it is blended with regular petrol for use in conventional car engines.
4. La fábrica de piensos / The feed factory
Las proteínas y la fibra procedentes de la etapa de destilación son exprimidas para extraer el agua. El producto sólido todavía está relativamente húmedo. Posteriormente, es transferido a los secadores donde es secado y peletizado para obtener la mayor parte de los piensos. Una parte del producto no se envía a los secadores y se reserva deliberadamente para ser vendido en una forma húmeda o de jarabe. The proteins and the fibre from distillation stage are squeezed to remove most of the water. The solid product is still relatively moist. Subsequently, it is transferred to the dryers so that it can be dried and pelletised to form the majority of the animal feed product. Some of the solid product is deliberately not sent through the dryers so that it can be sold in a moist form or as a syrup feed. The animal feed products are stored in a large warehouse before being delivered to farms across the UK via truck (in some cases the same trucks that bring the wheat to the plant).

Datos de producción / Production data
Input 1: Grano de trigo / Wheat Grain
1,1 t/y
Output 1: Bioetanol / Bioethanol
420,000 m3/y
Output 2: Piensos ricos en proteínas / Protein-rich animal feed
500,000 t/y

_________________________________________________________________________________
REFERENCIAS / REFERENCES
1 vivergofuels.com (accessed on 27th February 2016).
2 www.absugar.com/Our-Group/vivergo (accessed on 27th February 2016).

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