DAVENPORT, Neb. (DTN) -- A Nebraska company that is manufacturing a distillers grains-based plastic resin enhancer will begin phase one of production at their facility in Laurel, Neb., soon.
Laurel BioComposite, LLC, is producing Bio-Res, the company's patented bio-material. It uses dried distillers grains which are made into a dry-ground product that is pelleted and mixed with polypropylene or polyethylene, the two most widely used resin systems. Thermal plastics cover about 50% of the plastic industry. The product is a light-colored material that can be used in a variety of colored plastics well suited for such applications as shipping, lawn and garden, agriculture and automotive industries.
The company is just finishing construction of a new 12,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, according to Annette Junck, business manager of Laurel BioComposite.
Construction of a pilot plant was finished in mid-November of 2011. By December 2011, the company had produced enough of bioresin enhancer from distillers grains to ship the first test batches of its product to seven companies for testing.
Laurel BioComposite has since produced enough material at that pilot plant to send out to even more companies to test for uses such as flower pots, pallets, storage containers, etc.
Phase one, which began in April 2013, is targeted to deliver an annual commercial production rate of about 7 million pounds. Phase one has included construction of the new plant, and placement of new equipment, including an ENTEK E-Max 53mm twin screw extruder and an Amtek Microwave system.
Phase one is targeted to be completed in early June when production begins at the new facility.
Phase two will bring production levels up to 48 million pounds and should be completed in late fourth quarter 2013.
GREEN PRODUCT
Using Bio-Res will enable companies to raise the renewable or "green" content of plastic products by as much as 40%, by replacing traditional petroleum-based resins in a number of production processes.
The bio-material replaces petroleum-based resins in plastics. Since the company uses distillers grains, a renewable feedstock, for production companies trying to find ways to get more sustainable materials into their products are targeted.
Other attempts to produce bio-based resins have not been successful, as they were produced with certain negative attributes. Sometimes the quality of end products made with sustainable materials is weakened; however, Bio-Res actually enhances the strength of the final product.
Another problem has been objectionable odor from the sustainable materials. That has also been corrected in the Bio-Res pellets.
The company also sequesters carbon-dioxide and does not use toxic compounds during the production process.
"The potential for this is huge -- it is really a selling point," Junck said. "A lot of times using green materials can become cost prohibitive, so companies don't go that route. We can produce our product at a price competitive with virgin resins."
DISTILLERS GRAINS
The company has used dried distillers grains as feedstock for its Bio-Res production since its beginning.
Junck said they purchase all their DDG locally from Husker Ag in Plainview. She said they have not had problems securing DDG during production at the test facility and added that the high DDG prices last fall were not prohibitive.
Cheryl Anderson can be reached at Cheryl.anderson@telventdtn.com.
Valero Energy Corp., San Antonio, TX (402-727-5300)
Indiana
Dry
$230
$225
$5
Iowa
Dry
$225
$220
$5
Minnesota
Dry
$220
$220
$0
Nebraska
Dry
$220
$220
$0
Ohio
Dry
$235
$225
$10
South Dakota
Dry
$210
$220
-$10
Western Milling, Goshen, California (559-302-1074)
California
Dry
$287
$287
$0
*Prices listed per ton.
Weekly Average
$227
$226
$1
The weekly average prices above reflect only those companies DTN
collects spot prices from. States include: Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska,
Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan,
Wisconsin and Indiana. Prices for Pennsylvania, New York and
California are not included in the averages.
*The spot prices gathered by DTN are only intended to reflect general market trends and may vary. Please contact individual plant or merchandiser for exact prices.
If you would be willing to take a weekly phone call and have your distiller grains spot prices listed in this feature, please contact Cheryl Anderson at (308) 224-1527 or (800) 369-7875, or e-mail cheryl.anderson@telventdtn.com.
CALIFORNIA WHOLESALE FEEDSTUFF PRICES (Tue May 21, 2013)
Distillers Dry Grains
FOB Truck Offers 276.00-286.00 dn 10.00-2.00
Rail Delivered California Points Offer 282.00 up 12.00-2.00
PACIFIC NORTHWEST WEEKLY FEED (Tue May 21, 2013)
*All prices quoted per ton unless otherwise noted.
Offers for Distillers Dried Grains delivered by rail to feed mills in the Pacific Northwest were 265.00-277.00, mixed, from 7.00 lower to 2.00 higher compared to week ago offers. Offers for distillers dried grains trans-loaded onto trucks and delivered to Willamette Valley dairies were 283.00-292.00, also mixed, from 7.00 lower to 2.00 higher compared to week ago offers.
ICM Inc. has been working on cellulosic conversion technology at its research facility in St. Joseph, Mo., since 2009 using a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, according to an article by Ethanol Producer magazine (http://bit.ly/…).
Using five 15,000-gallon pilot fermenters and four 35,000-gallon hydrolysis/fermentation reactors in its pilot facility, ICM's patent-pending Gen 1.5 cellulosic technology is built on two types of proprietary technology: select milling technology and fiber separation technology. These two technologies can result in 14% great ethanol production yield and about 70% greater oil recovery, or the equivalent of producing the same ethanol production from 14% less corn.
The technology involves slightly more work on the front end of production with pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. While ICM is working with several companies to develop a genetically-modified yeast, federal approval will be required before being used commercially, since they end up in the distillers grain.
The ICM research and development team recently completed a six-week run of its Generation 1.5 process and has pulled more than 2,000 samples during the run, besides other extensive testing. The research and development team is preparing for a similar run on the Gen 2 cellulosic ethanol process in late summer using energy sorghum as feedstock.
*Distillers Grains Technology Council Inc.'s 17th Annual Distillers Grains Symposium
The Distillers Grains Technology Council will hold its 17th Annual Distillers Grains Symposium on May 15-16, 2013, in Bloomington, Minn. For information, contact the DGTC office at (502) 852-1575 or (800) 759-3448, or check the DGTC website (http://www.distillersgrains.org).
(If you are sponsoring or know of any event, conference or workshop on distillers grains, and would like to list it in the DTN Weekly Distillers Grains Update, please contact Cheryl Anderson (see contact info below).
We welcome any comments/suggestions for this feature. Please let us know what information is valuable to you that we could include in the Distillers Grains Weekly Update. Please feel free to contact Cheryl Anderson at (308) 224-1527, or e-mail cheryl.anderson@telventdtn.com.
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