Greenfields

Expansion of the sucro-energy Industry and the new

Greenfield Projects in Brazilfrom the view of the equipment industry.

Expanded version of the paper published in

by José Luís Olivério, Fernando C. Boscariol

www.dedini.com.br

24 to 27 june, 2013, São Paulo, Brazil

Dedini S/A Indústrias de Base Page 1 of 24

Expansion of the sucro-energy Industry and the new Greenfield Projects in Brazil from the view of the equipment industry

by José Luís Olivério, Fernando C. Boscariol

Abstract

In 2003, the sucro-energy industry in Brazil resumed its

growth cycle, which lasted until 2011. A total of 117 new

mills were installed, and today there are 441 mills in

operation. Total processed cane rose from 320 million

tonnes (2002/2003) to 620 million tonnes (2010/2011).

By analyzing such new mills, we can see a significant

evolution from the first units to those built more

recently. Brazil will face again a “boom” of new mills:

forecasts show that sugarcane harvest will rise in 2020

to 1.2 billion tonnes/crop, and 120 additional “greenfield

mills” will be built in the country. Considering the

developments that have occurred in the 117 new mills,

the following questions come to mind: what will the

future mills be like, which technologies will be used,

what will be the processing capacity, what products will

the new mills offer, the traditional sugar, ethanol and

bioelectricity, or will there be new ones, what are the

lessons learned from the recent expansions. To answer

these questions, we analyzed the design profile evolu-

tion of the 117 new mills, identified the trends to be

considered as references for the new greenfield projects,

and what are the development drivers of the new

solutions. Conclusion is that the new greenfield mills

will be designed according to five drivers of evolution

trends for products, capacities and technologies: 1)

Increased capacities and productivity of the equipment

and the mill; 2) Increased efficiencies and yields; 3)

Increased sustainability; 4) Synergy and integration; 5)

Higher value-added products from both sugarcane and

the mill. Each of these drivers is discussed, and real

examples of solutions are presented for each driver and

the reasons for the choice.

Finally, it is concluded that the equipment industry is

able and ready to meet such a huge expansion, in all

capability and competitiveness aspects.

Sumário

Em 2003, o setor sucroenergético do Brasil retomou o

seu ciclo de crescimento, que se estendeu até 2011. 117

usinas canavieiras foram então instaladas, e hoje há 441

usinas em operação no Brasil. A cana processada se

elevou de 320 milhões de toneladas(2002/2003), para

620 milhões(2010/2011). Analisando-se essas 117 usinas

recentes, verifica-se que houve sensível evolução entre

as primeiras usinas e aquelas mais recentemente

implantadas. O Brasil terá novamente um novo “boom”

de novas usinas:previsões mostram que a produção de

cana irá se elevar para 1,2 bilhões de toneladas por safra,

e 120 “greenfields” serão adicionalmente implantados

no país. Considerando-se a evolução ocorrida nas 117

novas usinas, cabem as perguntas:-Como serão essas

futuras usinas?-Que tecnologias serão utilizadas?-Qual

será a capacidade de processamento de cana?-Quais

produtos serão oferecidos pelas futuras usinas? Os

tradicionais açúcar, etanol e bioeletricidade, ou teremos

novos produtos?-Quais são as lições que a cadeia

produtiva aprendeu com a recente expansão do setor?

Para responder a essas perguntas, este trabalho analisou

a evolução das recentes 117 usinas, identificou as ten-

dências a serem consideradas como referências para os

novos “greenfields”, e quais são os direcionadores, do

desenvolvimento das novas soluções, na visão da

indústria de equipamentos.

A conclusão é que os novos “greenfields” serão projeta-

dos conforme 5 vetores de tendência de evolução

quanto a produtos, capacidades e tecnologias: 1) Au-

mento das capacidades e da produtividade dos equipa-

mentos e das usinas; 2) Aumento das eficiências e

rendimentos; 3) Aumento da sustentabilidade; 4) Maior

sinergia e integração; 5) Produtos de maior valor

agregado da cana de açúcar e da usina. Cada um desses

vetores é discutido, e exemplos reais de soluções são

apresentadas para cada vetor e os motivos para a sua

escolha. Finalmente, conclui-se que a industria de

equipamentos está capacitada para atender essa forte

expansão, em todos os aspectos da capacitação e

competitividade.



Introduction The Brazilian sugarcane industry has grown

hugely in the past 40 years, as shown in Figure 1.

Starting in 1975/76 with the launch of

ProAlcohol*, there has been an impressive growth in

sugarcane production, from 68 million tonnes of cane

per crop (TCC) to 223 million TCC in 1985/86, a

milestone that we call the “1st

great leap”. The reason is

the increased ethanol demand, which jumped from 550

million litres (1975/76) to nearly 12 billion litres

(1985/86), whereas sugar production remained at 6 to 9

million tonnes. And Brazil became, at the time, the

biggest ethanol producer in the world (all data from

Datagro, 2012).

From 1985/86 to 1993/94, annual sugarcane

production remained around 220 million tonnes,

sometimes producing more ethanol, sometimes more

sugar, with inexpressive variations (ethanol: 11 to 12

billion litres; sugar: 8 to 9 million tonnes).

In 1993/94, another major expansion of the

industry took place, which continued until 2002/03, and

cane production soared from 220 million to 320 million

tonnes/crop – the “2nd

great leap”. Here, growth was

due to the increased sugar production, when the

country moved to the export market and became the

biggest sugarcane and cane sugar producer. In this

period, sugar production rose from 9 million to nearly

23 million yearly tonnes, and ethanol remained in the

range of 12 to 15 billion litres.

Today, the situation is quite different from the

previous two: both sugar and ethanol production has

grown considerably, with sugarcane harvest rising from

320 (2002/03) to 620 million tonnes (2010/11). Brazil is

now at the “3rd

great leap”, with both sugar and ethanol

contributing to this growth: ethanol production going

from 12 billion litres (2002/03) to 27 billion litres/crop

(2010/11), and sugar from 23 million tonnes (2002/03) to

38 million tonnes/crop (2010/11). The following 2011/12

crop has shown a decline in production mainly due to

climatic reasons, but demand should continue to rise in

the next years.

As a result, today we have 441 mills in

operation in Brazil, of which 324 were built before 2003,

and 117 afterwards (CNI, 2012). Such set of mills is the

reference that we will use in this paper: 324 of them we

call “old mills”, and 117 we call “new mills”.

The conditions that led to the “3rd

great leap” -

that means increased demand on ethanol for domestic

market and on sugar to export - remain until now and

should stay for the next 8-10 years, which allows us to

assume that the sucro-energy industry will continue to

have a major expansion because of three independent,

yet concurring, factors today:

ethanol – domestic market: a rise in ethanol

demand because of the commercial success of the flex-

fuel vehicles and the increase of the Brazilian fleet,

predominantly running with flex-fuel engines, and

ethanol has been the preferred fuel;

ethanol – exports: an increase in ethanol

demand as a result of the global interest on this fuel

due to its environmental qualities: ethanol is made

from biomass, a renewable feedstock, and has a high

mitigating effect on the greenhouse gases, as gasoline is

replaced in the fuels utilization;

sugar – exports: exports should also grow due

to the country’s competitiveness, the growing global

market, and the global trend to reduce agricultural

Fig 1 - Brazilian production of sugarcane, sugar and ethanol. The text in the box informs the reason why it was necessary to increase sugarcane production

BRAZIL – HISTORICAL DATA – SUGARCANE, SUGAR AND ETHANOL PRODUCTION

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

75

/76

76

/77

77

/78

78

/79

79

/80

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/81

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/82

82

/83

83

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/00

00

/01

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/05

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/06

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/07

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/08

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/09

09

/10

10

/11

11

/12

Su

car

can

e P

rod

uctio

n 1

000 to

n

Su

car

(mm

to

n) a

nd

Eth

an

ol (

mm

3)

Etanol (1000 m3) Açúcar (1000 T) Cana (1000 T)

Su

gar

(1000 t

) an

deth

an

ol

(1000 m

3)

pro

du

cti

on

Ethanol Sugar Cane

1st Great

Leap

Su

garc

an

ep

rod

ucti

on

(1000 t

)

2nd Great

Leap

*

3rd Great

Leap

SOURCE:

DATAGRO

* ProAlcohol – Programa Nacional do Álcool - Brazilian Ethanol Program, a program started in 1975 with the purpose to introduce ethanol into the Brazilian Energy Matrix, in which ethanol was blended with gasoline, or replaced gasoline (100%) as a fuel in vehicles.



subsidies to protect sugar production in many

countries.

Forecasts for sugarcane growth in Brazil, as

developed by several official bodies and representative

entities of the sector are coinciding: all of them assume

that the industry will double cane production in the

next years, reaching 1.2 billion tonnes in 2020/21, a

considerable increase over the 2010/11 crop, (UNICA,

2012).

ethanol – domestic market + exports: from

27 to 70 billion litres, of which 80% are for the domestic

market;

sugar – domestic market + exports: from 38

to 51 million tonnes, of which 73% are for exports;

To meet such demand, in addition to the

existing mills, UNICA foresees that 120 large-size

“future mills” (“greenfield mills”) will be built in the

country by 2020.

Considering the technological progress that

have been incorporated to the 117 “new mills” in relation

to the 324 “old mills”, and the construction of 120

“future mills”, the following questions arise:

What will the “future mills” be like?

Which technologies will be used?

Which will the processing capacities be?

What products will the ”future mills” offer: the

traditional sugar, ethanol and bioelectricity, or will

there be new ones?

What are the lessons learned from the recent

expansions, and will they be used in the design and

construction of the “future mills”?

To answer these questions, we examined the

development design concepts already incorporated to

the 117 “new mills”, the advances already accomplished,

and which ones will be incorporated to the future

solutions, and then define the drivers of evolution of

the “future greenfield mills”.

The conclusion, as you will see, is that the new

greenfield plants will be designed according to five

drivers of evolution trends for the products, capacities

and technologies that will be used. This is the subject of

the present study.

Design development: from

“sugar mill” to the “sucro-energy

plant”

The typical mill

The Brazilian sugar and biofuels industry has

grown innovatively since the launch of “ProAlcohol” in

1975. Until then, the “sugar mills” in Brazil were

conventional and even technologically obsolete when

compared to other countries.

At the end of this chapter, in Table 3, we

present some performance indicators that illustrate the

technological stage then existing. Figure 2 is self-

explanatory and illustrates the typical sugar mill at the

time.

In early ProAlcohol, “Ethanol Process” plants

were incorporated and integrated to the “sugar and

alcohol mill”. It was not an innovation, but a novelty in

Fig. 2 – Traditional technology and production process: sugar and surplus bagasse.

PRODUCTION FLOWCHART – SUGAR AND SURPLUS BAGASSE

PRODUCT FLOW

HIGH ORESSURE STEAM FLOW

(DRIVING PURPOSE)

LOW PRESSURE STEAM FLOW

(THERMAL PURPOSE)

ELECTRICITY

GENERATION(TURBOGENERATOR)

CANERECEPTION/

CLEANING/

PREPARATION

EXTRACTION

SURPLUS BAGASSE

B

A

G

A

S

S

E

JUICE SUGAR

PROCESSSUGAR

MOLASSES

STEAM

GENERATION(BOILER)



Brazil, since ethanol was previously produced on a

small scale and from molasses only, and then the mills

began to use molasses and/or juice (Figure 3).

Fig. 3 – Traditional technology and production process for sugar, bioethanol and surplus bagasse.

This solution was not sufficient to meet the

enormous growth in ethanol demand (the 1st

great leap,

as described in the previous section). A really

innovative approach was then implemented: a plant to

produce exclusively ethanol, resulting in a wide

reformulation of process, basic, and detailing

engineering, new equipment and process solutions, new

mass and energy balances, a full re-dimensioning of the

mill (Figure 4).

Fig. 4 – Traditional technology and production process for bioethanol and surplus bagasse.

Over time, due to the stabilized ethanol

demand and a sharp rise in sugar exports (the 2nd

great

leap), such ethanol plants evolved to incorporate and

integrate a “sugar process” plant, which was the typical

solution adopted by the “old mills” until the early

2000s. At that time, updated technologies were used for

sugar production, thus renovating the industry, which

was then in obsolete conditions.

From 2002/03, with the “3rd

great leap”, “new

mills” have been built to meet the rising demands for

sugar and ethanol. At that time, the world, and

particularly Brazil, were already in tune with the efforts

for renewable sources of energy, and there was full

awareness of the whole sugarcane energy potential, i.e.,

not just transforming cane juice into products (sugar,

ethanol), but also the cane bagasse and, more recently,

cane straw (crop residues which we named “straw”)

into new products.

Realizing that sugarcane had a major role in

the agri-energy sector, the country decided to create

institutional mechanisms to transform the bioelectricity

generated by bagasse (and straw) into a new product, a

new business.

The existing technologies were already

properly developed, so the “new mills” could

immediately use the configurations shown in Figure 5

and Figure 6; in Figure 5 the “sugar, ethanol and

bioelectricity mill”, or, as a result of the faster-growing

ethanol demand, in Figure 6, the “ethanol and

bioelectricity mill”, this last one the predominant

solution for the “new mills”.

Also in this case, innovative solutions were

developed, involving new processes, balances,

equipment, etc.

Fig. 5 – Traditional technology and production process for biosugar, bioethanol and surplus bioelectricity

*.

* To emphasize the “organic or biological origin” of the products derived from sugar cane, in this paper those products are named: bioethanol, bioelectricity and biosugar.

SURPLUS BAGASSE

PRODUCT FLOW


(DRIVING PURPOSE)


(THERMAL PURPOSE)

ELECTRICITY


CANERECEPTION/

CLEANING/

PREPARATION

EXTRACTION

B

A

G

A

S

S

E

JUICE SUGAR

PROCESSSUGAR

MOLASSES

STEAM

GENERATION(BOILER)

SURPLUS BAGASSE

J

U

I

C

E BIOETHANOL

STILLAGE

BIOETHANOL

PROCESS

PRODUCTION FLOWCHART – SUGAR, BIOETHANOL AND SURPLUS BAGASSE

SURPLUS BAGASSE

PRODUCT FLOW


(DRIVING PURPOSE)


(THERMAL PURPOSE)

ELECTRICITY


RECEPTION/

CLEANING/

PREPARATION

EXTRACTION

B

A

G

A

S

S

E

STEAM

GENERATION(BOILER)

SURPLUS BAGASSE

J

U

I

C

E BIOETHANOL

STILLAGE

BIOETHANOL

PROCESS

SURPLUS BAGASSE

CANE

PRODUCTION FLOWCHART – BIOETHANOL AND SURPLUS BAGASSE

B

A

G

A

S

S

E

JUICE

J

U

I

C

E

CANERECEPTION/

CLEANING/

PREPARATION

EXTRACTION

ELECTRICITY

GENERATION(TURBOGENERATION)

STEAM

GENERATION(BOILER)

BIOETHANOL

STILLAGE

SUGAR

MOLASSES

SUGAR

PROCESS

BIOETHANOL

PROCESS

BIOELECTRICITY

PRODUCT FLOW

HIGH PRESSURE STEAM

FLOW (DRIVING PURPOSE)


(THERMAL PURPOSE)

PRODUCTION FLOWCHART – SUGAR, BIOETHANOL AND SURPLUS BIOELECTRICITY



Fig. 6 - Traditional technology and production process for bioethanol and surplus bioelectricity.

Profile of the Brazilian sugarcane mills

Before the “3rd

great leap”, 324 “old mills” were

in operation in Brazil. Over the past 10 years, 117 “new

mills” were built, as shown in Figure 7.

Fig. 7 – Number of new sugarcane mills installed in Brazil by crop. Source: (CNI, 2012)

Let’s examine the profile of these total (old

and new) plants. Figure 8 illustrates the “total mills”,

ranked by products (CNI, 2012), and Figure 9 ranks the

“new mills”.

Fig. 8 – “Total Mills” – classified by products. Source: (CNI, 2012)

Fig. 9 – “New mills” profile classified by products. Source: CNI 2012/Dedini

When we examine the graphs, we can see that

there has been a significant change in the profile of the

“new mills”, now more focused on ethanol and already

designed to produce bioelectricity, even though

partially implemented.

In “total mills”, sugar & ethanol flexible mills

predominate (60%), whereas in “new mills” ethanol

plants are in a larger number (75%);

Sugar mills are not significant (5% in “total

mills”, and with no record in “new mills”);

Regarding bioelectricity, in “total mills” is not

significant (15%), but it is now largely considered in the

“new mills” (80% designed, but 35% implemented and

in operation).

It is worth noting that the length of the milling

season has also extended significantly in the country:

from 180 overall days with 144 effective days in the end

of 80´s, to 230 overall days with 200 effective days

currently.

Figures 10 and 11 present other important

information about the Brazilian mills. Center-South is

the region in the country with the largest number of

total mills, i.e., 354 units.

Fig. 10 – Typical productivity and capacities (Source: Dedini)

B

A

G

A

S

S

E

J

U

I

C

E

CANERECEPTION/

CLEANING/

PREPARATION

EXTRACTION

ELECTRICITY

GENERATION(TURBOGENERATION)

STEAM

GENERATION(BOILER)

BIOETHANOL

STILLAGE

BIOETHANOL

PROCESS

BIOELECTRICITY

PRODUCT FLOW

HIGH PRESSURE STEAM

FLOW (DRIVING PURPOSE)


(THERMAL PURPOSE)

PRODUCTION FLOWCHART – BIOETHANOL AND SURPLUS BIOELECTRICITY

10

19

25

30

22

8

3

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

SOURCE: CNI 2012

Number of new mills

100%

60%

35%

5%

15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Brazilian Total Sugarcane Mills Profile - classified by products

Total(441)

Sugar+Ethanol

Ethanol BioelectricitySugar

SOURCE: CNI 2012

100%

25%

75%

Brazilian New Mills (after 2003) Profile – classified by products

Total

(117)

Sugar+

Ethanol

Ethanol Bioelectricity

designed

80%

35%operational

SOURCE: TOTAL= CNI 2012, PROFILE = DEDINI

Center-South Typical Data

Mill Capacity

TCC

Productivity

TC/ha

Productivity

LETC

Brazil(range)

80

100

80

100 - best practices

908 mi

0,3 mi

Source: Dedini TC: Tonnes of cane TCC: Tonnes of cane per crop

LETC: Litres of ethanol per tonne of cane



Fig 11 – “New mills” capacity evolution (Source: Dedini)

The productivity data (Figure 10) are self-

explanatory.

With respect to capacity, there is a great

variation between the total existing plants, ranging

from 300,000 TCC to 8 million TCC.

The “new mills” first had a typical capacity of

12,000 tonnes of cane per day (TCD) (2.4 million TCC),

but more recently such capacity has been as high as

15,000 to 20,000 TCD (3 to 4 million TCC); and the

trend is to increase even more the sugarcane processing

capacity to 20,000 to 30,000 TCD (4 to 6 million TCC),

as shown in Figure 11. Nearly all plants were designed or

considered to produce bioelectricity.

It is worth noting that due to some factors (the

2008 global financial crisis, the consolidation of the

industry into large groups through mergers and

acquisitions, the lack of investments in the renovation

of sugarcane crops, and insufficient productivity-

oriented agricultural management, followed by two

years of adverse climatic conditions), the growth cycle

has been interrupted in the past years. The last decision

for a “new mill” was made in 2007, and those units were

implemented until 2011.

The projects under consideration and

supposed to be approved after 2008 are for even larger

capacities: such future mills would have a capacity of

20,000 to 30,000 TCD (4 to 6 million of TCC), and

bioelectricity (Figure 11).

Technological evolution of the industrial area

The fast growth of the industry, which has led

to numerous investments in renovation, expansion, and

new mills, resulted in an important technological

development of equipment, processes, plants, and

complete mills.

Considering the current main products of the

Brazilian mills, we will limit our discussion to three

development routes: for sugar, ethanol and

New Mills Capacity - mi TCC / mi LEC

The First30 MW

Recent37/50 MW

Future50/75 MW

6/510

4/340

4/340

3/255

2,4/200

12.000

TCD

15.000

TCD

20.000

TCD

20.000 TCD

30.000 TCD

Source: Dedini TCC: Tonnes of cane per crop TCD: Tonnes of cane per day

mi: millions MW: Surplus power export capacity LEC: Litres of ethanol per crop

1. Dry cleaning replacing cane wash

2. High performance MCD Dedini milling

tandem or Dedini-Bosch Modular Diffuser

3. To eliminate sugar entrainment and degradation in evaporators

4. Ecoferm – Dedini-Fermentec Fermentation System with higher ethanol content and with Ecochill (absorption chiller)

5. Destiltech – Distillation system with minimum ethanol losses in stillage

6. DRD – Dedini Refinado Direto (Dedini Direct Refined)

7. DAP – Dedini Automação de Processos – Automation using intelligent

software up to MES Level – Manufacturing Execution System

8. Process sweet sorghum at the sugarcane mill

Dedini Patent ApplicationTechnological Partner Patent Application

TECHNOLOGIES FOR MAXIMUM BIOSUGAR AND BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION

Table 1 – Technologies for maximum biosugar and bioethanol production.



bioelectricity production.

Sugar and ethanol – there have been

significant improvements in yields and efficiencies,

maximising the extraction of cane sugars, minimising

process losses and optimising the transformation of

juice into sugar and ethanol. There have been many

improvements in the existing processes, and numerous

innovations have been introduced, which together have

enabled optimum sugar and ethanol production per

tonne of cane.

Table 1 lists the technologies that the

equipment manufacturers in Brazil, in special Dedini,

uses when a new mill project aims at the optimal sugar

and ethanol production. Some of these technologies

will be discussed later in this paper; for an overview, see

Olivério et al., 2010a.

Bioelectricity – similarly, the industry has

experienced considerable improvements in energy

efficiency, aiming at the maximum production of

bioelectricity per tonne of cane. Maximum

bioelectricity production is attained by two kinds of

technologies designed to:

Minimum consumption of electrical and steam

energy by the mill, i.e., minimum use of energy (electric

power, steam) for cane processing and in the sugar and

ethanol production processes. As a result, we have

maximum surplus of bagasse and/or straw, i,e,,

maximum surplus biomass; and

Maximum use of the energy available in the

sugarcane and in the mil, i.e., use of the energy from

bagasse and/or straw, and biogas from vinasse with

maximum energy efficiency.

Table 2 lists the technologies, which, together,

enable maximum production of surplus bioelectricity;

for an overview of these technologies, see Olivério et al,

2010a.

With the new techno logies implemented by

the Brazilian mills since the beginning of ProAlcohol

(1975), there has been a significant increase of

productivity gains and efficiencies in sugar, ethanol and

bioelectricity production, as can be seen in Table 3 (CNI

2012).

As a reference, and to correlate the current

equipment performances with typical state-of-the-art

solutions, we included in Table 3 the products and

technologies already presented in Tables 1 and 2 and

which are commercially available from the Dedini

Company as part of their products line.

Table 2 – Technologies for maximum surplus bioelectricity production

Maximum available energy utilization Minimum energy consumption

````

1. Electric Drive to Knives/Shredder

2. Electric-Hydraulic Drive / Electro-Mechanical Drive via planetarygearbox to milling units or Dedini-Bosch Modular Diffuser

3. Multi-effect Falling Film Evaporation System

4. Regenerative Heat Exchangers

5. Ecoferm –Dedini-Fermentec Fermentation System with higher

ethanol content and with Ecochill (absorption chiller)

6. Dedini-Siemens Split Feed Distillation

7. Dedini-Vaperma Membrane Dehydration System

8. Dedini-Bosch Continuous Vacuum Pan

9. DRD – Dedini Refinado Direto (Dedini Direct Refined)

10. DCV – Dedini Stillage Concentration System

11. Maximum surplus bagasse utilization as boiler fuel (except re-start)

12. System and equipment for straw utilization as boiler fuel

13. Methax– Stillage Anaerobic Biodigestion System producing biogas/biomethane

14. Dedini AT Single Drum Multifuel Boilers –high: pressure/ temperature/ energy efficiency

15. Condensation turbine with multi-stage extraction control

16. Process sweet sorghum at sugarcane mill

17. DAP – Dedini Automação de Processos –Automation using intelligent software up to MESLevel – Manufacturing Execution System

Dedini Patent ApplicationTechnological Partner Patent Application

TECHNOLOGIES FOR MAXIMUM SURPLUS BIOELECTRICITY PRODUCTION



Table 3 – Evolution of the technological capabilities as a function of the equipment and technology available.

DEDINI PRODUCTS

Beginning PROALCOHOL

Today State of the Art

1. Production/equipment capacities increase

Crushing Capacity (TCD) - 6x78” Vert. Shredder/ Milling Tandem

5 500 15 000

Fermentation Time (h) Batch/Cont. Ferm. 24 6 - 8

Beer Ethanol Content (°GL) Ecoferm 6.5 Up to 16

2. Efficiency/yields increase

Extraction Yield (%Sugar) - 6 Mill Units Milling Tandem/ Modular Diffuser

93 97/ 98

Fermentation Yield (%) Ecoferm 80 92

Distillation Yield (%) Destiltech 98 99.5

3. Optimising energy consumption/efficiency

Total Steam Consumption (kg Steam/t cane)

DEDINI Technology 600 320

Steam Consumption Anhydrous. (kg steam /Litre)

Split Feed+ Mem-brane/Mol. Sieve

4.5 2.0

Boiler – Efficiency (% LHV) Capac.(t/h) /Press.(Bar) / Temper.(ºC)

AZ/ AT/ Single Drum

66 89

60 / 21 / 300 400 / 120/ 540

Biomethane from Stillage (Nm3/litre of

Bioethanol) Methax - 0.1

4. Global parameters

Total Yield (Litre Hydr. Bioeth./t cane) DEDINI Technology 66 87

Surplus Bagasse (%) - Bioethanol Mill DEDINI Technology Up to 8 Up to 78

Surplus Bioelectricity to the Grid, Bioeth-anol Mill, 12 000 TCD (fuel: bagasse) (MW)

DEDINI Technology - 50.7

Surplus bioelectricity to the grid – Bioetha-nol mill, 12 000 TCD (bagasse + 50%/100% straw) – (MW)

DEDINI Technology - 84/112

Stillage Production (litre stillage/litre Bio-eth.)

Ecoferm/ DCV 13 5.0/ 0.8

Intake Water Consumption (litre Wa-ter/litre Bioeth.)

Water Mill 187 (-) 3.7

TCD = tones of processed cane per day; LHV = based on

bagasse Low Heat Value;

Capac. = Boiler Steam Production; Press. = Pressure; Temp.

= Temperature;

Bioeth.= Bioethanol; Cont. Ferm.= Continuous Fermenta-

tion system;

Vert. = Vertical; Ecoferm = Ethanol fermentation system up

to 16ºGL;

Destiltech = Ethanol distillation Plant with flegma recircula-

tion;

Mol. Sieve = Dehydration by Molecular Sieve System;

AZ/AT/Single Drum = Boilers models and types;

Methax = Stillage Biodigestion Plant producing biogas

and/or biomethane;

DCV = Evaporative Stillage Concentration Plant

Hydr: Hydrated

RESULTS OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION IN THE SUCROENERGY SECTOR – 2011



Table 3 is self-explanatory, but we highlight

the development in processing capacity: six 78” milling

units processed 5500 TCD in 1975; in 1985 the

processing capacity was 10,000 TCD (Giannetti, 1985);

in 2002 it reached 13,000 TCD (Olivério, 2002); in 2006,

14,000 TCD (Olivério, 2006); and from 2010 to now the

milling tandem can process 15,000 TCD (Olivério et al.,

2010a, CNI 2012). We consider this evolution in various

steps very interesting, and appropriate to illustrate how

continuous improvements, with small incremental

increases, can reach a very significant final result. And,

in parallel, extraction process yields increased from 93%

(1975) to 97% (2011).

The profile of the Brazilian “new mills”

As already shown in this study, 117 “new mills”

were built in Brazil in the past ten years. A common

characteristic of the recent and current Brazilian mills

market is that each solution is individually defined; so,

as a whole, you will find unique solutions in each of the

mills. From the project design to equipment and

installation definitions, the mill is customized to suit

the goals and interests of the investors and/or their

consultants, engineering companies and equipment

manufacturers. This was not always so: in early

ProAlcohol, the manufacturers used to offer standard

ethanol plants, and also complete turnkey mills.

Thus, we have today almost 117 different

solutions in the 117 “new mills” installed. Therefore, to

determine the profile of the new recent mills, a long

and detailed survey and an evaluation of the different

solutions adopted would be necessary, which is not the

purpose of the present study. Our interest is to define a

profile that can be used as a reference for the

development trends of the future “greenfields” to be

built in Brazil.

According to the characteristics and solutions

adopted, we will use for this purpose the most recent

“new mill” in Brazil – the Água Emendada Mill in Goiás,

of the ETH/Brenco Group, which started operations in

November/2011.

This mill was part of a package of four new

mills implemented by ETH/Brenco, with similar, not

identical, solutions, and Dedini supplied all process

mechanical equipment and half of the bagasse boilers,

as well as the so-called “process islands”, i.e., “sugarcane

reception and processing”, “fermentation”, “distillation”,

and “boiler”.

These are the new mills: Morro

Vermelho, GO, (started operations in 2010), Alto

Taquari, MT (2010), Costa Rica, MS (2011) and Água

Emendada, GO (2011). All of them produce ethanol and

bioelectricity, with a capacity of 18,000 TCD, 3.6 million

of TCC. Figure 12 gives an overall view of the Água

Emendada Mill, with indication of its main sectors.

Figures 13, 14 and 15 show in details the sugarcane

processing sectors, bioelectricity production,

bioethanol production, and the tanking area.

Fig. 12 – Typical profile of the recent Brazilian new greenfield mills – overall view – Odebrecht (ETH/Brenco) Água Emendada Mill.



Fig. 13 – Typical profile of the recent Brazilian new greenfield mills – view of sugarcane processing and bioelectricity production – Odebrecht (ETH/Brenco) Água Emendada Mill.

Fig. 14 – Typical profile of the recent Brazilian new greenfield mills – view of bioethanol production – Odebrecht (ETH/Brenco) Água Emendada Mill.

Fig. 15 – Typical profile of the recent Brazilian new greenfield mills – view of the ethanol tanking area – Odebrecht (ETH/Brenco) Água Emendada Mill.

The ETH/Brenco mills do not produce sugar,

but schematically, as a way of illustration, Figure 16

shows what would be a sugar, ethanol, and

bioelectricity-producing mill.

Fig. 16 – Typical profile of the recent Brazilian new greenfield mills – biosugar + bioethanol + bioelectricity mill – overall view

Drivers of development trends of products, capacities, and technolo-gies

Advancements in the mills and in overall

performances have been impressive from early

ProAlcohol to now.

Part of such evolution followed some trends

that can be easily identified when we examine the

progress of such performance in a sequence. Earlier

studies (Olivério 2002, Olivério 2006, CNI 2012)

identified models of the technological development

that the industry has experienced, namely:

▪ Equipment and plant capacity and productivity

increases;

▪ Efficiency and yield increases;

▪ Better use of sugarcane energy;

▪ Diversification of products and by-products

from sugarcane increase;

▪ The mill defined as an energy-and-foods-

producing unit.

By analysing the stages of this model, having

as reference the existing mills, particularly the “new

mills”, we can see that some stages can still be

considered as drivers that will direct the development

trends of the “future mills” – the greenfields. Others

remain with some adjustments, while some have been

changed into more specific drivers, losing the generic

characteristic that they used to have.

But new drivers have also emerged, as a result

of new concepts, requirements, and even the

development of the earlier stages. Thus, we believe that

the considerable expansion of the Brazilian sucro-

energy industry, from 600 million TCC to 1.2 TCC, and

expected to have 120 additional greenfields, will be

attained by using the five drivers that will govern the

evolution trends of products, capacities, and

technologies:



1. Equipment and plant capacity and

productivity increases;

2. Efficiency and yield increases;

3. Sustainability increase;

4. Synergy and integration;

5. Higher value-added products from sugarcane

and the sugarcane mill.

Following we will discuss each of these drivers,

in some cases presenting possible technological

improvements to be developed, but mainly the real

solutions already existing, in operation or available

waiting for a pioneer commercial use. These examples

aim to support the central thesis of this study, i.e., that

the new “greenfields” may continue to be customized,

but that the “future mill” should consider in its basic

project the developments already resulting from these

five drivers.

Driver 1: Equipment and plant ca-pacity and productivity increases

This driver defines that the trend is of larger

and more productive equipment and mills.

A good example is the increased capacity of

the six 78” milling units, as already seen, which jumped

from 5,500 to 10,000 TCD, then 13,000 TCD, and today

15,000 TCD, mainly because of higher productivity

rates.

This occurred first from adjustments in

equipment engineering to meet a national super

crushing demand, as a result of pressure put on the

mills to crush more and more cane to produce larger

ethanol volumes (due to ProAlcohol), along with the

lack of financial resources to expand the mills. As a

consequence, the existing equipment were used to the

their limits and improved with the use of materials,

accessories, new components, and design modifications

that have been introduced to attain higher

performances. Then, when such possibilities were

exhausted, in a second stage there were changes in

geometry, in dimensioning, and use of more advanced

devices, resulting in a new rise in productivity for this

same set of 78” crushers.

Further productivity increases for this same

crusher are increasingly difficult to obtain, but the need

for increased capacities remains, i.e., this driver will

continue to influence the design of the future mills,

which will have as limitations to daily crushing

capacities the technical and economic feasibility of the

maximum amount of cane that could be supplied to the

plant. It is known that cane supply from long distances

may be unviable. But, in Brazil, the future mills will be

built mainly at the new agricultural frontiers, where

there are more contiguous lands available for cane

crops. Thus, large areas in hectares of cultivation will

have short average distances for the transportation of

sugarcane to the plant during harvest, which will make

viable the increase of the yearly/daily crushing volume.

Thus, the new projects requirements will be

for even larger cane processing capacities, and the best

economic solution is a single processing line, i.e., a

single crushing tandem or a single high-capacity

diffusion plant.

Regarding crushers, productivities are close to

their limits; an increase in cane processing will be

achieved mainly by means of capacity increases, using

larger equipment, i.e., 90”, 100”, 110”, and 120” crushers.

In the case of diffusers, the traditional chain

diffusers have design and mechanical complexities that

are not easy to be overcome in so large capacities. Thus,

we believe that increased capacities will be attained by

chainless modular diffusers, which are expansible in

their own conception (Olivério, 2011).

Another possibility is the evolution of the

diffusion systems by the incorporation of new

technologies, reducing the time of cane in the

equipment (e.g., use of vacuum for the intake of

imbibition juice).

Some equipment and solutions already found

in “new mills” (see Figures 17 to 23) support our belief

that this driver will be very important for designing

“future greenfields”.

Figure 17 shows the world’s biggest capacity

diffuser 21 000 TCD, and Figure 18 the same for the

milling tandem, 31 200 TCD.

Figure 19 is an example of the same trend

expressed by driver 1 in steam generation, two boilers

with capacity of 320 tonnes of steam per hour each.

Figure 20 demonstrates the capacity increase

driver impact on juice treatment and concentration

stages: the world’s biggest short retention time clarifier,

and a high capacity five effect falling film evaporators.

Also, driver 1 impact is shown on ethanol

process: Figure 21 presents a fermentation plant using

the world’s biggest feed-batch fermentation vessel

utilising yeast recycle process: 2000 m³; Figure 22

presents big capacities on distillation plants to produce:

hydrated ethanol, (total of 2 700 000 litres/day,

composed of three installations of 900 000 litres/day

each), and anhydrous ethanol (molecular sieve plant of

1 000 000 litres/day capacity).

The correspondent impact of driver 1 on sugar

process is presented in Figure 23.



Fig. 17 – Trend: increased diffusers capaci-ty/productivity – Raízen Jataí Mill –high capacity chainless modular diffuser

Fig. 18 – Trend: increased milling units/milling tandem capacity – US Sugar Mill –high capacity milling unit/tandem

Fig. 19 – Trend: increased boilers capacity/productivity – Raízen Barra Mill –high capacity bagasse boiler

Fig. 20 – Trend: increased juice treat-ment/concentration equipment and systems capaci-ty/productivity – high capacity solutions: Raízen Jataí clarifier/ Bunge Santa Juliana Mill evaporators

Fig. 21 – Trend: Larger fermentation vessels and in-creased plants capacity/productivity – Odebrecht (ETH) Agua Emendada Mill – high capacity Fermenta-tion Plant

Fig. 22 – Trend: increased distillation and dehydration capacity/productivity – high capacity plant: Santa Luzia Mill distillation plant/ Rio Brilhante Mill dehydration plant.



Fig. 23 – Trend: increased sugar equipment and plant capacity/productivity – Clealcool Mill sugar plant.

More information regarding these

equipment/solutions can be seen in Figures 17 and 18,

Olivério 2011; Figure 19, Olivério and Ferreira 2010.

The driver “increased capacity and

productivity” is one of the most effective trend of the

new greenfields because the investments in equipment,

plants, and the mill itself are very sensitive to

economies of scale, having a positive effect on CAPEX

(Capital Expenditure), and, therefore, usually large-

scale solutions result in specific low-cost investments,

i.e., the larger the scale the lower the investment

expenditures per tonne of processed cane per crop

(TCC).

Driver 2: Efficiency and yield in-creases

It is natural that this driver should influence

the future greenfields design because in essence this

means producing more with less. Solutions resulting in

a larger amount of products per tonne of cane are

usually more competitive, with lower costs, thus

enabling larger sales volume.

The industry has advanced considerably in

sugar production, where losses are relatively small, but

still there is room for further developments in the

ethanol process (in fermentation there is great potential

of improvements), and mainly in bioelectricity

production.

With respect to energy, sugarcane has not ben

used to its full potential in Brazil. There are wastes in

the mills processes, as well as an effective low use of the

energy available in bagasse, especially in straw (crop

residues). Table 3 illustrates the state-of-the-art

technology for potential bioelectricity to be exported to

the grid: a state-of-the-art mill of 12,000 TCD can

provide 50.7 MW of surplus power while few “old mills”

have the capacity to produce surplus electricity. Even

the “new mills” are not optimised, producing surplus

power not over 30/35 MW. By using the energy from

straw, Table 3 shows that a potential surplus is even

more representative: 84MW from bagasse plus 50%

straw, and 112 MW from bagasse plus 100% straw

(Olivério and Ferreira, 2010). These figures confirm our

premise that bioelectricity production and the full use

of sugarcane are the greatest potential area for

evolution when targeting efficiencies and yields.

The most competitive future greenfields and

which will deliver more profits to the stockholders and

investors are those with the highest efficiencies and

yields in the production of sugar, ethanol, and

bioelectricty per tonne of cane.

A large number of “new mills” have already

incorporated solutions (equipment, plants) related to

this development driver, as can be seen in Figures 24 to

28, which we present to show that good solutions

already exist, have already been implemented, and

should be improved and used in the “future

greenfields”.

Fig. 24 – Trend: increased efficiency and yield – cane and straw dry cleaning and separation plant, allowing energy production from straw and minimum sugar losses by replacing cane wash

Fig. 25 – Trend: increased efficiency and yield– Fluid-ized bed boiler allowing flexibility on fuel utilization: new bagasse (because of mechanical harvesting + bagasse from diffuser + straw utilization + higher moisture + “sulphur traces” + “chlorine traces”), con-centrated stillage, other solid recovered fuel, operating at a higher energy efficiency.



Fig. 26 – Trend: increased efficiency and yield – Eco-ferm: higher fermentation yield, lower stillage volume, energy optimisation.

Fig. 27 – Trend: increased efficiency and yield – sugar losses reduction and lower steam/energy consumption – Bunge Santa Juliana Mill Evaporators, Laginha Mill split feed distillation, Distillation/Dehydration Dedini membrane Demo Plant at São Martinho Mill.

Fig. 28 – Trend: increased efficiency and yield – stillage concentration plant with energy integration reducing energy/steam consumption (Gabardo, 2011; Ferreira, 2012)

More information regarding these

equipment/solutions can be seen in Figure 24, Gurgel

2012; Figure 25, Faiad and Acenso 2011; Figure 26,

Olivério et al. 2010b, and Amorim and Olivério 2010;

Figure 27, Moura 2006, Moura and Medeiros 2007 and

Olivério et al. 2010c; Figure 28 Gabardo 2011 and

Ferreira 2012.

This driver, “increased efficiencies and yields”

is crucial to the business economic results because it

means more products for the same, or less, inputs. It

has a positive impact on OPEX (Operational

Expenditure), by reducing direct costs or variable costs

per unit produced and, thus, allowing higher

operational profits.

Driver 3: Sustainability increase

Today, sustainability is mandatory in all

human activities. Pressures of society, scientific facts,

governments, laws, and even the consumers awareness

are demanding more and more sustainable solutions

and practices, including, and particularly, in industrial

activities.

The sucro-energy mill is no exception; on the

contrary, in mills, the need to comply with

sustainability concepts is even greater, because their

products are food (sugar) and energy (ethanol and

bioelectricity) for which the whole world today

demands sustainable solutions.

In addition, such demand is even stricter,

since ethanol and bioelectricity are presented as

“green”, clean, renewable energy from biomass, with

optimum energy balance, and are beneficial to people

and the environment because of the improved air

quality, decreased pollution, and the mitigating effect

of the greenhouse gases; additionally, from its

production processes solid wastes and effluents can be

recycled, and, at the same time, replace fossil inputs.

Both ethanol and bioelectricity are considered

sustainable products and, therefore, it would be

inconsistent if they were produced using unsustainable

resources, and technologies. For that alone, this driver

would be important to influence the future greenfield

projects.

Furthermore, the full use of sugarcane still has

a huge potential to further improve the favorable

balance that the industry has attained with respect to

sustainability.

As a result, we understand that this will be one

of the most important drivers of technological



development to be considered in the expansion of the

sugarcane industry in Brazil. In fact, some sugarcane

mills have already been submitted to an evaluation

from specialized auditing companies which are

internationally qualified to certify those mills that

comply with sustainability criteria and systems, such as

Bonsucro EU, ISCC International Sustainability and

Carbon Certifications, etc (CNI 2012).

Following, we highlight some of the solutions

for sustainability that have already been employed.

Vinasse, an effluent from ethanol production,

is sent back to the cane field, thus making use of its

fertilizing and salvage irrigation qualities and

eliminating its potential polluting potential when

discarded into water courses;

Concentrated vinasse, which enables its

application in more distant crops, eliminating the use

of sacrificial areas near the mill and the consequential

risk of becoming saturated with salts that would

ultimately contaminate the groundwater.

The use of process residues as fertilizers, such

as boiler ashes and soot, and filter cake, replace

chemical fertilizers and prevent them to become

polluting agents; and

Reduced water consumption in the industry,

which has been obtained over the years, is a major goal

of new projects currently. Table 4 next illustrates such

evolution, and it is worth noting that some mills

already have achieved better results, lower than l tonne

of water/tonne of cane.

Table 4: Evolution of water consumption in the mills

a) Better rates of “clean energy output” per

”fossil energy input” are the result of the increasingly

use of bagasse and straw to produce bioelectricity,

raising the rates from 7 to over 10. (CNI 2012; Seabra

and Macedo, 2008).

But in order that “sustainability increase”

could be considered a driver, the development of a

systemic approach was necessary, which would be used

to produce sustainable projects.

As a result, to meet the new world demands

for sustained solutions in the economic, environmental,

and social aspects, Dedini has developed the DSM –

Dedini Sustainable Mill (Olivério et al., 2010a). It is a

product in continuous development and was

commercially available in 2008 in its first commercial

stage.

The innovative feature of DSM is that it is a

physical system, comprising of, for example, machines,

tubes, tanks, and sustainability is more evident in the

operational management. The question then is: How

can a set of physical items contribute to sustainability?

This question is briefly answered in Figure 29, that also

describes the concepts of “increased sustainability” as

employed in the DSM design.

What is DSM – Dedini Sustainable Mill? The

following text explains what is DSM, considering a

higher focus on environmental issues, for simplification

reasons.

To conceive the DSM, the mill needed to be

seen as a “macro-machine”, designed to meet the

optimum criteria of sustainability, with emphasis on

the environment. Therefore, DSM was conceived to

enhance the environmental qualities of ethanol without

neglecting the business economic results and social

aspects.

In the DSM, developed technologies enable

the production of 6 bioproducts: biosugar, bioethanol,

bioelectricity, biodiesel, biofertilizer and biowater in a

single, integrated design, aiming to minimize emissions

while maximizing the contribution of sugarcane

ethanol to the mitigation of GHG-greenhouse gases.

The DSM can be implemented gradually, as it is the

case of the Barralcoool Mill in Barra do Bugres, MT,

which has been producing the first 4 Bios since 2006,

with a pioneering biodiesel plant supplied by Dedini

and integrated to the mill (Figure 38).

If you compare the DSM with a traditional

mill, you will find the following benefits:

Typical intake water consumption to produce ethanol

Year m³ water/t canel water

/l ethanol(4)

1975(3) 15.00 187

1990(1) 5.60 70

1997(2) 5.07 63

2005(3) 1.83 23

(1) PERH – Plano Estadual de Recursos Hídricos (State Plan for Water

Resources), 1994/95

(2) CTC – Research with 34 mills in São Paulo State, 1997

(3) CTC/Unica – 2005

(4) Assuming 80 litres ethanol/t cane

NOTE: Some mills consumption < 1m3 water/t cane



b) It optimises the production processes by

increasing yields and efficiencies and allowing the

maximum production of biosugar and bioethanol per

tonne of cane. Therefore, much more gasoline can be

replaced by ethanol, thus reducing GHG emissions even

further;

c) It optimises the use of the sugarcane energy

by producing the maximum bioelectricity to be

supplied to the grid, also by using sugarcane “straw” as

a source of energy. With a greater supply of energy

from renewable sources, the use of fossil fuels can be

avoided, thus diminishing emissions;

d) It includes the integrated production of

biodiesel in the mill with agricultural integration (e.g.,

soybean production in rotation with sugarcane) and

industrial integration (biodiesel plant added to the mill,

with the use of vegetable oil from soybean and the

renewable bioenergy from bagasse and bioethanol, thus

enabling a 100% green biodiesel, in substitution for

methanol from fossil origin, which is traditionally used

as the second feedstock). So, ethyl biodiesel is

produced to fuel the crop fleet and to be sold to third

parties as a new business, in both cases replacing fossil

diesel and avoiding emissions;

e) It uses all process wastes as feedstock for

the production of BIOFOM – Organomineral

biofertilizer, which replaces at least 70% of the

chemical fertilizers and also contributes to mitigate

emissions;

f) The mill becomes water self-sufficient,

using, saving and recycling only the water contained in

the sugarcane and without requiring water uptake from

natural sources, also producing surplus water to be

exported: the biowater. It should be noted that a typical

mill requires 23 litres of water per litre of ethanol

produced, while the DSM exports 3.7 litres.

g) The DSM incorporates the most advanced

concepts of occupational hygiene and safety.

Considering all items mentioned above, higher

economic results would be obtained, as well as an

optimised accomplishment of the three sustainability

pillars: economic, social and environmental.

As a final result, the DSM attains two

concepts: optimisation and zero concepts. In the

optimization concept, the goal is to use the minimal

amount of feedstock and inputs to obtain maximum

products per tonne of cane: maximum biosugar,

bioethanol, bioelectricity, and integrated biodiesel

production. The DSM also meets the zero concept,

whereby the goal is the zero use and zero

contamination of the natural resources and maximum

environmental preservation, allowing: zero wastes /

Fig. 29 – Sustainable development characteristics of the DSM - Dedini Sustainable Mill

ENVIRONMENTAL

DSM solutions include the

commitment of not wasting (also

minimizing consumption) and not

polluting the environment and

the natural resources, mainly air,

water, energy, materials/raw

materials, biodiversity, and

minimum or zero generation of

emissions, effluents, residues,

and odors.

DSM complies with the standards

and regulations, reducing/

eliminating environmental

impacts, and contributes to

agricultural sustainability

DSM contributes to, and makes it

easier, the management system

ISO 14001

ECONOMIC

DSM is competitive in a free

market, without subsidies

SOCIAL In DSM, the equipment, processes,

materials, installations need to be located, to move, to operate,complying with the best practices and regulations to provide comfort hygienic and safe conditions, and good health in the workplace

Using ergonomics concepts, DSM provides appropriate man-machine interactions, requiring minimum physical efforts from workers.

DSM uses automation through integrated and intelligent software, MES level, linked and integrated to ERP System

DSM contributes and makes it easier the management system SA 8000

DSM - DEDINI SUSTAINABLE MILL

DRIVER: SUSTAINABILITY INCREASE



zero effluents / zero odors / zero water from natural

sources /minimum CO2 emissions. It is noteworthy

that the bioethanol produced by the DSM has a

mitigating greenhouse effect as significant as 112% (132%

when using 50% of the straw as energy source), while

the ethanol produced by the traditional mill represents

89% of mitigation (Olivério et al., 2010a). Finally, the

DSM enhances the sustainability of the sugarcane

industry and may contribute significantly to the

mitigation of climate changes caused by the global

warming.

The DSM is the result of the integration of

various technologies under the focus of sustainability,

some of them developed by DEDINI itself or with

partnerships, resulting in eleven patent applications,

eight filed by Dedini, some of them already granted.

Figure 30 is a schematic representation of DSM

Fig. 30 – DSM – Dedini Sustainable Mill: The 6 Bio-Products, the optimisation and zero concepts, and maximum mitigation effect on GHG

Most of the technologies used in DSM design

are presented in this study, including solutions for

maximum biosugar, bioethanol, and bioelectricity

production. For biodiesel production integrated to the

mill, some information will be provided later in this

study, and more details can be found in (Olivério et al.

2007).

With respect to biowater and Biofom,

following Figures 31, 32, 33 and 34 summarize the

information relating to the production of these by-

products.

As references for biowater, we cite (Olivério et

al. 2010a, 2010d), and for Biofom (Olivério et al. 2010e).

Fig. 31 – Trend: increased sustainability – reduced water consumption in water self-sufficient mill design.

Fig. 32 – Trend: increased sustainability – The Biowater Production Mill.

Fig. 33 - Trend: increased sustainability – elimination of effluents and residues via Biofom production process.



Fig. 34 - Trend: increased sustainability – agricultural evaluation of Biofom as a proven organic biofertilizer.

Figure 35 presents an option that is being

analysed in Brazil: to process sweet sorghum at the

sugarcane mill. Sweet sorghum is produced integrated

and in rotation with sugarcane, allowing diverse

feedstock processing, longer operation crop period,

increasing bioethanol and bioelectricity production, so,

contributing to a better return on sugarcane plant

investment.

Fig. 35 – Trend: Increased sustainability by processing sweet sorghum at the existing sugar cane mill. (Gurgel,2010)

Driver 4: Synergy and integration

The sucro-energy mills and the respective crop

areas are extremely favorable to synergy and

integration.

Some practices currently in use in Brazil are

clear evidences of this trend: intercropping of sugarcane

with other cultures in crop rotation systems, in

renovation lands, which benefit both cultures; the

energy surplus that cane provides attracts other

industries to the mill’s proximity.

Figure 36 illustrates the integrations that can

be accomplished. Having as core elements the land,

human, physical, and financial resources, as well as

systems and management, integration in the sugarcane

mill takes place in the farm, in the industry, in

management/business, and leads to economic, energy

and process integration.

Fig. 36 – Trend: synergy and integration – different solutions available at the sugarcane agribusiness.

Figures 37, 38 and 39 illustrate three real cases

of synergy and integration, of which Santa Vitória mill

is in the stage of design/implementation.

Fig. 37 – Trend: synergy and integration – Ethanol and energy mill (steam, bioelectricity); energy supplied to an edible oil producing plant near the mill (energy integration of two plants) – Coamo Mill.

ECONOMIC

INTEGRATION

ENERGY

INTEGRATION

FARM INTEGRATION

(CROP)

INDUSTRY

INTEGRATION

(MILL)

PROCESS

INTEGRATION

BUSINESS/

MANAGEMENT

RESOURCES

LAND

HUMAN

PHYSICAL

FINANCIAL

SYSTEMS

MANAGEMENT

DRIVER: SYNERGY AND INTEGRATION

ENERGY INTEGRATION IS AN OLD TOPIC

IN SUGARCANE AGRIBUSINESS

ETHANOL-AND-ENERGY PRODUCING UNIT (BIOETHANOL MILL)

1985 - DESTILARIA COAMO - CAMPO MOURÃO-PR-BRAZIL – DEDINI TURN-KEY SUPPLY

EDIBLE OIL PLANT

3 000 KVA

RECEPTIONPREPARAT./

EXTRACTIONBIOETHANOL PROCESS Bioethanol

Stillage

ELECTRICITY

GENERATION

STEAM GENERATION

BOILER: 30 BAR/350º C

Bagasse

BIOETHANOL MILL

2 500 KVA

CANE

JUICE

Electrical Power

3 000 KVA

Steam Process




Fig. 39 – Trend: synergy and integration – bioetha-nol/bioenergy (steam, bioelectricity) mill x linear biopolyethylene plant integration – Santa Vitória Project.

Let’s examine the integration of biodiesel

production in the sucro-energy mill as represented in

Figure 38 (Olivério et al., 2007).

In the agricultural sector, know-how for

oleaginous grains production in rotation to sugarcane

crops is already available. A traditional practice is the

cultivation of soybean in areas of sugarcane renovation,

after 4-5 cuts. Such practice maximizes land

productivity with optimum and profitable use of the

land. It also breaks the cycle of pests and diseases and

contributes to recover the soil fertility; from soybean

can be extracted the oil to be used as feedstock for

biodiesel production.

Another synergy that benefits integration is

the shared use of farming and industrial infrastructure

and resources, allowing cost savings, optimised use of

facilities, and less investment. This includes tractors,

harvesters, trucks, machinery, agricultural implements,

steam, co-generated electrical power, water, integrated

solutions for wastewaters, agricultural and industrial

manpower, and shared use of plants, facilities and

support services. An important integration is the use of

three products from the sugarcane mill as inputs for the

biodiesel plant: anhydrous bioethanol (as the second

feedstock; the first is vegetable oil), bioelectricity and

steam. The surplus bioethanol with water, which

derives from biodiesel production, as can be seen in

Figure 38, is reprocessed in the distillery already

available at the mill and, after dehydration, bioethanol

is sent back to the biodiesel process.

The biodiesel produced can fuel the vehicles

used in the production of sugarcane and the oleaginous

grains.

Regarding management and businesses, there

are some synergies and advantages that we can point

out: a new market is created for anhydrous bioethanol

(currently methanol is used as the second feedstock),

the increase of income/profits from the new products,

PRODUCTS AND ENERGY INTEGRATION

GREEN PROJECT – DOW/MITSUI - SANTA VITÓRIA PROJECT (MG)

LINEAR

BIOPOLYETHYLENEBIOETHYLENE

STEAM ELECTRICITYETHANOL STEAM ELECTRICITYETHANOL

CANE CANE

350.000 T/YEAR

LINEAR BIOPOLYETHYLENE

6 mi to 8 mi TCC

BIOETHANOL MILL BIOETHANOL MILL


Biodiesel Plant integrated to Barralcool MillBarralcool Mill

AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL INTEGRATION ( ENERGY + PRODUCTS + PROCESSES) INTEGRATION

1st GENERATION 4 BIOS MILL – BIODIESEL PRODUCTION INTEGRATED TO A SUCROENERGY MILL

Sugarcane Farm/ Refurbished Area

DEHYDRATED BIOETHANOL IN EXCESS

BIOENERGY

BIODIESEL/GLYCERINE

SOLD TO THE MARKET

SOYA OIL

DEDINI: INTRODUCTION OF THE CONCEPT TO THE WORLD MARKET AND

FIRST WORLD SUPPLY/ 1st WORLD CONTINUOUS ETHYLIC PROCESS PLANT

BARRALCOOL MILL: 1st MILL IN THE WORLD PRODUCING THE 3 BIOs:

BIOETHANOL, BIOELECTRICITY AND BIODIESEL,

PLUS BIOSUGAR = 4 BIOs MILL

BIO

DIE

SE

L -

US

ED

AT

TH

E FA

RM

This driver “Synergy and Integration” has positive effect on CAPEX, OPEX,

management/business fixed and logistic costs


SURPLUS BIOETHANOL + WATER

Fig. 38 – Trend: synergy and integration – Synergies between bioethanol/bioelectricity and biodiesel processes – farm, business/management, industry (process, energy), economic integrations – Barralcool Mill integrated to a biodiesel plant.



biodiesel and glycerin, which also helps to dilute

market risks.

Biodiesel commercialization will make use of

the experience and expertise developed in the

bioethanol business, and will be made with the same

clients. The operational structure and management

systems can be shared.

When using biodiesel in the mill vehicles, the

fuel is exempt of tax, so it costs less (for being own

production), and replaces diesel, which is taxable fuel.

The Coamo Mill Figure 37 presents energy,

economic, management/business integration (Olivério

and Ribeiro, 2006), which is also seen in Dow/ Mitsui

Santa Vitoria Project, Figure 39. In addition, the

intermediate product from the latter, bioethanol, is the

feedstock for biopolymer, the end product of the

project, i.e., linear bio-polyethylene (Dow 2012), defined

as the biggest biopolymer integrated plant in the world.

It is worth noting that this driver, synergy and

integration, has a positive impact on both OPEX and

CAPEX, as well as on management and business,

including a possible reduction of fixed and logistic

costs.

Driver 5: Higher value-added prod-ucts from sugarcane and the sugar-cane mill

Today, sugarcane is processed predominantly

into three end products: sugar, ethanol, and bagasse

and bioelectricity. However, as it is a biomass

consisting of organic components, it can be the raw

material for a large number of products. Sugarcane is

basically constituted of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxigen,

which, after been broken down and then recombined

via chemical reactions, may generate an almost infinite

variety of compounds.

But we need not go that far: in sugarcane juice,

we can find several types of sugar; in bagasse and straw,

several cellulosic and lignocellulosic materials. For

these tree inputs there already exist numerous

chemical, physical, and biological processes and their

combinations, which may be used to obtain products,

many of them with high economic value.

With the advancements of science and

technology, new processes have been introduced for

this purpose. Most of the products obtained mainly

from non-renewable fossil materials can be produced

from biomass.

As technological advancements promote cost

savings, bioproducts become more competitive, and on

this logic is based the use of cane to produce them. As a

result, the sugarcane mill design will be changed

accordingly, so that new processes, equipment, and

plants can make such new products.

This is a more sophisticated way to produce

higher value-added products from sugarcane. And we

can already find numerous examples, new real cases in

Brazil, in which the mills have promoted upgrades in

this direction.

Another way, more simple, is the processing of

cane products and by-products into higher value-added

products, by means of additional process stages.

Figures 40 and 41 are examples: Figure 40 presents an

“upgraded yeast” production plant integrated to a mill,

and Figure 41, refined sugar can be produced directly by

the mill using traditional processes (production of raw

sugar and, from this, refined sugar) or by incorporating

a new technology (production of refined sugar directly

from the juice in a single crystallization step, Olivério

and Boscariol, 2006). In Figure 42, a sodium

bicarbonate plant (having CO2 from fermentation as

feedstock) is integrated into the ethanol mill (Olivério

et al., 2010a).

Figure 43 also illustrates this new greenfields

development trend: a larger amount of products to be

made in the future mills, consisting of higher value-

added products serving profitable market niches. The

example in Figure 39 also illustrates this trend driver,

the production of linear bio-polyethylene production

using ethanol as a feedstock.

Fig. 40 – Trend: higher value-added products – use of sugarcane juice as a feedstock to produce large amounts of upgraded yeast for animal feed (export market) – Biomass to Animal Feed Plant integrated to Vale do Ivai Mill.



Fig. 41 – Trend: Higher value added Products – Refined sugar production integrated to a sugar mill using different feedstocks: raw sugar (Vale do Paranaiba) and sugarcane juice (DRD-Dedini Direct Refined)

Fig. 42 – Trend: Higher value-added products – “green” sodium bicarbonate production using CO2 from fer-mentation as feedstock, integrated to São Carlos do Ivai Mill.

Fig. 43 – Trend: Higher value-added products –higher value bioproducts integrated to a sugarcane mill, using sugarcane components as a feedstock – the sugarcane mill will become a biorefinery.

Regarding Figure 43, there are many projects

being implemented in Brazil:

▪ In a joint venture between Amyris and the São

Martinho Group, a farnesene plant using sugar

as feedstock is being added to the São Martinho

mill (Amyris, 2012);

▪ Amyris has also partnered Paraiso mill to

produce farnesene by means of a plant

integrated to the mill (Amyris, 2012);

▪ PHB Industrial, a joint venture between Pedra

Agro Industrial and Balbo Goup, is expanding

the biodegradable plastic plant integrated to the

Usina da Pedra mill (Biocycle 2012);

▪ Granbio is integrating a 2nd

generation ethanol

plant in Usina Caeté, using bagasse as feedstock

(Graalbio, 2012);

▪ Many international companies that are investing

in the Brazilian sucro-energy sector as well as

some traditional businessman announced

partnership and investment with technological

bio-based chemistry companies, declaring future

plans to integrate new plants into a sugarcane

mill to produce bio-products from sugarcane:

Bunge and Solozyme, Rhodia and Cobalt,

Butamax a joint venture between BP and

DuPont, Total and Amyris, JB (Brazilian

Sugarcane Mill Group) and SAT (anon, 2012).

▪ Many mill groups in partnership with diverse

technology-based companies, were selected by

Brazilian Development Bank – BNDES and

Engineering and Technology Development

Agency - FINEP to be considered to be granted

with prime financing credit lines to develop new

technological routes for the production of new

bio-products, as well as second-generation

ethanol (based on enzymatic cellulose

hydrolysis) and third-generation biofuels/bio-

products (BTL - Biomass to Liquid

technologies), comprising bagasse/straw

gasification for synthesis gas production, which

in a Fischer-Tropsch type reactors are converted

into synthesis bio-products (PAISS, 2012).

All these projects, already underway in Brazil,

allow us to conclude that the BIOREFINERY integrated

to the SUGAR MILL, will be, or rather already is, a

REALITY.

DRIVER: HIGHER VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS FROM SUGARCANE AND SUGARCANE MILL

Some companies are in early commercial or in advanced stage of development: (1) Amyris, (2) Braskem, (3) PHB Industrial, (4) Rhodia, (5) GranBio

Different kind of fuels and several types of chemical specialties can be produced

from the above feedstocks, through specific fermentation processes and physical-

chemical complementary treatments.

Fuel as renewable diesel oil (1)

Jet Fuels (1)

Lubricant oils (1)

Cosmetic products (1)

Aromatics and flavors (1)

Butyl Alcohol (2)

Solvents (2)

Biodegradable Plastics (3)

Polypropylene (4)

2nd and 3rd generation products (5)

Feedstock: Sugarcane Juice, Concentrated Juice, Syrup, Sugar, Bioethanol,

Bagasse, Straw.

New technologies will be integrated to the Sugarcane Mill towards a

Biorefinery, producing higher value added products



The new “greenfields” and the sug-

arcane mill equipment industry

The Brazilian sucro-energy industry will be in

considerable expansion, with projections of 120 “future

greenfields mills”, and doubling the processing

capacity.

This work aimed to show that such future

expansion has a large number of solutions already

underway, which means that solutions are ready to be

used in the new configurations of the “future mills”.

In order to contribute to this discussions,

aiming to foresee the trends in conceptual design of the

“future mills”, in this paper we propose a model using

five drivers that will define the evolution trends

regarding products, capacities and technologies, from

the view of the equipment industry.

As a consequence, an important question now

arises: is the equipment industry ready and able to meet

such huge expansion, not only in Brazil, but worldwide

speaking?

We know that until now the equipment

industry has succeeded in responding accordingly to

the growth of the sucro-energy business. In ProAlcohol

period, more than 300 ethanol mills were installed in 10

years (Olivério 2007), and recently 117 “new mills”

started operations.

The expansion already attained, from 68

million tonnes (1975/76) to 620 million tonnes of

processed sugarcane per crop (2010/11), was fully

achieved by the equipment industry, with almost 100%

own development and supply.

But this is the picture of the past. And what

about the future?

For a secure and reliable response, we should

review again the respective “capability” and

“competitiveness” of the equipment industry in the

light of the new challenges.

We understand that in this case “capability”

means “to meet the market needs”, i.e., to fulfill the

technological needs, having industrial, manufacturing,

and financial capabilities as well as guarantees.

Likewise, as “competitiveness” we understand

“to meet the clients’ needs”, i.e., the industry should

offer quality, delivery times and prices competitively,

according to the client’s requirements.

Taking into account the past accomplishments

and the most recent supplies, conclusion is that the

equipment industry has the necessary capabilities and

competitiveness to fully meet the market and the

clients’ demands. Figure 44 summarizes these

conclusions.

Fig. 44 – Evaluation of the equipment industry “capabil-ity” and “competitiveness” to meet the heavy expansion of the sugarcane agribusiness.

This work aimed to show that such future expansion

has solutions already underway, and that there are

processes, equipment, and plants, that means, solutions

ready to be used in the new configuration of the “future

mills”.

Our conclusion is that the equipment industry

is prepared to serve the future with updated and

innovative technologies, adequate supply capacity, and

competitive quality, delivery time, and prices.

Finally, this is a challenge that the equipment

industry accepts and is ready to meet.

THE NEW “GREENFIELDS” AND THE SUGARCANE MILL

EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY

CAPABILITY COMPETITIVENESS

ATTEND TO THE

MARKET NEEDS

ATTEND TO THE

CLIENTS NEEDS

CAPABILITY

TECHNOLOGICAL

INDUSTRIAL/MANUFACTURING

FINANCIAL/GUARANTEE

COMPETITIVENESS

QUALITY

DELIVERY TIME

PRICE

IS THE EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY PREPARED AND ABLE TO ATTEND THE NEEDED HEAVY

EXPANSION ON SUGARCANE AGRIBUSINESS?



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