Lead Process Engineer for the development of a preliminary engineering package and total installed cost estimate for a $150 million wet mill plant expansion. The project included new corn receiving, steeping, evaporation, and milling equipment and alternative starch liquefaction and saccharification technology for ethanol production. The project also included a preliminary design for expansion of boiler capacity using electric boilers as an alternative to natural gas-fired boilers. Responsible for developing process flow diagrams, P&IDs, hydraulic and thermal calculations, equipment specifications and data sheets, and obtaining budgetary quotes from vendors. Developed preliminary equipment general arrangement drawings. Proposed and evaluated alternative design options to maximize utilization of existing equipment and minimize additional capital investment.
| Unit operations: Corn steeping, Disk milling, Hydrocyclone separation, Disc stack separation (centrifugation), Germ washing, Fiber washing, Starch washing (cyclonettes), Starch liquefaction, Saccharification, Microfiltration, Activated carbon decolorization, Multiple-effect falling film evaporation with mechanical vapor recompression, Dewatering (screw presses), Rotary vacuum drum filtration, Ring drying, Rotary steam tube drying, Germ cooling, Feed mixing, Bulk truck unloading, Rail car loading, Pneumatic conveying, Conveying (bucket, belt, drag & screw), Energy recovery (heat exchangers and scrubbers), Sulfur dioxide scrubbing |
| Products: Corn starch, Corn germ, Corn gluten (protein), Corn fiber, Corn steep liquor, Dextrose (glucose), Fructose |
| Company: Cargill, Incorporated |
| Location: Blair, Nebraska |
| Total installed cost: $150 million |
Following my work at AMG on the Cargill Blair wet mill expansion, I was hired by the engineering firm Middough Inc. to work on the design of the next expansion of that plant. This project was actually a series of preliminary designs that we developed over several years to expand the capacity of the Blair plant. Although the final design that I was involved with was limited in scope to additional steeping, milling and refining capacity, earlier versions of the design also included some work in the ethanol plant.