CVEC (Chippewa Valley Ethanol)
Chippewa Valley Ethanol Cooperative
Benson, MN
Biomass Wood Fuel
Chippewa Valley Ethanol is an ethanol plant that added a wood biomass gasification process to utilize wood biomass as a feedstock to produce ethanol. Rapat was selected as the handling equipment supplier and was charged with designing equipment to take the biomass wood from the truck receiving into and out of storage and ultimately to the gasification processing equipment.
The process began with a custom designed chain conveyor with a dust hood to receive the wood waste from incoming trucks. Rapat also supplied a self-cleaning magnet to remove tramp metals before the product reached the gasifier. From the receiving area the wood waste product was moved via totally enclosed belts, further reducing dust emissions, to a bucket elevator that filled the raw material silo. From the silo enclosed belts carried the product into the processing facility where it ultimately reduced the plants overall dependency on fossil fuels. The process worked well and helped prove biomass can indeed be used as an economical fuel in ethanol facilities nationwide.
