Plant Running
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
COTTONWOOD FALLS — R-3 Energy LLC in Cottonwood Falls, a biodiesel plant that manufactures the fuel out of chicken fat, is up and running and in the ramp-up stage.
Kristof Reiter, plant manager, said the plant has been manufacturing biodiesel out of chicken fat for about three months but is in its first week of selling fuel retail to local residents. Next week the plant will continue to do bulk sales. The building of the plant started about a year ago, but it couldn’t sell fuel until it had the necessary certifications. Now, all the equipment is in, the certifications are in and the plant is ramping up production, Reiter said.
Reiter said the plant would like to work with local farmers for biodiesel and local diesel fleets.
“We would really like to develop local sales to farmers,” Reiter said.
The plant takes chicken fat and processes it into biodiesel. All the biodiesel made by R-3 comes from domestic feed stock, Reiter said, and the fuel is made of methanol and oil.
In the future, Reiter said, the company could work with farmers to process soybeans and return it as mash for local cattle. That could come sometime next year, Reiter said.
The plant, which is privately owned, isn’t at full production yet.When it is, it can produce 1.4 million gallons of biodiesel a year.
“We were really producing slowly because we had to wait for certifications,” Reiter said.
Reiter said there are several advantages of biodiesel including several environmental factors. The fuel emits 50 percent fewer chemicals that cause erosion in the ozone; 48 percent less carbon monoxide; 47 percent less particle matter; 67 percent fewer hydrocarbons; and a nearly 100 percent reduction in sulfur.
“There’s an environmental benefit and health benefit, too,” Reiter said.
Another advantage to owners of vehicles that use diesel is in the fuel itself. Reiter said when the EPA decided to require diesel fuel to emit fewer pollutants, it removed sulfur from diesel, which removed a lot of lubrication, making the engine components rub on each other and making the engine louder. Biodiesel puts the lubricant back into fuel and makes the engine run cooler and quieter, Reiter said.
The shortfall of biodiesel is that it has a higher cloud point, which is the point of freezing. During the cold months it needs to be blended with diesel, Reiter said.
“During the summer you can run it pure,” he said.
Reiter said in Kansas, it is legal to blend diesel if the person is the end-user, he said. Each customer at R-3 is provided with blending instructions as well as the different percentages necessary according to the temperature outside.
“In the low 40s you don’t want to run more than 50 percent biodiesel,” Reiter said. “And 20 percent in the low 20s.”
If the blend is 2 or 5 percent, the fuel won’t be affected by temperatures.
To make biodiesel fuel, the fuel has to be filtered before it gets into customers’ hands.
“We filter our fuel very well,” Reiter said. “We filter it to 3 microns, which is five to 10 times finer than anybody else.”
Industry standards for filtered fuel are between 10 and 30 microns, Reiter added.
R-3 also uses cold soak filtration with the fuel. This process reduces impurities that clump together when biodiesel fuel gets cold.
“If the fuel freezes and when it warms up it doesn’t have any changes to it,” Reiter said.
According to R-3’s Web site, the process does not prevent the fuel from freezing or gelling up, but it does prevent impurities from remaining in the fuel and sticking together.
During the process of making the fuel, the fuel is washed using dry ion exchange. Some fuel is washed using water but in an effort to conserve the water resource, the plant uses ion technology, Reiter said.
Safety is another concern at the plant. Although the plant is not dangerous if you know what you’re doing, Reiter said, safety is a top priority. The plant floor is built in a slight “V” shape, which allows the fuel to drain to the center of the building if there is ever a spill. The fuel then drains into a separate contained pond. The lights and fans are spark and explosion proof.
Reiter said schools and classes are welcome at the plant for field trips. For more information on the plant call (620) 273-1107 or visit its Web site at http://www.r3energyllc.com/.
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