Ecolab and Badger State Ethanol: Providing the Value of a Total Cleaning Partnership

Cleaning Evaporators More Efficiently and Effectively

While the chemicals Ecolab used to clean the evaporators were more expensive per ounce than the commodity caustic Badger State had been using, the new CIP process delivered far superior results at a comparable cost — while using less water and requiring less down time. “I don’t think anybody had ever talked to anyone in the industry about how to clean more effectively and efficiently,” says Stephanie. “This was a real eye opener.”

Eliminating Caustic from Fermentation Cleaning

The success of the evaporator cleaning established enough trust that BSE Operations Manager Doug Friedrich was willing to consider reducing the use of caustic in front-end cook and fermentation systems. Before and after photos below...

“Using a ton of caustic to clean is all the industry has ever known,” explained Zach. “No one’s ever helped them think about the cleaning process any differently.”

Given the 734,000 gallons held in Badger State’s fermentation tanks, the Ecolab team first conducted small tests of the alternative cleaning program in isolated mash trains from March through June of 2018.

“When I heard this idea of removing caustic, I was so skeptical,” says Stephanie. “Frankly I thought they were putting my plant at risk.” One of the immediate benefits Stephanie saw was the elimination of foam and the need to rinse after every cleaning with caustic. The acid residue from the new cleaning method was also reducing the risk of bacterial growth as the mash was fed into the fermenter. “It was actually giving the yeast a jump start by dramatically reducing the lactic and acetic acids, the production of which compete with our yeast for glucose,” said Stephanie. “We saw organic acids fall below quantification.”

Doug Friedrich also credits the new cleaning process with reduced cross contamination. “It was hard to find leaks and sometimes you’d have caustic leaking in acids and acids leaking into caustics and then leaking into the trains,” explained Doug. “Without having two different kinds of chemicals in there, you’re not cross contaminating anymore.” They also saw caustic deliveries fall from three tanks delivered weekly to one a month, a huge drop in water usage, and significant total hard savings.

“Having been such a skeptic, I was shocked that this worked — and I don’t think we could have done it without Ecolab.” said Stephanie. “They were the difference between the success and failure of moving away from caustic.”

Ecolab helped this customer improve:

• Productivity
  • Cleaning done 2 times per week
  • Every cleaning cycle reduced from 10 to 4 hours
  • Zero hydroblasting shutdowns
• Product Quality
  • Reduce cross contamination of caustic and acid valves
  • 80% reduction in sodium
  • 10% reduction in delta glycerol