Operating Characteristics of a High-Efficiency Pilot Scale Corn Distillers Grain Dryer

Abstract

The rapidly expanding US corn ethanol industry is producing increasing quantities of wet distillers grain and about 70 % of this material is dried to 10% moisture. Drying this material requires one-third of the energy used to operate an ethanol plant. Shivvers Inc of Corydon, Iowa has developed a rotary drum dryer which reclaims energy from the exhaust air stream. Tests of a pilot scale Shivvers rotary drum dryer showed it can dry distillers grain using about 2890 kJ/kg (846 Btu/lb) of water removed. This is less than half the energy usually required for a drum dryer or a grain dryer. Modifications are underway to further reduce energy use. Use of this dryer design scaled up to dry distillers grain at ethanol plants has the potential for large energy savings for the corn ethanol industry.