Born to Innovate
POET=E2=80=99s flagship = plant is now the=20 portal into the world of commercially viable cellulosic ethanol = production for=20 the company and the nation.by Darrell = Boone=20
![3D"Born](3D"http://www.poet.com/vital/2008/4/shared/img/born1.jpg") |
| photos by Greg Latza |
Small by today=E2=80=99s standards, the little still in Scotland, = S.D., that took an=20 unknown company from obscure to industry leader is once again poised to = take=20 center stage. This time, it will usher in technology that will = revolutionize the=20 energy landscape, as a pioneer in cellulosic ethanol production.
What is now the POET Research Center was a bankrupt ethanol plant in = 1987=20 when the Broin family purchased it from a group of local investors. The = industry=20 was in its infancy, the plant had already failed once, and an early = equipment=20 malfunction threatened to halt the venture before it could get = started.
=E2=80=9CWe had a number of =E2=80=98close-to-the- edge=E2=80=99 = experiences in the early going,=E2=80=9D=20 says POET CEO Jeff Broin, who used the office area of the plant as an = apartment=20 during renovation to keep costs down. =E2=80=9CDuring the first few = weeks of production,=20 our centrifuge just disintegrated. Fortunately, we were able to quickly = find a=20 replacement in the Midwest at very favorable credit terms, or we would = have been=20 out of business in less than a week.=E2=80=9D
Production began in May 1988 under the name Broin Enterprises. It was = the=20 only operating ethanol plant in South Dakota. A month later, it was at = full=20 production, producing 1 million gallons of ethanol per year. Two years = later,=20 the company broke ground on the first of several expansions that would = bring=20 capacity to 2.7 million gallons per year.
Today, that plant is both a 9-million-gallon- per-year ethanol = production=20 facility and a state-of-the-art research and development center. The=20 plant-that-almost-wasn=E2=80=99t pumps new technologies and processes to = all of POET=E2=80=99s=20 26 plants across the United States. Now, this high-tech facility is = pushing the=20 company=E2=80=94and the country=E2=80=94into the future as it works to = bring cellulosic ethanol=20 to commercial production.
=
Guinea Pig Plant
Although the flagship plant =
didn=E2=80=99t=20
officially become known as POET Research Center until March 2007, the =
facility=20
and its employees have always focused on research and innovation.
=E2=80=9CIn the very early years, we purchased = high-tech lab=20 equipment that plants 10 times our size didn=E2=80=99t have,=E2=80=9D = Broin says. =E2=80=9CWe=E2=80=99ve always=20 understood that technology is very, very important to the future of the = industry=20 and the company, which has driven us to push research and = development.=E2=80=9D
In 1991, POET completed the first expansion of the Scotland plant and = formed=20 POET Design and Construction, also housed at the plant, to specialize in = plant=20 design, engineering, construction and research.
=E2=80=9CSoon after Design and Construction was formed, Scotland = plant employees=20 became very involved in making improvements that would be passed on to = [POET=E2=80=99s]=20 other ethanol plants,=E2=80=9D says Deb Roth, laboratory manager at the = Research Center=20 and an original Scotland employee. =E2=80=9CWe had a great relationship = with Design and=20 Construction and worked very closely with them.=E2=80=9D
In time, Scotland employees learned skills beyond day-to-day plant = operations=20 through the working relationship with Design and Construction. The jump = to=20 research was logical, says POET Director of Plant Operations Rod = Pierson,=20 Scotland=E2=80=99s General Manager from 1997 to 2000.
=E2=80=9CFirst, the people [in Scotland] have the knowledge and are = more than willing=20 to try anything, to be a =E2=80=98guinea pig,=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D Pierson = says. =E2=80=9CAnd second, if we have a=20 problem, it=E2=80=99s not going to be as big of a problem because the = people will be=20 able to react fast.=E2=80=9D
Today, the Research Center field tests a broad range of innovations = before=20 they are rolled out to other plants. It is the link between the = bench-scale=20 research conducted at the company=E2=80=99s headquarters in Sioux Falls = and final=20 commercialization. It is, in essence, a self-supporting research = facility.
=E2=80=9CIt kind of resembles different wings on the same = building,=E2=80=9D POET Research=20 Center General Manager Dave Bushong says. =E2=80=9CThe staff here is all = on the same=20 team. We have engineers, chemists and microbiologists working alongside = our=20 regular commercial operators. They even cross-train and cover for each=20 other.=E2=80=9D
The Research Center is small compared to plants today, which often = produce 50=20 million or even more than 100 million gallons of ethanol per year. That = makes it=20 ideal as a =E2=80=9Cproving ground.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=9COur larger plants need to focus on continuous operation and = throughput,=E2=80=9D=20 Pierson says. =E2=80=9CWe really don=E2=80=99t want to take a chance on = doing too much research=20 at those facilities and disrupt production.=E2=80=9D
Delivering Innovations
It is impossible to =
calculate the=20
number of innovations in processes, products, engineering and plant =
design that=20
have been rolled out to other POET plants in Scotland=E2=80=99s 21 =
years. But some of=20
the most noteworthy accomplishments include:
- Achieving the highest titers = (fermentation efficiency) in the ethanol industry, 1999=E2=80=93today=20
- Development of Dakota = Gold=E2=84=A2 distillers=20 grains, the first such branded ethanol co-product in the industry, = 1995=20
- Development of BPX=E2=84=A2 = technology, which=20 converts starch to ethanol without cooking, 2004=20
- Development of = BFRAC=E2=84=A2, POET=E2=80=99s=20 proprietary technology for corn fractionation that splits the corn = kernel into=20 fiber, germ and endosperm, 2005.
These breakthroughs formed the foundation for what is unquestionably = the=20 Research Center=E2=80=99s biggest project yet: Project Bell, essentially = the dress=20 rehearsal for the launch of commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol = production (see=20 =E2= =80=9CThe=20 Cellulosic Reality,=E2=80=9D Vital, Fall 2008). All aspects of the = process will be=20 field tested and fine-tuned before POET commences fullscale commercial=20 production. Construction is now complete on an $8 million facility = adjacent to=20 the Research Center that has the capacity to produce 20,000 gallons per = year of=20 cellulosic ethanol from corn cobs and other cellulosic = materials.
Project LIBERTY, for which POET received an $80 million U.S. = Department of=20 Energy grant in 2007, will use that research to expand the = company=E2=80=99s=20 50-million-gallon-per-year plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa, into an integrated = corn-to-ethanol and cellulose-toethanol biorefinery. It will produce 125 = million=20 gallons of ethanol per year, 25 million from cellulosic material, = including corn=20 cobs (see =E2=80=9COn= e=20 Step Closer=E2=80=9D). From there, Scotland=E2=80=99s technology = will go to plants across=20 the Midwest.
=E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s exciting to realize that the birthplace of POET =
is also the future of=20
POET,=E2=80=9D Bushong says.![](3D"http://www.poet.com/vital/2008/4/shared/img/leaf-logo_sm.gif"){kind=logo}
- Born to=20 Innovate=20
- A = Common=20 Voice=20
- From=20 Here to There=20
- Renew=20
- One Step=20 Closer=20
- Have a = Little Faith=20
- Barometer (PDF)