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Most of what we see the IRmadillo being used for in ethanol production is early detection of infections. This falls under the grouping of applications that are essentially about running the current process but just doing it better. And there is a lot of benefit to be gained from doing that. However there is a whole category of process changes that the IRmadillo enables, which are about looking at how to run the process differently, rather than just getting better at the current process.

One such application has been developed by a customer of ours in Europe, about 6 months ahead of a customer in Kansas who independently came up with the same objective. These innovative companies are looking to build closed loop control systems to dose GA precisely to maintain DP1 concentration at the yeast’s operating “sweet spot”. They could only do this by using the continuous DP1 values from their IRmadillos. Most producers add GA at specific points in the process, generally developing a classic “M-shaped” DP1 profile, aimed at not letting the DP1 concentration get too far above or below the sweet spot, but rarely being in the ideal zone. Controlling the GA dosing with precision so the right amount is added at the right time gives a stable DP1 level which leads the yeast to operate at its optimum efficiency and maximize sugar conversion.

The results of the before and after study showed an annualized increase in ethanol drop of 0.15%, equating to approximately $2m of incremental revenue in a 100MGal/yr plant.

Who doesn’t like free money?