BRAZILIAN EQUIPMENT GIANT SELLS WORLD’S FIRST INTEGRATED BIODIESEL / ETHANOL / SUGAR PLANT

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Dedini, the world’s largest manufacturer of equipment for ethanol and sugar refining, closed a groundbreaking deal with Usina Barralcool, a traditional producer in Brazil, a company spokesperson announced on Thursday. The new plant will be capable of using both the ethylic and the methylic routes to produce biodiesel. It is the first biodiesel unit in the world to operate integrated into a plant.

Barralcool expects to invest R$ 25 million (approximately US$ 11.4 million), with operations scheduled to begin in July ’06.

• Client: Usina Barralcool S/A
• Location: Barra do Bugres, state of Mato Grosso
  
• Capacity: 50,000 tons/year (57 million liters/year)
• Materials: vegetable oils and ethanol or methanol
  
• Process routes: ethylic or methylic
  
• Product: biodiesel as defined in ANP Law 11.097/05 or EN 14.214 or ASTM 6751-03
  
• Subproduct: glycerin with minimum 80% purity
  
• Opening date: July 2006

When the ethylic route is in use (i.e., when bioethanol is being used), the resulting biodiesel will be “100% ecological", as it will have used exclusively plant-derived products that come from renewable sources. This holds even for the energy that powers the process, during which bagasse (crushed sugar cane) is burned.

As the biodiesel plant will be installed adjacent to the bioethanol and sugar refineries, certain synergies begin to develop – part of the sugar cane juice (“garapa”) and all other raw materials will come from inside the plant itself. This kind of plant, incidentally, has lower operating costs than a stand-alone unit. Furthermore, Barralcool will grow its own soy beans, which will be cultivated while the sugar cane fields are being renewed. This will contribute to a reduction in the price of the oil to be processed; bioethanol produced on site will fuel the process. All of this adds up to lower costs for biodiesel.

Another of the project's highlights is the social benefits that accrue: most of the material – oil-producing grain – is bought from small family-run farms in the region, thanks to an agreement signed with the Ministry for Farm Development. This confers upon Barralcool the distinction of receiving the Brazilian government’s “Social Stamp” (“Selo Social”).

The concept of an integrated unit, where biodiesel benefits from the synergies of a next-door ethanol and sugar plant, was first presented to the market in 2004. Later it was developed and presented again during SIMTEC 2005, in the city of Piracicaba, interior of Sao Paulo state.

Dedini believes that any plant that currently processes sugar and ethanol or biodiesel have a lot to gain from integration.

For more information, call:

• Dedini – José Luiz Olivério – (19) 3403-3006
• Barrálcool – João Petroni or Silvio Rangel – (65) 3311-1800
  

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